We have lift-off

[nancyruhl]

Finally got my first ripe tomato of the season (not counting the cheater plant I brought back from Florida). It was a new variety for me called Zebra Rita and she's a winner. I barely noticed that she was ripe because there is very little change in color from the green ones. I am a fan of Green Zebra anyway, but found the flavor a wonderful mix of sweet and tart, not quite is zippy as the original variety which some may deem a positive. The plant seems very productive, also, with many non-ripe ones in the wings. She even beat out all the cherries.

[Ed of Somis]

Congrats! I won't tell you about our production this summer in SoCal. You already hate us!

[nancyruhl]

That's not possible. Bet you hate us for all that rain we have been getting (too much).

[Cole_Robbie]

nice!

[KarenO]

Nice! that's a new one to me, haven't heard of it before.
KarenO

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by KarenO

Nice! that's a new one to me, haven't heard of it before.
KarenO

I hadn't heard of it either so Googled it and it's one that was developed by Tom Wagner in the 90's, well let me just give the Google link;

https://www.google.com/?gws_rd=ssl#q=Zebra+Rita+tomato

Not that I know ALL that Tania has pages for, far from that but I went to Google first and here's Tania's page for it and she lists as seed sources the same ones in the Google search.

http://t.tatianastomatobase.com:88/w...b=General_Info

Carolyn

[nancyruhl]

I think it's a worthwhile variety. While I like the extra tanginess of Green Zebra, many do not. This one is milder, very tasty, and appears to be a good early producer. The clear skin probably explains why it didn't get that Amber blush of Green Zebra. That does make detecting ripeness more challenging.

[Gardeneer]

Good for you Nancy. Iam still counting down here >>> Time minus 15 days. hehe

Gardeneer

[nancyruhl]

Gardener, That waiting is so tough. I didn't expect any ripe ones yet, because our weather has been very much like Seattle weather this year. We finally hit the 80 degree mark and it only rained 2 days this week.

[barefootgardener]

Hooray Nancy!! I like the name.. You beat me for regular ripe tomatoes.. I have lots of nice green tomatoes that hopefully will start to blush soon. I had my first ripe Sungold cherry on July 4th.. That is a start.

Ginny

[Gardeneer]

So far I have picked:

=== 3 Hahms Gelbe
=== 1 Juliet (starting)
=== 1 Red cherry
4th'o'July and Big Beef are coming any day now.Plus more cherries.

[nancyruhl]

Ok, that didn't take 15 days.
Barefoot gardener, with all the rain ( I think the Detroit area got more than a lot of the state), the plants are loaded with green ones. I am expecting surplus fruit this year. That won't be a problem.