mortgage lifter tomato

    
Photo sourced from seedsavers.org


      If you've been around people that raise a garden much in your life, you've probably tried the Mortgage lifter tomato. Mortgage Lifters are a pretty unique variety of tomato. They're usually big enough that a slice of one on a sandwich will be as big around as the bread, however they are hard to slice because they're so big and juicy.
     My grandpa has always raised Mortgage lifters in his garden, so I'm pretty familiar with them. I was surprised to learn, not too long ago, that this cultivar was developed in West Virginia.
     Theres a couple different stories about where exactly in WV this tomato originated and who it was developed by. Some people say it was a guy named William Esther from Barboursville, WV.
     Others say it was in Logan county by a guy that they called "radiator charlie" who sold the tomatoes to pay off the mortgage on his house during the great depression, hence the name "mortgage lifter".
     Some sources say that both stories are true and that there was originally two different types of motgage lifter.
     I couldn't find anything about a patent or a copyright to the name, so I guess it all depends on who you ask. It's safe to say, though, that the tomato originated in West Virginia.
     Now, me, personally, I think I believe  William Estler (or Esther) got to it first. Now, there's no denying the radiator charlie story, because you can buy seeds for a "radiator charlie morgage lifter". That's just my opinion.

Sources-
Family cultivates tradition with a nearly forgotten tomato, wvpublic. Org

K. Hoffman, nov. 26th, 2020, harvest and the morgage lifter, medivizor.com

J. Rhoades, jan 8th, 2018,ucanr.edu


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