Last winter skiing and I got together and we fought. Skiing won. For a big chunk of time, the casualty of the quarrel was my knee, which complained a great deal with many different things. I'm happy to report that all will be fine, but my relationship with downhill skiing can't be repaired. So, here I am. A non-skiier in a family of skiing fiends. I feel like I'm getting to know myself again. Although there will be plenty of things I should do, I've been hoarding projects for the ski time. Today, it's all about the seeds.
I am a tomatoista. This is the fancy made up word I've given for my tomato obsession. This year I have 16 different varieties of seeds saved. There are a few favorites I've saved for years that I didn't save this year because my garden tanked later in the season.
The tomatoes I'm most looking forward to? Right below.
1. Absinthe*: Green, large.
This one was a new one last year, and I loved it. A good green tomato is so fun and although Green Zebra is delicious, you have a long wait for it. Absinthe is bigger and although not early, is earlier, and is delicious. Worth the space.
2. Amish Paste*: Red, medium, mid.
Over the years I have tried a wide variety of paste tomatoes. Most disappoint. They are usually meaty, which is good, but are also often small and susceptible to blossom end rot. I dreamed of a big, meaty, delicious, prolific paste tomato that would keep me canning sauce throughout the season. Amish Paste is just that. It's huge and meaty and good enough to be a sandwich tomato.
3. Andrew's Big Bite*: Red, cherry, early.
This is a red cherry. It's yummy, prolific, and one of my own varieties, so it's always welcome back and saved.
4. Anna Russian: Red, large, mid.
This is a large, meaty, heart shaped tomato. I wasn't able to save any of these seeds last year, but it's well worth the space.
5. Black from Tula: Black, Med, mid
This is just a solid, delicious tomato. Black tomatoes are my very favorite and there are a few reliable performers that I welcome back to my garden each year. Black from Tula is one of that crew.
6. Bloody Butcher: red, small, super early
This tomato makes it easily into my top 5 based on earlyness. It's incredibly early and for an early tomato, is really good. I usually tandem plant it with a late tomato as it doesn't like the heat of late summer, planting these plants is one of my greatest joys in early spring.
7. Carbon: Black
Last year there was again a label mishap. The plant that I thought was Carbon was amazing, but I'm not sure, so I'm giving him a second trial before I add him to the permanent list.
8. Cherokee Purple*: Purple, med-large, mid
This is one of my very favorite tomatoes. It's beautiful, prolific, and delicious, you can't get a better tomato than that!
9. Coustralee*: Red, Gigundo, late-ish
These tomatoes are huge. The place I originally got the seed from said they've gotten them larger than 4 pounds! The biggest I got last year was a healthy 2.5 pounds, but they are so giant they are worth adding to your garden. Flavor is pretty good, but the size is the real showstopper here.
10. Coyote*: White, cherry, early to mid
This little babies are sweet, fun, and worth the space to shake up the cherry tomato crop. These tomatoes are small enough that I would throw them into recipes without slicing and they gave such a pop to salsa and pasta dishes. Well worth the space.
11. Ellie's Blush*: Pink, med to large, mid
This is one of my own varieties. It's a pretty good tomato, but it's not a show-stopper. It's reliable and meaty, so I like to use it for sauce. Plus, it's named after my daughter so it's a keeper.
12. Eva Purple Ball: Pink, med, mid
This tomato is the lady of the garden. Each tomato is impeccable, the plants are compact and perfectly in shape, she always produces well, but not to much. She's like that perfect person you want to hate but you just can't because they are so nice.
13. Goose Creek*: Red, med, mid
This tomato was supposed to be the greatest tomato ever. I never got a decent specimen and I worked like crazy to get the seeds, so I'm going to give it another go.
14. Green Zebra*: Green, small, late
Green Zebra will always have a place in my garden. They are gorgeous, delicious, and green. But, they also take forever to ripen, which is frankly annoying with so small a tomato. So, I'm always on the hunt for another green tomato so I can only plant one of these for fun and push my green tomato production to another plant. I think Absinthe is the answer to this, we'll see this year.
15. Japanese Black Triefle*: Black, med, mid
I love this tomato. It has an unusual shape, almost pear shaped, a beautiful black color, and the flavor is everything you want from a black tomato. It's also a reliable whole season producer.
16. Kellogg's Breakfast: Yellow, large, late
Years ago, when I first started making tomato sauce, Josh and I bought a big box of seconds from this random farm stand. In it were these beautiful yellow tomatoes that were delicious and were my first experience with a tomato of a different color. I've never looked back and I've also never stopped looking for that yellow tomato. Kellogg's Breakfast isn't it, but it's become my saving grace in the garden. Heirlooms all have their season, and just when all of my plants are slowing down, KB starts kicking in with giant, yummy, yellow tomatoes. This is my favorite tomato to tandem with Bloody Butcher.
17. Mortgage Lifter: Pink, med to large, early
I love this tomato. It's the most reliable, best producing, delicious tomato out there. The tomatoes are big, usually just under a pound, and cluster like cherry tomatoes. It's also usually one of the first tomatoes that ripen in my garden, usually only a few days after my Sungolds, which are very early. It also has an amazing story that goes with it, which is just icing on the cake.
18. Owen's Purple*: Purple, med to large, mid
This is another of my own varieties, a cross between Paul Robeson and Mortgage Lifter. It has a purple color with most of the characteristics of the Mortgage Lifter. It's a great tomato. It also has a fun story attached to it. Years ago, I mentioned on a tomato forum about this variety and a man emailed me and asked if he could have some seeds. I sent them to him and then planted my garden and went along with my life. Then the Home Depot Late Blight drama hit, even taking down seed savers like me and the variety was lost. I got a happy letter from Mike Owens later in the season extolling the virtue of the tomato. Eagerly, I wrote him and he sent me some seeds, which I've been saving since. I named the tomato Owen's Purple in honor of Mike, the tomato savior, and my son Owen. The perfect name for the perfect saved variety!
19. Paul Robeson: Black, med, late
I'm still undecided about this tomato. In the tomato world, it's one of the favorites. Don't get me wrong, it's a delicious tomato, one of the best out there, in the right conditions. It likes a hot, dry, summer, where it's feet are well watered. Otherwise, it's just okay and either way, it doesn't produce very much. It's kind of like playing the lottery and I'm never sure if the space is worth the gamble.
20. Pruden's Purple*: Pink, large, early to mid
This is a good, solid tomato. It's kind of the pig pen of the garden. It's big and unruly, it'll suddenly grow out of control, there are tomatoes everywhere, some are enormous, some are much smaller, but all are delicious, and it's worth the crazy space it needs.
21. San Marzano: Red, small, mid to late
I'm totally undecided about this one. Last year, I filled my garden with it because it's a great paste tomato, lots of little tomatoes on small plants. Plus, it's a legend in the sauce community. However, compared to Amish paste, it just doesn't hold a candle. So, I might plant a few just to keep it around, but it will not be the dominant presence it's been in the past.
22. Sungold: Yellow, cherry, early *** Hybrid alert***
Sungolds are my shame. They are just too delicious though, I can't have a garden without them. Small, sweet, delicious, prolific, they edge their hybrid selves into my heirloom garden. Sigh.
23. Black Prince*: Black, med, mid
Yes, out of alphabetical order. Oh well. This is a black paste that was so good, we just ate it, but several tomatoes did make it into my sauce and were a wonderful addition. Well worth the space.
24. Valencia*: Orange, med, mid
Yes, this tomato looked a lot like an orange, and it was so good. A beautiful yellow- orange color, bright, sweet taste, smaller, but well producing plants, definitely encouraged back.
I'm going to spend some time looking into the new auditions for the tomato list today. Yay!
No comments:
Post a Comment