...this has been the best tomato year for me in a long time, due to lower temps. It's nice having more than I know what to do with! I just put another 6 lbs of them in my dehydrator today - I weighed them, to see what the equivalent is when dried out.
For the gardeners here, here are my thoughts on all of the tomatoes I have grown (or not!) this season. And here are a few
Tomato Photos I took of the harvested tomatoes, though there are many that I simply have none to photograph, due to the splitting from the heavy rains. However, the rains really haven't been nearly as bad as the last couple years. It just seems the spurts of rains split the tomatoes, even though they are watered regularly. Some did great, however, as noted.
BKX - Black krim potato leaf - Good flavor, but not very productive, and almost every tomato split in heavy rains. 10-14 oz tomatoes
Black cherry - Every plant for broken by heavy winds soon after transplant, due to thin stems, as with the Champagne - the only two to get broken. I made some clones with the broken plants, but only one took, and is about 3' tall with flowers on 8-11.
Black Hole Sun Cherry - Good flavor, and fairly large, elongated cherries, at least the few I got. But after I started getting Those occasional heavy summer thunderstorms, every single fruit slit deeply, and could not be saved. Could have let them rot, to save the seeds, but I won't want to grow it again!
Blue Tears Cherry (another free sample, but I have to grow at least one, being a Tom Wagner tomato!) - Dark leaves are probably the reason for the name. Fairly productive, though a little late, and the one in the ground came down with some blight, while the UD was OK. And another one of those of which heavy rains split EVERY tomato.
Champagne cherry - didn't get a plant to survive the winds of spring, due to the thin, brittle stems. Might try again, but I'll keep this in mind, and maybe use a WOW.
Cheetham's potato leaf - Another variety slit by heavy rains, though this has those circular splits, that tend to seal up, so the fruits were usable. Still, nothing great, as far as production, and the flavor was good, but not fantastic, so I probably won't grow again, but there's still time left for these things to do something out there!
Flamenco - My first ripe tomato this year, and it was incredibly productive for a long time, until several came down with a blight, though a lot of new growth showed up on all of them after I trimmed the bad stuff. Good flavor, and not a single split tomato!
Green Zebra - Late - about 7-25 - and BER on the first couple on each plant, which is typical. Great flavor, as always, and this and the Sweet Carneros Pink were the flavor winners, when I had taste sets.
Malachite (didn't want to try to spell the real name!) - Very un-productive, and I think I only got one good fruit from two plants, since the few that were there split and rotted before ripening. Not a keeper.
Nichol's Heirloom - Small, pink tomato, looking and tasting almost exactly like the Porter Cherry, but a larger plant. Rather late (maybe 80 days), but very productive, once they got going. Good flavor, and no split tomatoes.
Porter Cherry - Good, but probably will be replaced in my garden by Nichol's HL.
Pink Bumblebee - Good, but purple one better. This one's flavor is a little flatter, and more acidic, but still good, and no split tomatoes.
Purple Bumblebee - Definitely a keeper! Productive and flavorful, and none split, and the plants seem resistant to things around them. And these store well after picked, not getting those soft spots I always end up finding on Black Cherries, even when the shoulders are green.
Sunsugar - delicious, and the sweetest of all, as always. I still eat more of these in the garden than elsewhere
Sweet Carneros Pink - Great flavor, though these started out bad, with about 7 or 8/plant with BER, while not another plant in the garden had it! (not until green zebra, and only a couple there). Once it got over that, it became very productive, with some splitting, but it is the type of tomato that sort of heals the splits, rather than rotting. One plant came down with a horrible blight, while the 4 others just had minor leaf yellowing, and the usual early leaves dying off. Didn't get to find out if it is heat resistant (fortunately!), but I will grow it again.