Tangled Branches: Cultivated
happenings in and around my zone 6b gardens in northern Virginia and in central Virginia
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Tasting Notes: Tomatoes
Tomatoes kill brain cells. How else to explain the fact that I started this post at the end of August, and now can't remember most of what I intended to write? We've been eating a lot of tomatoes - that must be it.
So then, this is an abbreviated summary of the tomatoes I grew this year, in order of size:
Ildi - A yellow pear tomato. It was definitely the most prolific tomato I grew. That's probably the nicest thing I can say about it - the skin was unpleasantly tough and the flavor was average. While I was cleaning up the garden, I tossed some of these on the ground and left them there for a few days and they were untouched by any wild critters. What does that tell you? I won't grow this one again.
Black Cherry - A round cherry tomato of middling size, it ripens to those green/red/purple colors that usually mean good flavor (see Black Russian below). That flavor was was I was after when I bought the seeds. Unfortunately, I didn't find that flavor, and I wouldn't grow this one again.
Thai Pink - A small plum tomato, rather firm when ripe, but juicy rather than meaty. I wasn't all that keen on this one until I found a recipe that suited it exactly - Tomatoes in Spicy Yogurt Sauce - which calls for whole peeled tomatoes. I'm not sure what else 'Thai Pink' is good for, but the taste and size are just perfect in that dish. I may grow it again just for that - we really liked the recipe. On the other hand, I think a tomato like 'Juliet' would work just as well. And I've never grown 'Juliet', so I may rotate that one in and 'Thai Pink' out.
Bonito Ojo - A small round tomato (> golf ball, < tennis ball). A huge quantity of fruit ripened simultaneously early in the season. The flavor was very tart, good for salsa, but I don't need/want that many small tomatoes all at once. It was also prone to cracking. I probably won't grow it again.
Eva Purple Ball - Eva is the beauty contest winner - almost no cracking or blemishes; nice sized (> baseball, < softball) with pink skin over red flesh. The flavor is only OK. If you must have perfect-looking tomatoes, this is a good choice. If you want perfect-tasting tomatoes...well, I think there are better ones.
Striped Roman - A long, thick 'Roma' type; very meaty. It has a marvelous sweet-tart flavor tending toward the tart side. This has been a favorite for several years now, and I expect I'll be growing it as long as I'm gardening.
Black Russian - A large green/purple/brown/dark red tomato. This is my favorite for flavor - a deep, dark, almost smoky, essence of tomato flavor. The downside is the disappointment at how many I lost to cracking and rotting. I'll grow this again next year, but if I could find a variety with the same flavor and less cracking, I'd evict 'Black Russian'.
Cherokee Purple - A large pink/purple beefsteak type tomato. The flavor is notably sweet; I was expecting something more like Black Russian, but it's not at all like that - much sweeter. This will probably be invited back next year, but if I end up with too long a list of new ones to try, then maybe not.
Kellogg's Breakfast - This wins the prize for size; the yellow-orange tomatoes are very large, and incidentally, this was the first of the large ones to ripen. The flavor is surprising for a yellow tomato - quite flavorful and sweet; I'm wondering how similar this is to Persimmon, which some other bloggers have written about this year. I'll grow this one again next year.
Updated 5:15 pm with link to recipe for Tomatoes in Spicy Yogurt Sauce.
Labels: potager, tomatoes, vegetables
5 Comments:
Just discovered your blog - thanks for the low down. I've just recently started gardening, and it's good to know what works and what doesn't.
Did you grow them all from seed? I've heard that growing tomatoes from seed is much more difficult....?
Melinda: You have a great website! We've always liked Sonoma Co. - wished we could retire there, but didn't think we could afford it.
Yes, I grew all the tomatoes from seed. I don't think it's particularly difficult, but I've been doing it for years. I would say the key points are not to start them too early, make sure the seedlings get enough light, warmth, and water, and have fun with it.
Great information here. I too was disappointed with the Cherokee Purple, which I grew last year, and DID not re grow this year. This year was not as productive garden wise as we had major outside work done on our home, so I opted to buy tomato sets that had already been started. Last year I grew them all from seed, but for the life if me the only other variety I recall was German something or other. IT was a good one.
Thanks for Identifying my Tree…I really appreciate it and for your taking the time to help me.
I grew Chrokee Purple too and will grow it again next year as it tasted great. I like my tomatoes to taste good, looking good is a bonus but for me it's really about how they taste.
I'll see if I can get the seeds of some of the tomatoes you recommended. I like trying out new varieties!
DeeMom: I'm kind of neutral on the 'Cherokee Purple', but really surprised by the sweet flavor. I tend to like the darker, smokier purples. Was it 'German Johnson' that you grew? Carol likes that one, and I need to add it to my list.
Yolanda Elizabet: Did you think the 'Cherokee Purple' was particularly sweet? I liked it well enough, and it made really good fried green tomatoes, but I may skip it next year to try some others in its place. I bought the 'Black Russian' seeds from Thompson and Morgan, and I think the 'Striped Roman' came from Territorial Seeds, but I have to check my notes to be sure. Those are probably my two favorites.
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