Your CP looks delish PC!!!!! Those Super Sweet One Hundreds look pretty darned good too from where I'm sitting. I'll take that split one off your hands (LOL).

Maybe you need one of those small ceramic heaters (from the big box store) to keep your hoop house warm and toasty in inclement weather. I can't imagine sitting there holding a hair dryer all night!!!!!

Keep up the good work! You must be doing something right !

Linda

That s great PC.
While you are picking ripe tomatoes we are having frigid temps in 20s. This November has been one of the coldest in record, even Central Florida did not escape it.

For cracking, you know the solution already. Not all the fruits an a cluster like that will all ripe before the early ones cracking or falling off.

BTW that Cherokee P looks real awesome.

Seysonn

Hi PC

Your tomatoes look great! We are having such terrible weather for ripening the tomatoes, with the drastic change of temperature the big varieties are having trouble in my garden while all the cherry are doing fine.

This morning harvest

Silvia

Thanks Silvia! I thought about you during the first freeze we had here, and then checked to see when we were at 27 degrees you were at 41 ;-) The cold nights and cool days have given me about 25% blossom drop but I'm still in the game, although I bet you are getting some of the slowdown and unevenness too. Weather sure is a relative thing and your colorful as ever selection of tomatoes makes me want to go out to my babies and ask them to please hustle, or maybe do a Cherokee Ripening Dance ;-)

seysonn, thanks! I know you were in Georgia for a while so you might relate that I'm only 27 miles from the Georgia state line. This year we are having Georgia weather, last winter was Florida weather. I guess you mean I need to pick them earlier to avoid the cracking. Since this is the first time I tried a fall crop (LOL, in the worst year on record), I never had the cold tomato condensation in the morning problem before. One 42 F humid night and they all were dripping like Coke cans in Summer commercials, and cracked. I guess you mean I should have ripened the last two days off the vine, and I was wondering if there aren't any work-arounds in this situation for you guys that have regular experience with it. Could a plastic bag over the maturing ones for cold dewy nights/mornings work? You think it is worth a shot?

Hi labs! Today I'm going to eat that #1 CP to celebrate a birthday thought for someone who would have not stopped raving about it. ;-) I hope a little CP will give me a glimpse of wherever she's at in heaven ;-) Isn't it great how tomato varieties can do that! I can say that splitting may not be so bad if I had looked at the glass half full ... I am lucky to have any tomatoes, and cracks go hand in hand with sweet and brimming with flavor.

Even though the Sun has been at less than 50% the commercial requirement for tomatoes here (most of the day is in full winter shade), the SS100s were actually much better than a "Gold Medal" $5/lb variety heirloom grown in South Florida and specially handled by Whole Foods for optimal flavor. There was no comparison and Gold Medal is known as being among the sweetest of beefsteaks. The SS100s slaughtered it, cracked and all. I wish I could send you a few, but they were gone faster than I could say "Yummy". It really is a great surprise since I had wrongly assumed that the poor sun and cold temperatures would make these no better than the supermarket.

The CPs look good, but here's the bad side of my #1, which I am calling a concentric fused blossom type for lack of a better description. I like the form, but you can see how the 1 1/2 day old splits got it ... they weren't there on the day of the pic on the vine I posted above.

My heaters really are $20 ceramic Chinese manufactured thingees via Walmart that look like small speakers. I just call them hairdryers because they are the same 1500W, which is the max I can plug into an outlet all night without tripping a circuit breaker. What I really need are heat lamps to serve double necessity. Maybe in next years' budget ;-(

Here's the close up of the damage I'm dealing with on the CP, my idea of my sweet Mum's Birthday Cake ;-)

PC

lovely tomatoes, yum...
long time till we get our next season. Also my Helsing Junction blues still fresh on windowsill, not sure if it is variety trait or what but they do keep very well...
my needs only go for spring coverage of shelves in greenhouse, I use my trusty electrical blankets, got some on clearance sale

Thanks for the comments lindalana ;-)

My fall season end I'm judging only by the 10-day weather forecast and the plants likely will get clobbered with a vengeance when the inevitable happens.
Last year I could have made it into January. What I wouldn't do for a greenhouse now! When you break out those heating blankets I hope you'll give us a peek. Some of the ideas I've found here have been very helpful and styles seem to segregate as much as each of our gardening genes ;-)

I am unimpressed by the indigo fruit trait and can't help feeling like it's like eating purple stem grafted & stitched epidermis frankenfruits from the Monsanto public relations machine, but I'll not make further negative remarks since the plants are innocent and I am not impartial yet.

I grew two "blue" fruiting plants from one of the varieties being promoted. In theory I have two plants of the variety ... Both are off-types I should have put something better in their places ... but with the concerted effort to have people grow this stuff, I did mine.

One is off-fruit shape and plant vigor, and the other off-color. They are both reasonably ornamental and I wanted to share this one which at least has the color, and with respect to this thread, I can be fairly say that the leaves of these two plants seem to have heightened defense, though far from immunity, to leaf miners:

PC

This post was edited by PupillaCharites on Wed, Dec 3, 14 at 10:23

PC, I planted late the variety Indigo blueberries and they are taking forever to ripen, they are not that productive either.

I planted before one of the varieties of the Indigo series and it was productive and decent flavor, I will have to see if the blueberry one that I have is worth the wait.

Silvia

Thanks Silvia! Those are extremely cute ornamentals, but like you say, the production is quite poor. If I want blueberries, I'll grow blueberries, and if I want antioxidants I'll eat borscht and dark kale (which I already eat too much of).

The Indigo tomatoes so far only give me nutrient deficiencies, not because they contain additional flavonoids per pound of fruit ... I get far more from other dietary sources in other vegetables and fruits ... for example, I love black plums but they aren't in with the blueberry fad at the moment, which like the Indigo tomato is far more of a marketing campaign than an effort to provide nutritional information.

The problem is if they don't taste as good as other tomatoes, and have terrible yields (though this will change), I eat less and I grow less so it is just a novelty that turns a few heads... "How cute those tomatoes are". Meanwhile, in the lovable Teddy Jones gene-line, I have about 9 pounds of tomatoes hanging on this plant and the first is yet to be harvested, but will be in a week. This was my second most productive plant. I plant 4 hybrids and 12 OPs, just to strike a balance. While the color of these won't win many contests for novelty, they are actually a pretty tasty tomato.

My #1 productive plant up till yesterday was a Cherokee Purple which still hasn't had the first blush, but my carelessness led to not watching out for 4 pounds of tomatoes all immature, breaking their auxiliary stem off completely last night and taking a ribbon of skin over 6 inches long with it, followed by many tears. I remember someone I know told me to stick to one stem ;-)

For a productive hybrid that is reasonably tasty, this is a great variety for us here. Two equally large clusters are not visible:

Do you have an old faithful heavy producer you like down Winter Garden ways?

PC

PC

I grew a variety of the Indigo tomatoes in the fall of 2012, it was productive and tasted okay, it is growing next to Smarty, one of my favorite cherries

I don't really have a single favorite tomato, it depends on the season and some I grow them more than others. When I really don't like them, I take them out of the rotation. I usually grow cherry and beefsteaks, not so much the medium.

This season has been hard on the big varieties with the cold snap that we had, some of them look like monsters but it is only cosmetic around the skins, I can still use them for sauce or roasted. The weather is nicer now and the big tomatoes look better, From the beefsteaks just this season the one that looks the worst is Big Beef, the one that looks the best Amana and Red Penna. All the cherry tomatoes are okay and actually have abundance now and will have to look to give away and uses for the pot lucks coming up, a lot of kale and a lot of tomatoes. Many cheers for eating healthy! :)

This season, Sweet Treats are looking good in my garden

Silvia

Silvia

Favorite? LOL! How could anyone have a favorite tomato who has grown some of the treasure that get posted to this forum ;-)

Now we're talking! I really love your Sweet Treats hybrid. Production is important to me since I don't have space and I am going to stick STs into one of my hybrid slots next time (You know what they say about flattery and imitation ;-). Looks like Sweet Treats tomato wonderland. Who need Xmas trees down there! You just need Christmas tomatoes! Bravo! I can't wait for you to show us those when they blush bright, just watch out for deer if it starts to "rain".

Speaking of hybrids, unfortunately for my fall season, hybrids shall provide half of the production even though they number in the minority. I never get the story right about the Big Boy (1949) / Better Boy (1971) / Early Girl (1975) anecdotes, but I do think the boys look like guy tomato plants (see my earlier pic) so I can't help thinking this was in the back of the breeder's mind when it was named and then upgraded to be improved, a.k.a. better. Now I have one Early Girl to keep my Better Boy company, and with her this time uncharacteristically large first perky blushing red cluster ... two 8 ouncers symmetrically balancing across the stem, it is not hard to see how this Better Boy teasing hybrid mademoiselle got her well-deserved name, in breeder naming wars, Early Girl (Who I'll have over for lunch tomorrow lol), so take that Better Boy ;-)

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As for the irregular shaped fruits, here's another for you, the result of an earlier cold snap here than when we all froze our pants off into the history books on Nov 19-20. This is the same Indigo plant as before, different cluster, here manifested as an Indigo tomato off-type of the boat shape:

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Can't wait to see how that one turns out! They remind me of the "Muddy Waters" Waglooms a little, but they are not ;-). It's looking fair since temps are ok here if low 60's count over the next ten days. The heat is losing steam ;-( and Xmas is on the way but nice and gradual like I like!

PC

This post was edited by PupillaCharites on Thu, Dec 4, 14 at 18:45

PC, I have a lot of Sweet Treats already ripe. Tomatoes are coming in heavy this week and I will be using for potlucks and to give away to friends...

In this picture ST are the big red cherries, together with Jaunne Flamme, Sungold, Sweet Baby Girl, Marizol.

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And some of the dishes for a potluck, the best kale salad and a tomato one.

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Silvia

I wish you were my neighbor. Your presentation is superb. Lacinato kale is my fav, and tomato based minestrone soup my favorite cooked tomato. Of course I much prefer them raw, but the cooked kale/tomato combination is too inviting.

I was mixed up on your first attractive pic, which is the Marizol, the one that looks like a "mini-Marzano" sort hidden in the middle-left?

It has been cold here. I delayed the harvest of Early Girl and it was worth it, at the moment licking my lips from an Early Girl, baby rainbow chards and Arugula salad. Here's how 5+ pounds of her look in my garden:
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Holding off on harvest on Early Girl is worth it since she seems to have a store-gased interior pulp when I don't do that in cool weather. I'd like more information on the original French variety that Howland mooched off the French breeders when they switched the name to Early Girl in 1974 for joint release by Burpee and Peto. That might be insightful on the parents of the hybrid. Early Girl usually gives bright 6-ounce globes with reasonable flavor, though if you have tasty heirlooms next to her that are early, she's just for moral support and show.

In California, Early Girl has proved more than a fad since she holds her shape under stress so well, she can be dry farmed, and is there, which is a secret some have mentioned in the forum to get sweeter, more intense tomato flavor especially with the durable sweet grape types.

Here's one yummy Early Girl BBW, coming in barely off 9 ounces, and ripened till the last moment on the vine and still pleasantly plump on my palate:

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Here is the same tomato sliced. The seeds are extra large and healthy looking. I am getting a lot of this in the cold as the tomatoes are on the vine longer for the flesh to mature. I'm speculating the seeds mature at a faster rate:

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PC

Ok. You southerners enjoy them maters and never mind us Northerners in the freezing cold. hahaha

Just kidding. We will beat you next July and august and return the favor.

Seysonn

I am so jealous of all you guys having tomatoes off your vines in December, while it's freezing and all white up here. Expecting our next blizzard tomorrow. Enjoy your harvest!!!

Seysonn, I am looking forward to see your tomatoes in the summer when it is too hot to grow them here.:)

Northerner, Thanks but I do feel sorry for everyone having rough weather, tonight it is going to be too cold for tomatoes, about 40 at night in my area...

PC, you are working so hard to have tomatoes, good for you! they look great, when I lived in Phoenix Early Girls did well for me in that weather.

Marizol is the smaller yellow tomato, they have different colors when ripening sometimes light green, then yellow with a red blush, last time I even had few red in the same plant, they are very productive that is why I only plant one.

I picked a lot of tomatoes today before tonight cold snap, making roasted tomatoes again, after cooking all day they are reduced so I can put them in canning jars and use them as toppings for salads, they taste the best done like that with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, herbs and spices.

Some of the yellow ones are Gold Medal, Amana Orange, Pork Chop, Jaunne Flamme, Marizol.
Some of the red ones are Red Penna, Neves Azorean Red, Big Beef.

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Silvia

Bless yer heart Seysonn,

Y'all know down yonder he-ya we's happy a 'possum eatin' a sweet p'tater. Dang, today I done go-post a mater shiny n purtty like a pig's ear.

And she's one heck of a WHOPPER!!!

G'Day Canada! I would trade all of our season's in a flash for just one good year in Leamington! The week is barely starting and all of the nights will be in the 30's here (Below 5 C). We did not break 60 F today (15 C) and it will be that way for the rest of the week. You hear about how great it is in Florida, and how great your summers are. I'm closer to Atlanta than Miami. Nobody hardly talks about what happens where the two greats meet. That's me. We routinely get freezes from the north in winter. Our Spring season is the best, but it is April-Jun and then we get hot and humid like those in Florida proper (those in the penninsula south of us). Very few attempt a fall season and that was over this year on November 19. I slept out one night with the plants to keep them alive with heaters, and managed to cook one plant to death. But I'm smiling now ... because now I'm reaping what I've sown ;-) If you really love tomatoes you can do it. But I would recommend a greenhouse!

Hi Silvia! Very timely and stunning color! I've been into RubyGold lately (the name of the Gold Medal tomato given to it by its true discoverer (1921)). I will have to take a picture for you of my RubyGold t-shirt I'm not growing it this fall, but I have an heirloom vaguely similar to it that predates RubyGold and in my opinion is more beautiful. Hopefully they will ripen before Old Man Winter blows my operation down with frosty breath. Silvia ... in a word about NAR: Yum! Fabulous colors and delicious pics. Thanks for clearing up the Marizol question too ;-)

OK, here's what I'm excited about today!!! I harvested my largest tomato ever. The bad news is, I am not 100% sure what variety it is. The plant was started April 1, too late and I threw it away with its companions of 5 varieties. Then I got this idea to rescue three plants from the garbage, none of which still was attached to a label, and see if I could nurse it through summer. I did, and it did not give a single tomato until the one I harvested today, even though I flushed gallons of water 5 times daily through it for months. I hope if I post the inside some people can help me decide what it is as there are 5 possibilities only.

This plant was subjected to freeze and alternately cooked with a ceramic heater and covered with my personal bedcover as I slept in a sleeping bag to nurse it through a recent freeze. The top of the tomato is scarred and cracked and mold has grown on it, but it has not penetrated it so it will be easy to cut off. This is what a tomato looks like that goes through that sort of culture and has a parent without a greenhouse to look out after it.

My biggest ever, 1 pound 6.8 ounce tomato (645 grams) dangling like Rudolph's nose right over the sidewalk tempting the entire neighborhood:

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Mold, cracks on top, but only skin deep:

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My scale weighs pounds and ounces and metric too. The scale dimensions are 6" X 9":

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PC

Happy Christmas Eve / December 24,

Three days with some torrrential rains;Today's little harvest (First Charlie Buckets Generation 2 with me):

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PC

Merry Xmas, PC.
Those maters look so tasty and of course fresh. Enjoy them.

Seysonn

PC, your tomatoes are looking really good, enjoy your harvest.

Merry Christmas!

Silvia

Thanks Seysonn & Thanks Silvia. Merry Christmas to all!!!

Santa checked his list twice in Jacksonville ... as in the Santa F2 variety of grape tomato grown from saved seeds from purchased Santa Sweets brand Santa F1 tomatoes ... right on time this year which was my only wish for Christmas ;-)

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Special acknowledgements to labradors for the idea to put Santa hats on the Santa F2 variety; and rtpeasant for the motivation and Carolyn, Andrew, and the Procacci Bros. for their input LOL. The plants rival Super Sweet 100 for vigor and I'm 3 for 3 on shape. Taste will follow ... including a third plant on a restricted water, dry farming type diet (which is slower as expected)

PC

This post was edited by PupillaCharites on Thu, Dec 25, 14 at 23:20

Thessaloniki !!! It took me 75 days from transplant, for my first cluster of two large Thessaloniki tomatoes to get ripe fruit but they thankfully made it!

Thessaloniki was introduced by Gleckers to the USA in 1957-58, and it comes directly following their introduction and description of the Roma tomato in the 1958 catalog:

THESSALONIKI (68 days). A wondergul new strain recently developed at the Ministry of Agriculture Experiment Farm in Greece. A cross of early Thessaloniki and late Thessaloniki. Mid season in maturity. Vine growth indeterminate heavy with dense foliage. Plant health throughout the season is very good, carryng considerable resistance to fungus diseases. Most amazing of its characteristic of producing practically all uniform size, deep globular fruits about the size of a baseball. Very beautiful, smooth with perfect blossom ends. Small and rough shaped fruits are a rarity. Skin is very tough, highly resistant to cracking. Ripens to a beautiful scarlet color, uniformly over the entire fruit. Its solid fleshy interior is mildly flavored and fruits keep very well after ripening. Adapted for staking and we value it a very important market or home garden strain. Reports of trials with Thessaloniki say "nothing more could be asked for in tomatoes."

Here they are and I've held my breath for them since it was sown to late on this practice run and I only got one of three plants going. High hopes for them in the 2015 summer heat, and was further piqued by the timely and wonderful post by antonaki with input from rt_peasant too.

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Baseball statistics!
Regulation Baseball
9.00 to 9.25" circumference
2.86 to 2.94" diameter
5.00 to 5.25 oz. weight

Thessaloniki #1
9.92" circumference
3.2" diameter
7.76 oz. weight

Thessaloniki #2
10.31" circumference
3.3" diameter
8.78 oz. weight

Normally Thessaloniki is quoted at 5-6 ounces and quite uniform in size and with golden sun freckles (there are a few in the pic on the plant on the right tomato). Definitely a home run on these first tomatoes ;-)

Greek Salad tomorrow! Unfortunately most of my plants are taking a beating from weather and the cold is returning. Probably will be calling it a season in a couple of weeks. At least I cropped a feel for ThN's at the baseball game, but will probably not get lucky on a couple more varieties that haven't matured in time LOL

PC

This post was edited by PupillaCharites on Tue, Dec 30, 14 at 21:12

Hey PC! Where are you?

Today's THE day!

Will Santa be allowed in the Greek salad? (Do take the hats of first (LOL))

Hurry up and taste them, and let us know how they rate!!!!

Linda

Happy New Year labs! Yes it was the day I made the salad, but not the day I ate it! Yesterday I was so excited to finally make the Thessaloniki based Greek Salad, that it turned into my New Year's celebration. Threw the baseball around a while in honor of Gleckers and the Greek breeders, according to the original description of Thessaloniki. Then I took a picture with a "Golden" Eagle with the ThN variety in honor of the Olympians ... and finally had the Greek Salad on what felt like Mt. Olympus ,for New Year's cheer!

Greek Salad: Two home grown Thessaloniki tomatoes, fresh feta cheese, cucumber, yellow bell, flat parsley, tiny diced garlic, red onion, salad onion, home grown fresh young Greek oregano, Greek Olives (Klamata,Black, Blonde, Mt. Pelion, Mt. Athos, Nafplion), capers, Red Wine Vinegar, Olive Oil, sea salt, paprika. Mix, let sit for flavor, and then eat the next year LOL.

The olives are all from Trader Joes. Santa F2 is still on the vine (not splitting) as one by one his reindeer get red noses on each sleigh, errr. truss ;-)

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My ThNs were seed-rich and had a great deal of placental mass vs. pulp in large brimming locules. One of the problems with being passionate with the tomatoes is that 2/3 of the seed went to be fermented and not into the meal so the tomatoes weren't exactly as I wanted them in the salad but after everything got mixed up, it was hard to tell the difference. The flesh of the tomato was soft and ripened throughout. It was a very, juicy tomato!

HAPPY NEW YEAR'S DAY!
PC

This post was edited by PupillaCharites on Thu, Jan 1, 15 at 11:22

Thanks for the report PC. It looks like an EXCELLENT New Year's Eve meal, and I'm glad to see that you washed it down with some Guinness! (My favourite beer!)

Sorry that Santa is still hanging on the vine, but I wouldn't want you to taste one before its prime!

Happy New Year!
Linda

Thanks to you labs! Well, I say "muh tom-AH-tahs" and you say "thy toe-MAH-toes" ;-) LOL (LOL, teasing about the spelling for favourite), but we are speaking the same language with Guinness!

OK, I took a while to get back because I tried the Santa F2 fruits first on January 1, but only a couple:

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My initial reaction was not a positive as I had hoped for the first two from the first truss, not negative either, but I am getting ahead of myself and want to explain my impressions of the Santa F2 in the way I best know how. So today, January 5, was the taste test number two consisting of four tomatoes from two trusses:

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legend:
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Yes, I now have the peak of my harvest and a foliar mold infestation about to take me out, so this is as good as it gets this week and the rest is down hill. DT (Dark Tiger Exp. off-type ... a Red and Blue (indigo shouldered, striped)14 oz faux beefsteak!), CP Cherokee Purple (17 oz), and CB Charlie Buckets (13 oz), EG Early Girl, Super Sweet 100 are unlabeled, S Santa F2, BB Better Boy.

OK, About Santa F2 taste, the report...

Initial taste was based on two tomatoes that were largest on the truss. All three of my plants have set nice olive shaped fruits a.k.a. grape tomatoes, which I like to call olive tomatoes (see meal consisting of grape tomatoes, olives, Agiorgitiko grape wine, cherry tomatoes and black Bing cherries and other supporting sweets, cheeses and crackers LOL). I used Super Sweet 100 hybrid as the baseline which was grown beside the Santa under carefully controlled identical conditions for these two plants of the taste test. (There is a third plant on a restricted water diet growing in double the the salinity, but that plant is not yet ready though it will be in a few days.)

My first taste was of the two largest Santa F2 fruits on the first cluster. Let me explain the clusters which are generally the same spec on all plants correcting for the lower water plant being slightly smaller. Under normal conditions, my Super Sweet 100 gives me predominantly 15 gram fruits which peter down to 11-12 grams at the end of a truss, maybe 17g each at the top, and usually with around 18 fruits. Santa F2 plants are similar in fruit count, vigor, and production. I'd say I am getting about 25% more out of SS in the way of foliage so Santa F2 is more open, rendering it less attacked by my mold problem ... great. averages perhaps 17-18 grams per fruit, but the top of the truss starts out at about 25 grams, and quickly attenuates down the truss to the average, and is ending up around 12-13 grams per smallest fruit if I can judge the immatures at the moment.

The first time Jan 1, though, the Santa F2 seemed slighlty more acidic than Super Sweet 100, and sweet, but a rung down from the control SS's. However that balance of Santa F2 did have more of an old fashioned taste and it was a nice flavor, better than the ones I purchased as F1 fruits.

The second time Jan 5, Santas were perhaps better at their peak, and the sweetness was comparable, but perhaps the slightest bit less than the control SS. As I chewed the tomatoes, I noticed that SS had a thinner skin (technically, "pericarp") and required less chewing, which I prefer, and the tomatoes were at the point of being picked whole, but if theywere dropped on the counter just a few inches, they would cleanly split from pole to pole. Only one Santa F2 did that splitting deal, proving they do split ... I "tested" them all.

I was generally pleased with the Santa F2 the second time around. If I had a tray with SS and Sta F2 I would gladly reach for either. I expect the productivity of Santa will be 25% less, but the SS on the other hand take up too much darn space for the extra yield, and require more watering as well for the enormous amout of foliage. Space is an issue, so I find the Santa plants much more desireable for that reason, too.

Finally, there is the issue of aftertaste. I love sweet tomatoes, but I like a fruity tomato aftertaste, not a candy one. It somehow feels fresher to me, like a breathing in while having mint on my tongue. Santa F2 beats SS hands down in this. I loved the lingering taste and it seemed to get better!

On balance, I don't prefer either tomato over the other, but there are reasons to like Santa F2. In summer I have had some sweet bicolors that beat these in my sleep, but it would be unfair to extend that to this season. As a matter of fact the same bicolors now are lower acid, but still similar in sweetness to the SS/StaF2 showing here it tracks with the season. I still prefer the bicolor since the texture is much softer than the little tomatoes, but that is general and not really Santa F2 or SS related.

Overall I am satisfied, but my socks haven't been knocked off. So next time I'll include a Santa F2 plant and a new to me small additional sweet small variety.

The Santa F2's slice very easily and nicely longitudinally halved and I liked their presentation on the plate.

Timeline was as follows (not DTM, but days from seed start):
Super Sweet 100
Sown Aug 14, 2014
98 days to first mature fruit

Santa F2
Sown September 9, 2014
100 days to first mature fruit

However, the Santa F2's took an extra few days to germinate since I planted them from a pinch of rushed seeds purchased, extracted and surface sterilized from the grocery store tomatoes, and sown on that same day. So I think the two varieties are ok to consider virtually identical in maturities for my experience.

OK. Yum, the Santas linger nicely and I still feel it. Mmm.

PC

This post was edited by PupillaCharites on Tue, Jan 6, 15 at 0:10

Woo hoo! Glad to hear that you finally got to try Santa F2's and thank you so much for the very detailed taste analysis. You really got me going there - making me wait to hear about the taste!

I also LOVED your presentation of all the ripe ones, although I felt a little nervous that they might all fall into the drink!

So sorry to hear about the mold. I would grab everything that is blushing, just to be on the safe side!

Guiness cheers to toMAHtoes! (that's how *I* say it!)
Linda

LOL! I only got 4 pics of the harvest because they *did* fall in the drink ;-( That's why the hybrids were at the edge as the sacrificial fruits. One BB plopped in the creek (rescued with a shovel intact), another BB fell on the dock, and looked like a crashed windshield, and a third BB in the poison ivy patch on the creek bank (rescued intact but gave me muddy sneakers)...EG who split twice after impact with the dock and a few SS's split on dock impact with only just one escaping to be turtle & fish food.

The BB's were not a big deal since 4/5 of them were from a branch that got too heavy and severed very immature, completely all green and was just hanging dried out by a suspension string, so they were not optimal.

The mold has had it in for my crop since the early days. But it broke critical mass during three warm days that each hit 78-81 (a record) F. Tonight we will have another freeze and be in the 30's this week. The plants are in a high tunnel that gives no protection against temperature unless I seal the ends with drop cloths and expensive surgical tape of which my supply is nearly exhausted and put a 1500 W heater in with them which raised the temperature around 7-10 degrees F during the night. I haven't found another tape that sticks to the plastic that usually has condensation and at this point any more building won't solve the mold/temp/humidity problem and I am already thinking of all the work sterilizing the weed barrier will be in the tunnel.

Overall it has been a huge amount of work with too short a season, but looking and tasting the delicious tomatoes at this time of year grown north of latitude 30 is priceless!

Did I mention Guinness was thejealously guarded secret ingredient in the seedling mix to produce Extra Stout plants ;-) The choices we make ...

TwoMAHtoes, or, TowMAHtoes ? ;-)

PC

Oh dear! What a high price you had to pay for that gorgeous photo of the harvest! I'm so sorry to hear about the spill.

Mold and cold are also conspiring against you! I'll be bringing everything inside (kale and chard included) for the cold spell here in the south east.

I've been popping the pots outside on warm days, but they'll be confined to barracks for a few days when the Polar Vortex sweeps the continent!

That was a terrible pun about the Extra Stout plants!

Happy toemahtoe growing and eating!

Linda

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone! No chocolates here ... just fresh picked healthy TOMATOES!

After last night's freeze, these look good, freshly harvested dessert today. It was a lot of work to cover and keep my plants going, some which are half-dead by now but still have tomatoes and are showing more signs of shaking some of the low light problems. It's a real juggling act to keep everything going and starting new ones at the same time. I used my little hair drier 1500 W heater for 12 hours and it did the trick. Flavor isn't great in winter, but they sure beat anything in my supermarkets. This is Dark Tiger (apple form and torpedo form, all indigos have a bitter aftertaste *to me*, but go down well ... my favorite sweet tomatoes eaten after them don't taste good because of that), Early Girl (poorly developed seed gel due to a weak plant and cold) and Charlie Buckets (less sweet than normal).

I still haven't figured out how to improve the taste of the bicolor when sugars are low, but salt, olive oil or vinegar don't taste good on that variety which is pure sweetness in summer, and I even sprinkled some raw sugar on it but it didn't help much. The best I can come up with so far is fruit salad where the chunks look just like papaya. Maybe for next time! So I tried a smoothie, and even with the benefit of the doubt, it was nasty.

PC

I think you're just going to have to cook them! Poor you with all those extra tomatoes :-(

Haha. I'm counting them one by one now and should make it into early March if I can ration them and bugs don't find them. Maybe I'm partial to my 'maters, but buying Camparis is a lot cheaper and maybe even taste as good, but I would never confirm that compared to what I grew. A 1500 W heater costs $1.50 a night to run in electric, so for a pound of tomatoes ration daily, I'm not sure being tomato crazy is a good idea. I just can't kill my plants, I have a bleeding tomato heart. You're welcome to swap tomato futures with me Labs. Think about it ... fresh juicy tomatoes right now by Priority mail and you just send me an equal amount in August to cover your option when the only thing I'm harvesting is is sour muscadine grapes and hollow maypops ;-(

PC

Throw in some bitter oranges along with those maters and you just might have a deal! I'd have to send you some dehydrated tomatoes in August though {LOL}.

Dehydrated tomatoes? Let me think about that one ;-) Next thing you'll say they're imported ;-) What we need is a Round Robin "Fresh tomatoes by Priority Mail Campaign", but enthusiastic as I am, I think the awesome organizer has to a spreadsheet available, and then there's the Canadian participation which is an absolute must. This is the poor person's version of my spreadsheets since my last system crashed and I have none of the original disks here to do such an incredible fresh event (can't save your files, well, maybe you can, I don't remember). You know it's a good idea. Think wish list and nobody will frown upon you saving a few seeds for what you ate. The next generation of tomato tasting delivered to you today! Yayy!

PC

Hi PC
Congrats on your hard worked tomatoes! I took out all my big varieties to make space for the new ones and I just kept the cherries which are producing abundantly even with the cold temperatures.
Making a lot of salads and have plenty of oven dried tomatoes in the freezer

Hi Silvia, so glad you found your way back :-) My mouth always gets watery and could devour most all of your posted pics! Looks like you captured the Sun's Gold for a real Sweet Treat in a celestial blue pleated plate! ;-) I'll have to raid my Santas so the grape can make it's last stand for a respectable picture to keep up with you for the moment ;-). The only nice thing about this cold here is that if the tomatoes are kept above freezing, they can last so long on the plants ... they don't have top be picked every day as long as they are protected from birds and squirrels (!!!)

I bet your transplants are quite big by now, and that's a nice cherry tomato trick to have some munching maters to fill in the gap. I'd like to do that but everything is tied up and intertwined, and since I'm also working with seedlings each day. I'm afraid to clean up little by little with the mold spores that will go flying in my hair and clothes if I try to separate the plants.

Suddenly I'm hungry! Cheer!

PC

Silvia ! There you are ! I remember you from another post where you were showing tomatoes and the delicious things you made from them. PC, how I'd love to grab the sea salt and dive in !

Deeby, Yummy sea salt really does take care of everything except the sweet ones ;-) I hope your balcony gets filled with at least *three* great varieties really soon so you can play hide and seek picking them!

PC

Thanks ! I can hardly wait !

You Floridans are killing me !
Just kidding. Enjoy !

Seysonn