First ripe tomato of 2013

[camochef]

Today, I finally got to pick my first ripe tomato of the year! It was a 1 3/8 lb. Cowlick Brandywine. Just about a full month later than normal. This was due to late frosts and a late heavy freeze here this spring. Then lots of cold weather before turning very hot.

There are two more on the same plant that could have been picked today, also. Will give them another day or two before clipping them off.

I cooked up a lb. of bacon and have some lettuce to use in celebration.

Enjoy!
Camo

[BucksCountyGirl]

Congrats on the first tomato of the year! I;m sure all of the trails and tribulations of the season will make it taste all the better. Cheers!

[cythaenopsis]

Nice, Camo! I can only dream of a tomato exceeding 1lb, let alone 8oz. Have you grown the Cowlick Brandywine before? Is it a staple of your favorites?

[camochef]

Originally Posted by cythaenopsis

Nice, Camo! I can only dream of a tomato exceeding 1lb, let alone 8oz. Have you grown the Cowlick Brandywine before? Is it a staple of your favorites?

Cythaenopsis,
I've been growing Cowlick's for 7 years now and it is one of my favorites that you'll find in my garden every year. Not always the best...but always in the top ten every year.
I couldn't resist and picked the second one later in the day and enjoyed it cut into 1/2 inch thick slices that covered the entire bread with each slice. had some bacon and mayo too. Forgot the lettuce in my excitement to try it.
Second one weighed one pound and 5 ounces, thats 598 grams for those overseas.
Enjoy
Camo

[cythaenopsis]

Originally Posted by camochef

I've been growing Cowlick's for 7 years now and it is one of my favorites that you'll find in my garden every year. Not always the best...but always in the top ten every year.

Sounds like a real tried and true variety. I'll definitely have to put that on my list for next year. Thanks. And good luck for a prosperous growing season.

[PaulF]

So far it has been four Black Brandywines and a handful of cherries. All the rest are nice and big, but green (meaning unripe not green when ripe, since those do not get grown in my garden). And everything here is about two or three weeks behind.

[Deborah]

At least you didn't forget the bacon ! Can't wait to grow my own next year.

Originally Posted by Deborah

At least you didn't forget the bacon ! Can't wait to grow my own next year.

Deborah,

How do you grow bacon? I wonder if anyone is trying to breed a bacon flavored tomato. It would certainly cut down on the fat in my diet.

Congragulations Camo. You guys get to envy us southerners in the early spring and we get to envy you in mid to late summer. I've got Cowlicks on my grow list for next summer. It didn't do well my first year so I didn't grow it this year. I can't give up on it when so many people have great success with it.

Ted

[camochef]

Ted,
I used to grow my own bacon, back on the farm...it's not difficult to grow but harvesting can be heartbreaking.

Thank's! The first two were delicious! I can easily say, "The best tasting tomato's of the year, so far!"

I hope you have better luck with it in the future. It's always been one of my favorites since discovering it about 7-8 years ago. I've sent seed from it all over the USA and Canada as well as many foreign countries on most continents and reports back were favorable.
I was amazed to hear how well it did in the Philippines, and even in Kansas where Brandywines seem to have a difficult time producing a descent crop. It has done well for many in Texas and throughout the south so I hope it does well for you.
Enjoy!
Camo

Camo,

Someone sent me two or three seeds of Cowlicks a couple of years ago. I only planted one plant. It may have been a bad year for tomatoes, but my few fruit produced were small and knobby in shape. I saved seed from one of the malformed tomatoes with the intent of trying it again. Now I am thinking about putting it on my wish list for next year in hopes of getting better seed. I will include it on my wanted list and will probably be as happy with it as everyone else who grows it.

We had BLT's for dinner yesterday. Yum! I even made a special trip to the grocery store for some maple flavored bacon. I'm still working on the bacon flavored tomato. I can't make up my mind if I want the tomato to have hickory smoked, maple, apple or cherry wood smoked or simply slow cured in salt and brown sugar, bacon flavor.

Ted

[RobinB]

Congratulations! It has been a strange year everywhere I think! A year of extremes...

[Mojave]

Congratulations Camo!

[MissS]

Congrats Camo! The anticipation, the long wait, and finally you get to enjoy the very 1st one. I do hope that you savored every single bite of that delicious sandwich!
My first this year was a Cherokee Purple. I too made a BLT and I could not resist temptation and went out and picked the 2nd one. It will be some time before I get a third, but it sure was a great day eating two homegrown tomatoes.
Hope many more are coming your way!
Patti

[kath]

Glad your season has begun, Camo- I know you'll enjoy every one! Hope your season lasts especially long.

kath

[camochef]

Originally Posted by kath

Glad your season has begun, Camo- I know you'll enjoy every one! Hope your season lasts especially long.

kath

Kath,
It's like RobinB states above: a strange year... So late getting started here and now it feels like we're looking towards an early fall and I was just discussing with Robert, it looks like it might be an early winter too.