PNW Tomato Tuesday 2013

Marc Iverson wrote:...This is the third time I've grown sungolds, and I've never been disappointed.  They were prolific and easy to grow for me in Southern California and they same goes for 1500 feet elevation in Southern Oregon.  

I'm most excited about Blond Kopfchen, though.  I learned about them very late and planted them late, the first crop failing to germinate at all in peat pellets, the second crop germinating only 2 of 8.  Boy are my hopes riding on those two!...

Keep hearing good things about those sungolds. Makes me feel impatient. Mine have had fruit for a bit now, but no ripe ones yet. Hmmm... I thought cherry tomatoes ripened more quickly. Good luck on those Blond Kopfchen!

Thanks!

I am the King of Tomato Flowers, and the Mayor of Green Tomatoes, but merely the Outhouse Custodian of ripe tomatoes.

Having tomato hornworms ruining your first 20 Early Girl and Brandywine tomatoes sure doesn't help ... *sigh*

 

Marc,  I predict you will end up a great gardener.  It takes failures as well as successes, tossed with a liberal dose of humor, to be a gardener.   

Hate those horn worms.  They hang on for dear life when I try to pull them off.

Marc,

I also appreciate your sense of humor!

As for the hornworms, try planting borage nearby. It's decorative, edible, attracts bees, and discourages those nasty green things that adhere so stubbornly to your tomato plants.

July 16.....

Toy Box outdoor tomato garden

 I've read about peeps who don't know what to do with all their tomatoes. This is the first time that I am close to being one!! It is difficult to feel bad for the rest of the tomato growing world, rain drenched and wondering if all those spots on the tomato leaves are some kind of horrible disease (hint, check the joints between the stem and leaves for blackness, otherwise you are seeing what the PNW gets in a "normal" year). Yellow blotches, brown spots, all from too much rain. I see the posts from around the country, "what's wrong with my tomato?" and I think to myself, "It thinks it is summering in Everett." No water spots on the tomatoes is weird. Leaf curl, yes, but no spots. (a quiet Yeah! while trying to keep a sympathetic heart)

Grandma's Pic F1

Last season, 2012, Grandma's Pic came in a box of tomato plants from TSC. I do not remember ordering her. One plant I was sure I ordered didn't come. I'm sure it was my fault, not TSC's (I checked the computer print-up). Last season I was growing tomatoes, trying to discover which green tomatoes would ripen with enough flavor and color on the side-board in late fall to make them earn their space. To my surprise, Grandma's Pic ripened a nice bright red without any gross stuff that early season tomatoes are prone to when ripened the same way. The flavor was uninspiring raw but wonderful in soup and sauce (both of which include cognac... a shot for the pot and one for the cook, soooo). Long story longer, bought a package of seed this season. I was surprised to see this red ripe tomato in my greenhouse.... never mind that it is so ugly, it is red, which is all that really counts in Everett. The taste was nice. Not better then Stupice, but nice. I am going to wait until one of her prettier sisters is fully ripe to do a score-card, taste test.

Stupice tomatoes and an apricot

Speaking of Stupice, here is the link to the taste test.... your mileage may vary.
Tomato Taste Test 2013: Stupice

Lavender Debs wrote:...you are seeing what the PNW gets in a "normal" year). Yellow blotches, brown spots, all from too much rain. I see the posts from around the country, "what's wrong with my tomato?" and I think to myself, "It thinks it is summering in Everett." ...

LOL I've been thinking the same thing! But they fight so many diseases that we don't, that I've been reluctant to say anything. When we have a cool season with lots of rain, one thing that eases my disappointment is to see the same symptoms you describe on my ornamental plants too ie. it's not just a tomato issue, and it is what it is.

I've been eating some ripe greenhouse tomatoes, but my outside toms aren't even blushing yet.

boffer wrote:

Lavender Debs wrote:...you are seeing what the PNW gets in a "normal" year). Yellow blotches, brown spots, all from too much rain. I see the posts from around the country, "what's wrong with my tomato?" and I think to myself, "It thinks it is summering in Everett." ...

LOL  I've been thinking the same thing!  But they fight so many diseases that we don't, that I've been reluctant to say anything.  When we have a cool season with lots of rain, one thing that eases my disappointment is to see the same symptoms you describe on my ornamental plants too  ie. it's not just a tomato issue, and it is what it is.

I've been eating some ripe greenhouse tomatoes, but my outside toms aren't even blushing yet.

Same here. (not saying anything). Get me east of the Cascades or south of the Applegate.... or even the Colombia, and all my so-called experience is worthless. I want to say, "Don't waste your niem (sp?) oil, but even though it looks (and sounds like) cold rain damage, who am I to say? I think the same thing about their poor beans.

BTW, I know you do not plant early tomatoes. The "blush" is from Stupice and Ceylon so don't give them a 2nd thought. I used a tent (not quite as sturdy as your corn house but the same idea) on  my tomato garden for all of spring. We found stick-on zippers at lowes that allowed them to not bake on those ten 80 degree spring days before normal came back. Gave everything a good start. Even one of the Persimon is getting yellow.

little bit of taste testing going on in our familygardens

 in order of who ripen first....not which taste the best as we haven't sample all of our tom's yet  

Maskotka 90 day....is one of our first ripe tomato this year.... it's sitting up against the house....and it continues to produce ripe red larger size cherry tomato .....the taste is ok....not as sweet as I would like it to be....a bit mushy inside and the skin hangs around inside your mouth to the last chew and swallow....



The Gold Nugget yellow cherry ripened about the same time as the Maskotka....but maybe a tad bit behind at 2nd place.....its in the ground....taste is ok....feel inside the mouth is good....not mushy..

WA cherry....a bit larger cherry...... comes in 3rd for ripening....taste is ok....texture in mouth is ok.....the plant is not to healthy but hanging in there

Sweetie cherry....small cherry tom.....was our favorite last year....so far this year its our favorite for taste.....comes in 4th place for ripening...has the sweet taste we like....nice feeling in the mouth....not mushy....skin melts when chewing.....the plant is in-ground....not as healthy as last years that was in our son's self watering container with MM....but its still doing fine for our PNW

Red Robin....55 days....Det.....med size cherry....comes in 5th place in ripening.....in a compact hanging basket ....very healthy plant....would like the taste a bit sweeter....texture is ok.....waiting to try a few more to get a better feel for the tom.....so far though.....I think its a great hanging basket tom



Next to try a taste....soon...as its almost ready is the Oregon spring...60 days .....IN-det.......plant health is good....the size of the tom's seem to be med-large size fruit...growing in clusters....med size bushy plant



still waiting to taste:

Thai pink egg
Boondocks
Bush Beef steak
Super Bush

Tasted last year but yet this year:

Super Italian Paste
Jubilee
Marglobe

happy Tomato Tuesday!!!
Rose

sanderson wrote: 

Marc,  I predict you will end up a great gardener.  It takes failures as well as successes, tossed with a liberal dose of humor, to be a gardener.   

Hate those horn worms.  They hang on for dear life when I try to pull them off.

I hope you're right! I also hope to one day even *see* a hornworm, but no luck so far. My friend who has a couple of beds right next to mine has plucked off a couple, but I would like my vengeance to be personal.

I also appreciate your sense of humor!

As for the hornworms, try planting borage nearby. It's decorative, edible, attracts bees, and discourages those nasty green things that adhere so stubbornly to your tomato plants.

donnainzone, thanks!

Borage, eh? Hmm, I love attracting bees, and am willing to go to considerable trouble to get rid of hornworms ... will look into it, thanks!

Lavender Debs wrote:

Grandma's Pic F1

I love this tomato! How funny looking, like it's bunching up its tomato fists to punch itself.

Deb love your ugly tom!!!....wow....its a BIG one too....so early my friend!!

I agree with what you wrote on your facebook page about how this type of summer here in our area only comes along once in a while....in fact for us it was 5 years ago we had another summer like the one we are having now and that was the reason for building our gardens..... .....our first year was 2 tomato plants, 2 cucumbers and a few onions.....we harvested more cucumbers and tomato then we knew what to do with....all in our front yard under our rose plants..... ....that summer gave us the gardening bug.....the good kind  

hugs
rose

Marc Iverson wrote:Thanks!

I am the King of Tomato Flowers, and the Mayor of Green Tomatoes, but merely the Outhouse Custodian of ripe tomatoes.

Having tomato hornworms ruining your first 20 Early Girl and Brandywine tomatoes sure doesn't help ... *sigh*

  I feel your pain Marc.....that's why this year we planted more cherry type tomato plants.....they seem to do better......not sure on the taste though...so far only one of them we really love.....the others are ok....but maybe we are to picky....as I didn't care much for the beloved Brandywine we grew last year  

happy gardening
rose

As far as homegrown tomatoes, I've heard/read here that early tomatoes don't count, and that cherry tomatoes don't count.  Well that's all I've got planted (one of each) and no blush yet on either type!   That's okay - I'm just glad they are growing and like y'all have mentioned, I'm loving the healthy foliage we have this year.  Knowing I've got beds to plant them in, I should be able to start them from seed myself next year and get them going earlier.

They are up to the third rung on my tomato cages. I pruned them quite a bit the other day. I had accidentally suckered the determinate the first time I pruned it (forgetting that they need to be treated differently), so probably lost some potential fruit to that.

gwennifer wrote:As far as homegrown tomatoes, I've heard/read here that early tomatoes don't count, and that cherry tomatoes don't count.  Well that's all I've got planted (one of each) and no blush yet on either type!  

 Pshaw! Those rules only count in Yelm and the rest of the country. In the PNW, (with the afore mentioned exception), all that counts is a tomato of some sort.

Lavender Debs wrote:

gwennifer wrote:As far as homegrown tomatoes, I've heard/read here that early tomatoes don't count, and that cherry tomatoes don't count.  Well that's all I've got planted (one of each) and no blush yet on either type!  

 Pshaw! Those rules only count in Yelm and the rest of the country. In the PNW, (with the afore mentioned exception), all that counts is a tomato of some sort.

Guilty as charged!

But y'all have just about convinced me to try Stupice next year. My Bloody Butchers are producing nicely, but the flavor is nothing to get excited about.

I've read in a number of places that Stupice is especially good in the PNW and for where I live in particular, so I guess I'll be trying it next year.

I love the look of brandywines, especially since I've virtually never eaten a tomato that looks anything different from the store-bought medium round red standard except for cherries and orange Sungold cherries, and am hoping I like the taste. It wouldn't have to be great to be better than the usual store stuff, though.

Next year I'd like to get some odd-looking tomatoes like green zebra or something with a multi-colored inside.

Debs, thanks for that! Gave me a laugh how you called boffer out like that.   boffer I read through that thread on azomite with interest. I too have read about mineral depletion affecting taste and about the brix (I think?) value of vegetables as a measurement of their taste. I recall you being after the taste of your grandmother's tomatoes. Is this something you've considered experimenting with?

Marc, I too had never eaten a tomato that looked so different before until I grew my own just last year. It is fun!

FWIW everyone, Yard n' Garden land on Hwy 99 just north of 99th Street here in Vancouver has a small selection of seeds from Territorial Seed company and they are currently carrying both Stupice and Oregon Spring tomato seeds. If anyone just wants either of those, it sure beats paying the shipping charges when you order from the catalog.

July 23

Striped Roma

Striped Roma is the tomato plant I remember ordering in 2012. Somehow I got a Grandma's Pick F1 instead. Striped Roma is the only plant I ordered from TSC for 2013. The poor little sprout did not look really healthy but it has sure taken off. It looks like I might actually get a ripe tomato from this late season plant. This tough guy really has to be watched or it will take over the garden. As it is, I let it grow two "main" stems hoping for twice as much fruit from a single square foot.

Chianti Rose

Icky! So I kept seeing a monster tomato on this stem. I thought it was a Persimmon but if it is a Persimmon then why didn't it ripen orange? Going through my packets of seed for the taste test I saw the name Chianti Rose and had an "aw-haw" moment. (So many of my labels got mixed up) Kneeling down for a better shot of this monster I realized how yucky she has become. All split and gross. Too bad. I've been waiting a long time to try this tomato. More green tomatoes coming. I guess I better be careful with the water.

Second Tomato Taste Test: Grandma's Pick F1
Let me know what you think.

Debs.... gone fishen

Drum roll please.....

Spoiler:

Debs, that must be so disappointing to wait for a ripe tomato and find it all split and yucky. No fair! You mentioned letting it grow two main stems for hopefully twice as many tomatoes in the same square foot. My stupice had three main stems, all with fruit, before I realized from you it was an indeterminate (guy at the nursery told me it was determinate when I bought it). I trimmed off a fourth one before taking its picture today. Just keeps branching off (not suckers). I wonder if I really would get more fruit if I had kept it to a single stem.

Oh, can someone tell me if I am supposed to prune off some of the tomatoes in a cluster so they grow to a better size like you do with apples?

You may not want to listen to me on this one, KEEP THEM!  I wouldn't trim since they are already beautiful little tomatoes.  I have plants that have dual stems every year and I never cut the second one if it has fruit.  I always thought Stupice produced small fruits but that red one looks huge.  
Also, Little Marvel peas are very sweet.  They are a small bush type pea (about 18 inches) and I grow them in pots.  I do not consider the shells edible but my grandson and oldest daughter eat them whole when they are young.

GWEN....I say keep those beauties!

DEB's.... as always love your score cards!.....sorry to hear about the yucky tom

All of our tom's have fruit  our Boone Dock (which is from free seeds) are about 6ft tall now  not knowing how it would grow we allowed it to have a double lead...which has branched off into several leads.....so we did some cutting and trimming...still leaving a lot...so we shall see how they do....

Boone Dock....in ground...pole beans behind it ....with Thai Pink Egg next to it ...down in the bottom right side corner



Close up of the Thai Pink Egg....such pretty tomatoes.....haven't tasted one yet



first fruits of the Oregon Spring....taste was pretty good....tasted like a sandwich tomato....skin was thin....on the acidic side then sweet...juicy....our son loved them



Super Italian Paste doing well...keeping it single stem



Jubilee....single stem



we continue to get lots of cherry tomatoes that don't make it into the house  

happy gardening
rose

update on our Tom's  

They all have fruit and seem to be doing well.....our Boone Dock that was from free seeds....has one of its limbs almost 8ft tall  tried to get a pic that best I could....its sitting between 2 trellis and has limbs tied to each one LOL the tom to the right is the Thai Pink egg...its loaded with pretty tom's....



Boone Dock has some nice size fruit that's just starting to blush.....next year if we grow it again it will be single stem....as its a very large plant....and has had a few broken stems because of the weight and size of this tom.....cant wait to taste it!



Thai Pink egg...with lots of clusters of these pretty fruit



Some of our Tom's .....like our Det types....have become so heavy with fruit they are busting their stems..... ...we have been doing our best to keep them tied up....

Out in our SFG box #1.....Marglobe, Oregon spring and bush beef....had to tie them up today as they were falling all over the place.....

Oregon Spring



fruit off of the Oregon spring



Bush Beef falling over



what we harvested today from all three tom's in our SFG



WA cherry have giving us lots of fruit....kind of a weird plant ....it wants to lay down no matter how much we tie it up LOL



One of the two super Bush plants...again loaded with lots of fruit and us trying to keep them under control.....LOL...its planted out front along with our acorn squash and flowers in our new 4 tier SFG box hubby made for me



Red Robin hanging baskets are still producing....you do have to look into those thick leaves as we find ripe tom's hiding....I think this would be a great tomato for those who have birds eating their fruit....there is fruit exposed on the out side...but lots are under those leaves as well



Super Italian Paste and Jubilee are doing well as a single stem each....just starting to eat ripe Italian paste this week



Gold nugget giving lots of fruit and it too wants to lay down it's stems....

 

a couple of our tom's on our back porch are just about done producing...we have been enjoying the last few fruits this week



Happy gardening
rose...

Rose,  You tomatoes are outstanding!

I also love your wood trellis.  I saved the photo to show husband.

Rose thanks for the updates on all your toms!  (I enjoyed seeing that trellis again that your hubby made too.   )

I've got a couple of ripe Sungolds now.  They are bigger than the Stupice tomatoes that are coming on.  

Seems to me the plants have stopped growing.  Was having to sucker and prune every few days and keep them tucked into their tomato towers.  Haven't had to do anything for a couple of weeks now.  Compost has probably run out of steam and I need to top dress, but, eh, I probably won't.

Why not? Getting sick of tomatoes?