Hillbilly

mensplace · June 24, 2010

Last week, after the seemingly endless work of using cable ties to attach the rapidly growing central leaders and side shoots, I picked roughly two bushels of fruit of every color, size, and shape. The standout thus far was one Hillbilly that was about six inches wide, uniform in shape, no deformities, and a dazzling array of external colors. Last night I cut it evenly across the center and commented to the wife that it was easy to see why such fruits are referred to as beefsteak types. The one I cut was almost solid pulp, fortunately no central core like I have found in many of the larger types. There was a touch of acidity, but mostly the sweetness of the pulp. Almost all of the very few seeds were in tiny little pockets around the far sides of the perimeter. The fruit was gorgeous and the flesh mostly yellow throughout, not a brilliant yellow, but more an orange tinged yellow with a few specks of redness. As part of our nightly tasting, I sat there and ate the whole thing. Flavorwise, it was the sweetness that was the primary component, but of a tad more acid than most yellows, but also less sweetness than some other varieties. The solid pulp did not fall apart when cut and seeded like others. It would probably add meat to a sauce quite well. Otherwise, for OUR taste, it was far too bland and lacking in our personal preferences in terms of more juice, seed locules, acidity and flavor depth and intensity. Despite the wife's urgings NOT to save the seed, I did put some aside knowing that for many this would be more to their liking.
One thing for sure, the myth of heirlooms not doing well in the extreme heat and humidity of the deep south has been totally BUSTED. I have yet to water...on purpose, while both the heat and humidity have been in the mid nineties and rain of late restricted to occasional, brief, afternoon showers. Maybe its my closer spacing and a canopy of 12 foot high, large sunflowers with the lower leaves removed providing some shade, but thus far all of the plants are thriving and loaded with fruits.

June 24, 2010	#1
mensplace Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: USA Posts: 1,013	Hillbilly Last week, after the seemingly endless work of using cable ties to attach the rapidly growing central leaders and side shoots, I picked roughly two bushels of fruit of every color, size, and shape. The standout thus far was one Hillbilly that was about six inches wide, uniform in shape, no deformities, and a dazzling array of external colors. Last night I cut it evenly across the center and commented to the wife that it was easy to see why such fruits are referred to as beefsteak types. The one I cut was almost solid pulp, fortunately no central core like I have found in many of the larger types. There was a touch of acidity, but mostly the sweetness of the pulp. Almost all of the very few seeds were in tiny little pockets around the far sides of the perimeter. The fruit was gorgeous and the flesh mostly yellow throughout, not a brilliant yellow, but more an orange tinged yellow with a few specks of redness. As part of our nightly tasting, I sat there and ate the whole thing. Flavorwise, it was the sweetness that was the primary component, but of a tad more acid than most yellows, but also less sweetness than some other varieties. The solid pulp did not fall apart when cut and seeded like others. It would probably add meat to a sauce quite well. Otherwise, for OUR taste, it was far too bland and lacking in our personal preferences in terms of more juice, seed locules, acidity and flavor depth and intensity. Despite the wife's urgings NOT to save the seed, I did put some aside knowing that for many this would be more to their liking. One thing for sure, the myth of heirlooms not doing well in the extreme heat and humidity of the deep south has been totally BUSTED. I have yet to water...on purpose, while both the heat and humidity have been in the mid nineties and rain of late restricted to occasional, brief, afternoon showers. Maybe its my closer spacing and a canopy of 12 foot high, large sunflowers with the lower leaves removed providing some shade, but thus far all of the plants are thriving and loaded with fruits.