Tomato Shortage Again

[ireilly]

Originally Posted by JackE

Barbee, I know that the tomatoes in your photo are a gourmet's delight with fantastic taste - but they sure are UGLY!! LOL LOL

Jack

C'mon Jack, beauty is in the eye of the beholder, isn't it??

But as you say, most of the people out there would not eat a non-red tomato. Heck, it took them at least a thousand years to get over the nightshade association.

I for one find tomatoes that are not like all the others to be the most interesting in appearance.

And then there's taste. Actually, that should be the first requisite.

Walter

[JackE]

Hi Walter

I worried after I made that post that he might not think it was funny.-

Beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder. Actually I have great admiration and respect - maybe even a little jealousy - for what y'all do with those heirloom tomatoes. I've gardened enough years to know how challenging it must be, especially if you're doing it organically.

I notice that Homestead is usually included here as an heirloom. We used to grow that one years and years ago, before we knew what the word "hybrid "meant. It was just a regular red, round tomato as I recall. So I guess all heirlooms don't necessarily have to be funny-looking. :-) Truth is I've never tasted any of those oddly colored, flat, lobed or irregularly
shaped tomatoes, but I've heard they're unbelievably delicious.

Actually, I'm personally not much on tomatoes. I eat them them if they come on a hamburger, but I don't crave them. Of the thousands I grow every year I may bring two or three to the house.

Jack

[Barbee]

Originally Posted by JackE

Barbee, I know that the tomatoes in your photo are a gourmet's delight with fantastic taste - but they sure are UGLY!! LOL LOL

Jack

LoL, yes they can be pretty ugly but once they're in my mouth, I can't see what they look like

[ireilly]

Originally Posted by JackE

Hi Walter

I worried after I made that post that he might not think it was funny.-

Beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder. Actually I have great admiration and respect - maybe even a little jealousy - for what y'all do with those heirloom tomatoes. I've gardened enough years to know how challenging it must be, especially if you're doing it organically.

I notice that Homestead is usually included here as an heirloom. We used to grow that one years and years ago, before we knew what the word "hybrid "meant. It was just a regular red, round tomato as I recall. So I guess all heirlooms don't necessarily have to be funny-looking. :-) Truth is I've never tasted any of those oddly colored, flat, lobed or irregularly
shaped tomatoes, but I've heard they're unbelievably delicious.

Actually, I'm personally not much on tomatoes. I eat them them if they come on a hamburger, but I don't crave them. Of the thousands I grow every year I may bring two or three to the house.

Jack

Yes, sometimes we get a little passionate here about some things but on the whole it is a mature discussion of things. I was kidding too.

I also like to read how market growers like yourself deal with growing tomatoes on a larger scale than many of us here, and the challenges and ingenuity. I also like the fact that you have a higher purpose in what you do as relates to helping others. I'm not really organic, strictly speaking, but I am careful what I put on food I feed my family.

Not everyone likes tomatoes as much as we do here, so that's what makes life interesting - variety. You like to grow them, and that's good too.

And don't think just because a tomato is oddly-shaped or colorful it has to be delicious. Every year brings both great tomatoes and spitters and that is just the nature of weather and other factors, including diseases. Many distinct tomato varieties were hybrids once, excluding mutations, etc.

Keep posting about your operation and things please, I enjoy reading your thoughts.

Walter.

[JackE]

Thanks so much, Walter, for your kind thoughts. I am really enjoying this forum and I hope that my presence here is positive. I try to stay off y'all's threads where you discuss heirloom varieties, etc. I'm too ignorant to participate there. LOL. I will say, in my own defense, that I bet I COULD grow those if I were so inclined - as a matter of fact, I'm thinking about a few of them next year, just for fun and the challenge.

Jack