White tomatoes? Purple Carrots? Odd...

annie1992

9 years ago

OK, so I like my garden and I grow my old favorites and heirlooms, but I like to "mix it up" too.

I always grow my favorite white tomato, and I save the seeds every year because I don't really know what it is, although I think it's Great White. I just toss them in with the red tomatoes, usually, although I make a great soup with just the whites. The latest picking looked like this..

Became this..

and ended up as this, my first (and probably only) batch of salsa this year. We just don't eat much of it and I made 14 pints.

I also grew Purple Dragon carrots, which are sweet and delicious, sweeter than the orange ones.

They are purple all the way through...

Their color leeches out into the canning liquid and comes out nearly black, it's so dark purple.

I also grew some Adirondack Blue potatoes, but they sure look purple to me. They also keep their color and make some really odd mashed potatoes, LOL.

Hey, all that work, I might as well have some fun with my vegetables! Not that I get the grandkids to eat them any more readily...

Annie

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Comments (15)

John Liu
9 years ago
I love purple carrots, purple potatoes, all funky colored fruit. You're lucky and wise to grow them.
surya55_gw
9 years ago
Different and quite impressive, your collection. That salsa looks so delicious. You can make purple potato chips; bet the grandkids would love them!
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Piling compost on top won't have enough effect in lightening the texture of the soil without really digging it in, but over time (3 years, maybe?) you will have soil the way you want it, because your native soil fauna will dig it in for you. An alternative is to grow smaller carrots, that can handle dense soils more easily, like Parmex, Chantenay Red Core, or Shin Kuroda; or round varieties, such as Thumbelina, Atlas, or Parisienne. The round ones are particularly prized by chefs lately, as well as the non-orange varieties. The round carrots were traditionally grown in window boxes in Paris, and are very well suited for shallow soils. For the longer varieties you have, there is really no substitute for deep, light soil. Leaf mold is my go-to amendment for carrots. If you have woods nearby, rake off the upper, still intact leaves and you will find a layer of spongy, moist, mostly decomposed leaves. If you collect some of that and mix it in the clay, it will last a few years (certainly longer than compost) and make a huge difference in your soil texture immediately. Don't take too much from any one area, it is an important part of the forest ecosystem. (This is why I love my garden fork - it is much easier for digging in clay and mixing in amendments. Don't you have a birthday coming up?)
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I have a small amount of St Valery carrots and some Rainbow Inca Corn I would like to trade you for some Aunt Rubys Green tomato and purple plum radish if interested.
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I'm considering ordering the Anatolian carrot seeds from Turkey, and was wondering if anyone has any experience with them yet, that they can report? I have been buying deep purple carrots (nearly black) with a deep purple core at the local farmer's market here, and they are absolutely delicious, with an intense, sweet carrottey flavor and none of the bitterness that sometimes comes with regular carrots! When I went in search of seeds, I quickly discovered that the only ones that are readily available are either not entirely deep purple (mostly lighter purple, often with an orange or white/yellow core, sometimes more reddish), and that the seeds that are deep purple are all F1 hybrids. Which I am trying to avoid. I also discovered that the purple carrots are the original carrots. I have yet to ask the people at the farmer's market where they get their seeds from (the carrots are currently out of season), but I expect they are probably hybrids as well. I see packets being sold with a 'rainbow mix' (different colors), which is generally how they are sold at the market too - I just pick out the purple ones, because they are the tastiest! I've asked the Turkish sellers on Ebay if their seeds are organic, hybrids or open-pollinated, treated in any way... but their English isn't good enough to understand. So I'm considering just taking the plunge... But any prior experiences are welcomed! :)
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Susan, You're welcome. With your interest in tomatoes, there are two books I highly recommend. I first read them about 7 or 8 years ago when I was trialing large numbers of open-pollinated types and I wanted to know more about where all these tomatoes came from. The first is by Andrew F. Smith and is "The Tomato in America: Early History, Culture and Cookery", University of South Carolina Press, 1994, and my copy is a paperback copy published by the University of Illinois in 2001. I enjoyed every bit of it and have reread it several times. I especially enjoyed the section on the tomato as medicine. Before reading it, I didn't know that "tomato pills" were a form of snake oil medicine touted to cure every ill known to mankind, and there was a great tomato pill war between competing manufacturers/sellers. I kind of giggled my way through that part of the book. There's also a bunch of fascinating very old recipes dating back to at least the 1800s. The other is the book about early tomato breeder and seed seller A. W. Livingston and is called "A. W. Livingston and the Tomato". It was written by A. W. Livingston and his sons and was first published in 1893. After reading it, I went to Victory Seeds, which is the online source for the most varieties of Livingston Seeds you'll find in one place with their authentic history, and bought every variety of Livingston tomatoes they had. I still grow one or two Livingston tomato varieties every year. I bought both of these books "used" for very reasonable prices on Amazon.com long ago and thoroughly enjoyed every bit of them. There are many more 'technical' tomato books out there, but I wanted these for the history. I've read 10 or 15 tomato books in the last decade, and there hasn't been a bad one in the bunch. Dawn
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annie1992
Original Author
9 years ago
Purple potato chips, now there's an idea for Halloween! I wonder how I can keep them fresh if I made them ahead of time....

John, sometimes I just like to surprise the grandkids, and they think it's far more fun to grow a purple carrot than a "plain old orange" one. I've even finally gotten Bud to take Sungold tomatoes to school for his "healthy snack", but it's mostly because he has a friend who loves them and he takes enough to share.

Annie
sleevendog (5a NY 6aNYC NL CA)
9 years ago
Love the variety. I do the same.
I am so deep in garden produce now...
I don't pull my carrots for a few weeks but the tomatoes
and the peppers are insanely prolific...
Made another fresh salsa batch and took it to work.
Smoked corn salsa.
Don't know the variety of my favorite tomatoes either...
but smear the seeds on a paper towel and let them dry.
(the stem end)...many seeds for next year.
dcarch7 d c f l a s h 7 @ y a h o o . c o m
9 years ago
White tomatoes are my favorite.

Those carrots are unbelievable. I got to try to grow some next year.

dcarch
annie1992
Original Author
9 years ago
dcarch, the Purple Dragons grew really well here and were so sweet I was surprised. Plus, they look really cool, LOL.

I also grew some white carrots, and they are good, but not as good as the purple.

The white tomatoes are my second favorite, after the pink Mortgage Lifter. The whites, though, are bigger, heavier, meatier, they have few seeds and lots of tomato. Should I save you some seeds? (I haven't figured out how to grow carrots and save seeds yet, or I'd offer you some of those, LOL)

Annie
Islay_Corbel
9 years ago
I was told that carrots were originally purple and it was the Dutch that bred an orange coloured one! Don't know if it's true...
Your veggies are fun.
Monkey_Princess_101
9 years ago
Purple Carrots Are Kind Of Good But Not As Good As Those Tigger Melons (lol)

#Monkey Princess
bettyd_z7_va
9 years ago
Annie,

Thanks for sharing. I'm dreaming of my seed order for next year. It's always wonderful to hear what others have tried & judged a winner.

I was eating one of my Cherokee Purple tomatoes today & DH asked me why I was eating a rotten tomato! I tried to get him to taste it, but he wouldn't.

I love to try lots of new & colorful fruits & veggies. It takes him a while. At least for purple tomatoes! Bless his heart!

Betty
anoriginal
9 years ago
Made me think of purple "green" beans. Interesting to look at, good flavor, but they immediately turn bright green when cooked or blanched.
writersblock (9b/10a)
9 years ago
>Interesting to look at, good flavor, but they immediately turn bright green when cooked or blanched.

Never grew any, but according to the folks in the FL garden forum, a dash of vinegar in the cooking water will keep the purple color.
lpinkmountain
9 years ago
Next year in my Children's Garden I may have to do a "purple patch." Tomatoes, carrots, beans, cabbage or kale, perhaps potatoes, or eggplant, although I don't like to grow them and tomatoes in the same bed, maybe some basil . . .
annie1992
Original Author
9 years ago
L, I think a purple patch would be a great idea.

This year's purple tomato was Indigo Blue Berry, which was a lovely dark purple on top and a dark maroon underside. The purple carrots were Purple Dragon, the potatoes were Adirondack Blue. I also grew Royal Burgundy beans, red cabbage, although it was really more purple and plain old eggplant, but these are all varieties that did well in Northern Michigan, so I'm sure they'll grow for you there.

Annie
lpinkmountain
9 years ago
I wonder if there are purple beets? Beets are so dang expensive at the store. $2.49 for a bunch of THREE beets that weighed a pound! Needless to say I didn't buy them. The farm market here is only open until noon on Sat. and I can never get my rear in gear to get over there on time!
annie1992
Original Author
9 years ago
L, I think Detroit Dark Red is as close to purple as you'll get, they are a rich burgundy color, although the Chiogga are neater, they have those white and red circles, like a candy cane.....

Annie

White tomatoes? Purple Carrots? Odd...

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