2016 Garden Tomato Results

[Fritz77]

Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie

Nan, how rich is your soil? Have you worked on improving it? The reason I ask is that before I started doing so, I would grow varieties that people on here said were great, and they would be bland for me. But then after I upgraded my soil, I also upgraded the flavor of the tomatoes I grew in it.

Cole Robbie, if it’s not a secret, can you tell us what your recipe to improve your soil was? I’m currently also working on this aspect, following the advices of MissS and I’m curious to see what benefits they will bring and if there’s anything more I could do (I’m sure you could do more if you had time, knowledge etc. etc.)

[Cole_Robbie]

I found the blackest dirt on the family farm, which was where the big round hay bales had rotted in the cow field. There's obviously some old manure in the mix, but the black dirt is largely composted hay. I piled it into ridges without tilling, then put down drip tape and plastic over the ridge. I get very big plants and good yields without using any fertilizer.

[Nan_PA_6b]

Fritz, Wikipedia didn't list Designated Hitter for DH? I was going for Dear Hubby, but DH is also an old baseball term still in use at ballgames...

BigVan, I believe you're right; as I can't taste a lot of the lovely flavors in a tomato, I need it to be intense, to kind of hit my tongue over the head (sorry Fritz, be assured that metaphor doesn't even sound right to native speakers). It's probably why I like them fried or dehydrated; each process removes liquid & intensifies flavor. Thanks for the suggestions. Yes, I think I need a sweeter tomato than the rest of my family.

Cole, most were grown at my mothers' place, where the soil was unmitigated virgin Pennsylvania clay. This was a newly made garden area, and the soil was clay dug from a nearby hillside, with a little existing topsoil tilled in. Never been planted in, and therefore very nutrient-rich. The plants thrived in general. This soil produced the very intense Berkeley's Tye Dye Green, plus the tasty (at least to someone) Big Beef, Black Cherry, Black Krim, Early Girl, Gregory's Altai, Julia, Matina & Tommy Toe, as well as the bland-to-all Clint Eastwood Rowdy Red. Costoluto Genovese was grown at Mum's also, and did have taste, albeit not one anybody liked. Yellow Pear was grown at my house in a garden plot which had been fallow for several years. I think yellow pear is just a very mild tomato in general, as the Tommies & BC's grown at my place were flavorful.

If we did anything wrong in general, it was too little watering (for all) and too little sun for some. CERR was the very puzzling disappointment as it is billed as a very intense-tasting tomato ("a taste not for sissies") but none of us could find any taste whatsoever. If someone's going to try growing it, I'd say give it lots of water & sunshine, to see if that helps. Or maybe you're right & it couldn't stand the clay? Or perhaps the seed source (am I allowed to say? Starts and ends with an R...).

This year we will be amending my & my mother's gardens from a pile of grass clippings & pine sweepings rotting in my yard. I agree with Cole; there's no better dirt than what's at the bottom of a straw/grass pile. We're trying to get a load of manure for my mum; there's a free source, but must wait for my DB (Dear Brother, not Dead Body) to have time & inclination to haul it in his truck.

Nan

@Nan

I wonder if you'd like Persimmon and Cuostralee. They each taste different, but their flavors have something in common with Matina's: they're tangy, but not acidic tomatoes.

I wonder if you would taste Girl Girl's Weird Thing (Girl Girl is a dog; I believe she found the tomato, which might have been a mutant Green Zebra). Some people say it's similar to Pink Berkeley Tie Dye (but different). Girl Girl's Weird Thing had larger fruit and was more productive, for me. It was also earlier for me than PBTD (maybe not earlier for most: PBTD is supposed to be early, but it was late for me for some reason).

[Nan_PA_6b]

Hi Schule1, Thanks for the suggestions. I've been hearing more and more good things about GGWT. Although I've never tasted PBTD, if it's anything like the green version, I'll love it!. Also, people are giving some anecdotal evidence that GGWT is disease resistant, a big plus in my book. Coustralee also looks interesting.

Nan

[Fritz77]

Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie

I found the blackest dirt on the family farm, which was where the big round hay bales had rotted in the cow field. There's obviously some old manure in the mix, but the black dirt is largely composted hay. I piled it into ridges without tilling, then put down drip tape and plastic over the ridge. I get very big plants and good yields without using any fertilizer.

Now I’m dreaming of the black dirt of yours. Actually, I’m sure that I drove by some field close to my home recently and they had many hay bales rotting right next to the road. I remember I noticed there was some very black dirt at the bottom of this big pile. I could ask the farmer if I could fill some baskets with his black gold.
That is if I remember where I saw it…
If I may say though, you actually don’t work on improving your soil, but rather put better soil on top of it right? I also wonder how often you repeat this work or if you’re still using the very first dirt you found. After all it’s the result that counts and it sounds like you’ve been very successful at growing tomatoes, peppers and other stuff.
Good job!

[Fritz77]

Originally Posted by Nan_PA_6b

Fritz, Wikipedia didn't list Designated Hitter for DH? I was going for Dear Hubby, but DH is also an old baseball term still in use at ballgames...

Nan

I don't recall reading about DH as Designated Hitter. I probably checked out the Italian version of Wikipedia where baseball is not even listed as a real sport

[Cole_Robbie]

Originally Posted by Fritz77

If I may say though, you actually don’t work on improving your soil, but rather put better soil on top of it right? I also wonder how often you repeat this work or if you’re still using the very first dirt you found. After all it’s the result that counts and it sounds like you’ve been very successful at growing tomatoes, peppers and other stuff.
Good job!

Thanks. I'm thinking I can get two years out of my black plastic mulch, so when I do take it off, I will go over the tops of the ridges with a little more new material, not a lot, though. One 5-gallon bucket of dirt makes about a linear foot of ridge. When I go back to refresh them, that amount would be spread over 4-6 feet of row.

The idea of just dumping down dirt did work fairly well. I did, however, go a month without rain, and had some BER problems, especially in oblong cherry varieties. I would run the drip irrigation until some varieties cracked, but then others were still getting BER. With the benefit of 20/20 hindsight, if I had it to do over again, I would probably till first, just a shallow amount. That would help to keep the ridges from drying out too much. Regardless, I think the problem will get better as the original soil under the ridges will get softer with time.

[BigVanVader]

Over the years I have found no-till works best if

1. Wet the ground during every stage/level
2. Make your rows at least a month ahead of time, preferably 12 inches deep.
3. Combining manure with other materials like straw/chopped leaves works better than straight manure.
4. Keep your rows covered with something at all times.
5. Refresh yearly

[dustdevil]

After seeing how many were bland tasting for you, I think you need to look for rich tomato flavor in the tomato reviews. You like the concentrated flavor of dehydrating, so that reenforces the notion.

[Nan_PA_6b]

Originally Posted by dustdevil

After seeing how many were bland tasting for you, I think you need to look for rich tomato flavor in the tomato reviews. You like the concentrated flavor of dehydrating, so that reenforces the notion.

Definitely! All 3 of us want that. It's why we grew what we grew, looking for a strong good taste. I think I personally like 'em a little sweeter than the other 2.

Nan

[ReginaAnn]

Great report! Made my morning

+1 vote for Matina. Really a workhorse here.

[Dark Rumor]

Originally Posted by Nan_PA_6b

Costoluto Genovese
Productivity: Excellent. 59 fruits on this plant. We had more very attractive, horrible tasting 'maters than we knew what to do with.

Nan

you can always give them to the neighbors.

[Nan_PA_6b]

Originally Posted by Dark Rumor

you can always give them to the neighbors.

My mother thought we would be doing the neighbors a disservice by giving them Costoluto Genovese tomatoes, because she hated the taste.
Nan

[Gardeneer]

Originally Posted by Nan_PA_6b

My mother thought we would be doing the neighbors a disservice by giving them Costoluto Genovese tomatoes, because she hated the taste.
Nan

I grew Costoluto Genevese once.
The fruits were fine tasting to me but not fit to slice for sandwich or salad , because it was not juicy enough. But it was perfect pasta sauce. I will grow it this year again. I liked ribbed tomatoes better than round and smooth.