Rants and observations so far this season

17 years ago

RANT: Cream Sausage is the tasteless tomato of the century. If it's possible for a tomato to taste like a bland cucumber, this one does.

OBSERVATION: If there is a better tasting, more perfect for containers tomato than Lime Green Salad, I haven't seen it. These plants are so short!! And tasty!

OBSERVATION: TN Yellow cherries are really nice and sweet, but very small. I got out the seed package to see if it said currant in parentheses somewhere.

OBSERVATION: Fargo kicks Yello Pear's butt in flavor and meatiness. And it's determinate.

RANT: Why do my Black from Tula's look like large pear tomatoes!? My neighbor came over and asked me to look at the plants I gave her, and I was like god, lady. Your Fargos are huge! Then they turned black. Pictures to come. I'm perplexed.

RANT: Green Zebra wouldn't grow for me if I paid it.

RANT: Why don't watermelons come with instructions on when to pick? Also, for that matter (and I know its a tomato forum), why don't the seed companies just say "this melon is super fragrant, but it is not grown for eating. So unless you have a body odor problem, or burned off your taste buds, don't order them even though they look awesome." For that matter, I feel like they should have warned me about Cream Sausage. Why do I have to b such a sucker for seed catalogs...

OBSERVATION: The tomatoes I want to try the most are the slowest to grow/ripen.

I know you all probably have a ton of recipes, and I always see some beautiful pictures of food on here. Something I've done a lot recently with the cherries is make like a 7 or 8 variety cherry tomato bruschetta. Just cut them up as small as you have patience for, drizzle a bit of olive oil and balsamic over them, shred cut some basil, and those little fresh mozzerella balls, mix, and put on toasted french or sourdough bread. Get enough of a variety of colors in there, and it's really beautiful. And if you have a lot of time on your hands, you can rub a clove of garlic on the bread. I used to do that, but now find myself wanting more the taste of the tomatoes than the garlic.

I'll post pictures of my mystery Black From Tula tomorrow.

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Comments (13)

hortist
17 years ago
OBSERVATION: The tomatoes I want to try the most are the slowest to grow/ripen.

LESSON: Good things are worth the wait.

RANT: VARMITS! see {{gwi:1355431}}

OBS: Poor producer and unless DEAD ripe Doctor's Green is right up there with Cream Sausage. It's not necessarily bland but the antiseptic aftertaste is very unpleasant.

CHEERS: A new yellow plum that segregated out of another line. It is not dry or mealy like many other pastes and has a really nice flavor. On a short determinate plant.

CHEERS: For my odd growing season. Wet at first and lots of leaf blight but now dry and not overly hot (very few days over 90 has been very odd for here. It's usually 95-100 this time of year) so the tastes are concentrated and incredible. The dry weather has also stopped the blight.
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beth11
17 years ago
Hortist,

Can I borrow your squirrel catcher?

RANT: some critter is getting thru or over my electric fence and eating bites out of most all the ripe tomatoes!

Beth
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gobig_or_gohome_toms
17 years ago
This rant has been posted before but I will post again.

RANT: Super Fantastic in my container has had BER on almost every tomato so far I am looking at getting maybe 3-6 smaller tomatoes on a 8 foot plant. Waste of my limited space.

CHEERS: Heatwave set lots of fruit on my 100 degree deck. Tast test to come in the next few days I hope it is decent.
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superwife
17 years ago
Jeremy, I bought a Black from Tula plant from EBay last year, same thing like yours, fruit shape like pear. Does yours PL? Mine is. They tasted good, sweet and little smoky so I saved the seeds and planted it again this year. I think mine was mislabled.
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HoosierCheroKee
17 years ago
Observation: Tomatoes that are great at one stage of segregation (Brandy Boy F4) can sire tomatoes that ain't worth much at the next stage of segregation (Brandy Boy F5).

Observation: Disease + Procrastination not always = Bad. I let a Glamour go all the way down to wilt or blight or whatever it was and it fell against a Mozark plant which continues to thrive with no signs whatever of pestilence.

Observation: Some of the most ballyhooed varieties on the Web turn out to be the biggest disappointments in the ground.

Observation: After the height of the season leaves you overwhelmed with or even a little weary of it all, suddenly as a thunderbolt, a late season jewel will sneak up and surprise the living hell-outta-you :::smile:::
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sunsi
17 years ago
I like this thread it's nice to read the truth spoken regardless. heh, I've got a few I'd like to add too.

Observation: It's best to brag after the season is over, for instance I'm using Earth Boxes this year for the first time and thought there would be no disease problems well.....I think all tomatoes eventually "catch" something no matter how careful you are. I believe that different varieties display disease in various degrees some being a little more resistant therefore last longer but the day usually comes when they all get infected. Never say never. :)

Observation: Yes, hybrids are not quite as good as heirlooms/OP but they can't be dismissed entirely. I had my first tomato today from a hastily store bought "something-or-other", lol And Jet Stars are a wonderful addition to the garden in both taste and production. But still, I wait for patiently for those OP gems still green but coming on strong err, that's if disease don't get 'em. :P

Pondering: Why do seed companies choose to describe a tomato as "tasty" I will NEVER buy a variety called tasty!?!?!. I look for words like "fruity with a great aftertaste" or "absolutely the best green/white/yellow variety there is" those kind of word descriptions are convincing. It makes me wonder why they choose to use that word, have they actually tasted the tomato and if they have isn't it possible to say something a little more descriptive about the flavor. I think they they use the word tasty for tomatoes that aren't very impressive better to say something nice and non-committal just my 2 cents on unimaginative seed catalogs. :D

(Note: please don't take this as directed towards you, jeremy_davis because you used "the word" in your post. This has been something I have wanted to say for a long time about seed catalogs and this seemed the the right place unfortunately. It's also mostly tongue-in-cheek so please don't take personally. :)

Observation: Watering seems like the hardest thing to get right sometimes especially for new gardeners there's a tendency to either over-water or as the season wears on to not be as diligent with this task.

Observation: At the start of the season I'm beginning to realize that my family will never be as tomato-crazy as I am, lol I could talk endless hours about this and that variety and can't wait for the first ripe one to appear. However, this does not foster an increased affection for tomatoes on the part of my family members but (horrors) it has the opposite affect that's why I love coming to this forum, thanks for listening. *sniff* :)
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tosser
17 years ago
Observational Rant: Chadwick's Cherries. Perfectly wonderful little tomatoes, yes, however, I suspect them of having some sort of mint gene, as I could swear they're spreading via underground runners.

What began as 5 tiny, well-mannered plants has morphed into a bulging, misshapen, red-and-green-dotted, 7'-high privet hedge. To make it worse, a cucumber is now tangled up in it at one end and at the other end I engage in daily battle to prevent a squash from latching on.

They were planted into virgin soil a mere 5' from a cornfield that had God knows how many gallons of anhydrous sprayed on it this spring. Live & learn (the other toms are all at least 10' from the field).

On the up side, I was able to trade a basket of cherry tomatoes for a basket of black raspberries!
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goggomobil
17 years ago
RANT / OBSERVATION: One lone deer has been smart enough to browse my tomatoes, and potatoes and mow my corn, sunflowers and beets to nubbins(at least three times) IMMEDIATELY after a rain rinsed off the Kirk's castile soap deterrent. What beet seedlings it didn't eat were stomped halfway to Hades. The soap trick, otherwise, has paid off well.

RANT / OBSERVATION / KICKING MYSELF: Four hills of tomatoes (Bradley and Sugar Lump) that I started from seed were well prepared with compost... that had jillions of tomato seeds in it. D'OH!
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t_bred
17 years ago
Rant: Porterhouse isn't worth my garden space.
Observation: After all these years, Better Boy still is.
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raisemybeds
17 years ago
RANT: Tomato plants in the "back" of the staggered plantings get more blight because of less airflow due to a fence being back there. Only solution is to plant less tomatoes next time - like that's gonna happen.

RAVE: Phenomenal fruitset on everything this year. Unbelievable amount of deliciousness coming through.

RANT: First Cherokee Green to ripen had BER, darn it. I really want to try this one soon.

RAVE: Lemon Boy, luscious Lemon Boy.

RANT: It's supposed to rain here most of next week. A lot of fruit will be ripening and may split if the rain is severe. I hate that. And it makes the disease issues worsen. Hate that too.
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mattmelcher
17 years ago
OBSERVATION: First time ever with no Blossom End Rot. I'll count my blessings and expect it to be really bad next year.

QUESTION: Does watering the garden make it rain?

OBSERVATION: My Black From Tula look just like the picture on the seed packet. Nice and round. God only knows when they'll be ripe enough to pick, but they sure look good.

I took some pictures of a few ripe ones and posted them on my blog...see the link below...

Here is a link that might be useful: My Garden Blog
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jackinthecountry
17 years ago
QUESTION: Does watering the garden make it rain?

Ans: Yes!
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sunsi
17 years ago
mattmelcher Quote:
"First time ever with no Blossom End Rot. I'll count my blessings and expect it to be really bad next year."

I love that line would make it my sig if we were allowed such things here at the GardenWeb, lol :D
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Rants and observations so far this season

Comments (13)

hortist

beth11

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