Just a quick word about the 'Amana Orange' tomato. The name is quite deceptive. It's technically not an heirloom but rather a mutation discovered in some seeds a Florida man, Gary Haley (sometimes listed as Gary Staley), received from the Seed Savers Exchange here in Iowa back in the 1980s. Haley was familiar with Amana, having once worked here . The Amana name is trademarked jointly by Amana Society, Inc. and Amana Refrigeration, Inc., and should not be used in commerce without permission. Haley does not have permission to use the name. The Amana Society has contacted him about the violation, but last I heard, he has chosen to ignore it. There was some talk about a lawsuit, but so far nothing has come of it. It is now more than 20 years since 'Amana Orange' made its debut, so I doubt that there will ever be a suit. Whenever I've come across a description of the tomato as an heirloom from the historic Amana Colonies (and there are dozens of sites on the Internet where it's for sale), I've contacted the seller to let her/him know the tomato's real history.
Larry Rettig
Cottage-in-the-Meadow Gardens
South Amana, IA 52334
P.S. Please feel free to grow the tomato. I've grown it myself. It hasn't done all that well up here in Iowa, but since it did so well for Haley in Florida, it should do well for those of you who live in southern states.
