Sue and I did a dream tasting tonight for our appetizer

[nctomatoman]

Believe it or not, I've not tried Orange Minsk. I do like KBX and from memory find it one of the few pale orange varieties I really like - I find most of that color (Dr Wyche's Yellow, Kellogg's Breakfast - which is more dark in hue, Orange Heirloom) to be a bit too mild for my palate - but love Yellow Brandywine, Aunt Gertie's Gold, KBX and Elbe - in fact, I find these four to be very similar varieties in terms of the bright, tart character which makes them much more lively on the palate than the three I noted in parentheses. I guess I will have to try Orange Minsk next year!

[lakelady]

Nice to read your results Craig, thanks so much for sharing them with us. So much is new to me with heirlooms, so I really do appreciate this!

[gssgarden]

Bravo Craig!

Love to read a post like that! To really sit down and enjoy the fruits of all your work and REALLY enjoy it is what gardening is all about!

If I'm doing a little tasting, I have them with water, and take my time. Don't go jumping from tom to tom. Finish one, make a note, and move on.

So far, KBX has won me over again this year! The one I had was almost solid! Sweet, tangy flavor that exploded in my mouth! Truly a treat!

You should have seen the GF's face when she had a piece! Eyes opened wide, smile, and a 'mmmmm, THAT is good!' Said it's one of the best she's ever had and wants more! lol

Tomorrow it's a 14 oz Shannon's, a 15 oz Coustralee, a couple Dwarves, and a Golden Cherokee!! Looking foward to that one!

Greg

[nctomatoman]

Just remember, Antoinette - and everyone! - it is my/Sue's palate/impressions of the varieties being grown from my particular seeds in my climate the way I plant them in this season.

Meaning....take tasting notes with a grain of salt - we are all so different - and the varieties can (and most do) perform differently in different seasons/different regions.

I just think it's fun for all of us to share our perceptions and experiences!

Carolyn,

I don't really compare anything to anything. I'm only interested in growing varieties I like and not growing varieties I don't like. A lady told me the other day that of the varieties I gave her this year, the KBX was the best tasting tomato she has ever eaten. She was only confirming an opinion I formed last year (maybe not the best, but way up there). Unfortunately, I didn't grow Orange Minsk this year so she didn't get to taste it. I am growing both again this fall and look forward to trying both again.

In my conformist mind, I wish the off colors didn't taste so good. It somehow doesn't seem right for a tomato that doesn't look like a tomato to taste so good. They blow my belief that if it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it must be a duck. The orange, gold, and yellow tomatoes don't look like or quack like a tomato.

Ted

[nctomatoman]

Interesting way to look at things, Ted! What I've found after growing/tasting over 1000 types of tomatoes is that "typical" tomatoes (red, scarlet, yellow skin over red interior) don't often make my best tasting/must grow list. I think that in my top 10, Nepal is the only red one - otherwise, brown, purple, bicolor, green, yellow, gold take up the slots!

I guess as a non-conformist/rebel at heart, it makes me happy to love so many non-traditional looking tomatoes!

Originally Posted by nctomatoman

Interesting way to look at things, Ted! What I've found after growing/tasting over 1000 types of tomatoes is that "typical" tomatoes (red, scarlet, yellow skin over red interior) don't often make my best tasting/must grow list. I think that in my top 10, Nepal is the only red one - otherwise, brown, purple, bicolor, green, yellow, gold take up the slots!

I guess as a non-conformist/rebel at heart, it makes me happy to love so many non-traditional looking tomatoes!

I know Craig! It frustrates me also. I am most comfortable when I can reliably label things. I want to label red tomatoes as the real and real tasting tomatoes. Then KBX and a few others came along that blew my labels out of the water. I guess I can't get my mind off the yuppie or designer thing when tomatoes of various colors and shapes became "fashionable". People would pay double the normal price for them because they looked good in a little wicker basket on the kitchen counter or on a salad plate in an over priced restaurant.

Ted

[Full Moon]

Fred's Tie Dye - one of the Dwarf project tomatoes, this is from seed sent to me by fullmoon (nice selection, Lyn!). Just gorgeous fruit, deep crimson interior with green around the seed gel, typical interior for black tomatoes. Very balanced, rich, full flavor - yummy - it snuck into the 8 category - this will probably be the lead selection to take forward for Fred's Tie Dye (named by Vince).

That is very good to hear Craig.

Which one did you grow? Seeds from Plant 3078-B or Plant 3080?

I have no idea how my plants are doing at the moment. I am growing both. Haven't been to the community garden in two weeks or so. My husband's mother passed away and we had to rush out to Australia. We just returned last night and are quite jetlagged and tired. I hope to go have a look tomorrow.

[nctomatoman]

Hey Lyn, it is my vial 3504, which is what you sent me that you indicated "best flavor of all" - how could I pass that up!

[habitat_gardener]

Originally Posted by tedln

...I guess I can't get my mind off the yuppie or designer thing when tomatoes of various colors and shapes became "fashionable". People would pay double the normal price for them because they looked good in a little wicker basket on the kitchen counter or on a salad plate in an over priced restaurant.

But the reason they're rare and pricey is because they can't be mass-produced or shipped from afar. You can get them only if you grow them yourself, or if you go to the restaurant that gets them from a local grower. So all of us who are growing those wonderful colors, shapes, and flavors of tomatoes are "designer" growers.

One thing I've learned from growing my own vegetables is that any kale, tomatoes, strawberries, or cucumbers I can buy don't come close to the flavor and quality of the ones I grow. Even produce at the farmers' markets doesn't measure up.

[koshki]

Hi, Craig, thanks for the report. I'm interested in growing the Dester Amish next year, but would like to know how big is the plant?

We had a lot of wind here yesterday and several of my container plants blew over. I even had to move my dwarfs to keep them from getting damaged. But the indeterminates get really top heavy in containers... Which leads my DH to bungee cord them together, and then the disease becomes a problem.

The worst is the Black Cherry... It's over 8 feet tall now, despite my trying to top it off at the top of the 6 foot cage.

habitat gardener,

Your right! The fact that people are growing home grown veggies is great and the result of their efforts is great. I think my problem may be the fact that even the tomatoes we enjoy growing are beginning to be mass produced for the mass market. As always, when you mass produce something, quality may take a back seat to appearance.

"Even produce at the farmers' markets doesn't measure up."

I once stopped at a roadside produce market to buy some tomatoes. The tomatoes were beautiful. I asked the vendor if the tomatoes were locally grown. He assured me they were grown by a local grower. Unfortunately the cardboard boxes labeled "Tomatoes, grown in California" were not fully covered by his tarps. I guess the fact that California was fifteen hundred miles away didn't disqualify the tomatoes from a "grown locally" label.

Ted