Have you tried Dr. Lyle?

[tjg911]

I really did not want any seeds in trade when I sent "Greg" in MD seeds for Earl's Faux in September 2005. I had sent him seeds for Prue in 2004 and he loved it. He told me that Dr. Lyle was one of his favorites and that I really should try it. I kept saying no, many times, but thankfully he sent me the seeds anyway! I almost skipped growing Dr. Lyle. But since he liked Prue so much that he added it to his must grow list, where he also had Dr. Lyle, well that convinced me to give it a shot.

I was totally disgusted last week when some rodent toothed creature bite into a few of my lower tomatoes on 3 plants that were getting pink and one was a huge Dr. Lyle. I immediately picked all ripening fruits and brought them inside for protection and to finish ripening. That Dr. Lyle had 4 punctures and a small hole - I knew it would be a race to get it to ripen before the rot started and spread thru the tomato ruining it. Frankly, I doubted there was enough time for it to ripen properly.

Well the good news is that it did ripen and by Saturday 7/29 it was about 85-90% ripe, the bad news is the hole was starting to show rot tho I was surprised it took so long and spread so little. So I decided to eat it, the 1st of the season other than some Sun Golds.

I did not expect much really. I think the 1st tomatoes are not as good as the ones a week or so later. Now I hadn't eaten a tomato since the 3rd week of Oct. 2005 so maybe I was delirious? OMG! Unbelievably delicious! I held off posting until I ate the other Dr. Lyle I picked the same day. That 2nd Dr. Lyle didn't have any damage, was next to the damaged fruit and was also ripening the day it was picked. It was excellent, as good as the 1st!

I have to wait a few weeks for an Earl's Faux to ripen for a side by side comparison. If I didn't know better, I'd have thought I was eating an Earl's Faux. I have just 2 top tomatoes - Prue and Earl's Faux. Dr. Lyle was creamy, smooth, sweet, just so good that I now have 3 top tomatoes.

If you haven't tried Dr. Lyle, a regular leaf pink beefsteak, do so. Greg told me they are excellent from the very 1st tomato to the last one. It's just amazing how many excellent tomatoes I've found in the past few years trading seeds.

Tom