Green Shoulders

[gorbelly]

Originally Posted by NarnianGarden

gorbelly: Can you please share your delicious green tomato jam recipe in the food section? I have not come across anything similar elsewhere, on-line or not. (ripe tomato jam, yes, and will try that too) Thanks!

I'd be happy to. I'll pull out my notes and post in the Harvest forum and then post a link to it here in this thread later.

[Jimbotomateo]

If tomatoes only came in brown or green would people love them as much? Lol. Jimbo

[gorbelly]

Originally Posted by Black Krim

Gorbelly. As a green tomato expert, what should I start with. I tried several last season but failed to recognise them. My brain is still wired for red and orange. Late in the season, my last vine , I tried a green cherry because suddenly I remembered....liked the unusual taste.

Suggestions for easy green varieties?

I am in no way any kind of tomato expert. There are many people around here who know far more about varieties than I do!

But I do love GWR (green-when-ripe) tomatoes (that has nothing to do with my love of green (unripe) tomatoes; GWRs don't taste anything like unripe green tomatoes).

I always indulge when I see GWRs at farmer's markets or when my friends grow them, but I've so far only grown Malakhitovaya Shkatulka and Lime Green Salad in my own garden.

I loved Malakhitovaya Shkatulka ("malachite box"), which was very productive (it gets to be a big plant), pretty early for such large beefsteaks, and a bit more savory than most GWRs I've tasted. It seemed to have above average tolerance for cool temps and would probably do well in New England. I personally found it to have above-average disease resistance.









Lime Green Salad is a little 2' tall determinate that produces tangy saladette fruits with spicy notes. It's very good if you like a tomato that leans toward the tart end of the spectrum. While I wouldn't grow all tart varieties at all, I like variety, so I enjoy having one or two on the tart side in a season.

It seems like it's pretty hard to go wrong with a GWR. As a group, they're a good-tasting bunch, usually plenty sweet but also pretty intense, with strong herbal/spicy aromas. Green Zebra, however, is one to be careful with, as it's assertively tart and people seem to either love it or consider it a spitter.

I plan to grow Green Giant and Lucinda (a child of Green Zebra and Silvery Fir Tree) this year. I have a small garden, so it'll take me a while to try all the GWRs that get raves around here. On my must-try-in-my-garden-at-some-point growlist:
-Cherokee Green
-Green Doctors (cherry)
-Green Zebra Cherry (not actually related to Green Zebra)
-Esmeralda Golosina (saladette)
-Aunt Ruby's German Green
-Green Zebra

[gorbelly]

My small batch spiced green tomato orange marmelade recipe

[Black Krim]

Originally Posted by Jimbotomateo

If tomatoes only came in brown or green would people love them as much? Lol. Jimbo

When I bought seed from Linda Sapp about 4 yrs ago, keeping to a 25 variety limit....Of reds and pinks , was a struggle. Last yr was a reserved try with BK, gifted green varieties , red currant, in addition to all the leftover seed from TSC.....The 25 limit is now a joke. Far more flavors and colors to sample!

[Black Krim]

Originally Posted by gorbelly

I am in no way any kind of tomato expert. There are many people around here who know far more about varieties than I do!

But I do love GWR (green-when-ripe) tomatoes (that has nothing to do with my love of green (unripe) tomatoes; GWRs don't taste anything like unripe green tomatoes).

I always indulge when I see GWRs at farmer's markets or when my friends grow them, but I've so far only grown Malakhitovaya Shkatulka and Lime Green Salad in my own garden.

I loved Malakhitovaya Shkatulka ("malachite box"), which was very productive (it gets to be a big plant), pretty early for such large beefsteaks, and a bit more savory than most GWRs I've tasted. It seemed to have above average tolerance for cool temps and would probably do well in New England. I personally found it to have above-average disease resistance.









Lime Green Salad is a little 2' tall determinate that produces tangy saladette fruits with spicy notes. It's very good if you like a tomato that leans toward the tart end of the spectrum. While I wouldn't grow all tart varieties at all, I like variety, so I enjoy having one or two on the tart side in a season.

It seems like it's pretty hard to go wrong with a GWR. As a group, they're a good-tasting bunch, usually plenty sweet but also pretty intense, with strong herbal/spicy aromas. Green Zebra, however, is one to be careful with, as it's assertively tart and people seem to either love it or consider it a spitter.

I plan to grow Green Giant and Lucinda (a child of Green Zebra and Silvery Fir Tree) this year. I have a small garden, so it'll take me a while to try all the GWRs that get raves around here. On my must-try-in-my-garden-at-some-point growlist:
-Cherokee Green
-Green Doctors (cherry)
-Green Zebra Cherry (not actually related to Green Zebra)
-Esmeralda Golosina (saladette)
-Aunt Ruby's German Green
-Green Zebra

My problem is plenty of room here, but not the time to care for them all.

I need the feeling of a kid in a candy shop to calm down.

[Black Krim]

Originally Posted by gorbelly

My small batch spiced green tomato orange marmelade recipe

Thank you!!

[NarnianGarden]

Yay, thanks!!

[jtjmartin]

Another great thread! Thanks Gorbelly and others. I thought I knew a good bit about tomatoes - but, Wow.

Jeff

[Black Krim]

Originally Posted by gorbelly

My small batch spiced green tomato orange marmelade recipe

This looks Devine.

Reading yesterday about the health benefits of citrus pith. We collect and freeze most of our orange peels this time of year for miriad of recipes. New recipe for next summer. TY

[Ricky Shaw]

In my mind, the difference is the Malachite Box gel, so beautifully displayed in this gorbelly pic. This is how mine looked also.

The 50/50 blend of locules and meat is a plus for me. Some other GWR I've tasted were decidedly more dense, but often lean toward doughy. The zing of the gel is the perfect off-set to the subtle sweetness of the meatier core. This is a tomato that can win festival crowns.

[Gardeneer]

Thanks to Gorbelly, I have Malachite Box seeds.
I will grow it as 'versus ' with ARGG,
I also have to seeds of something that I think is Green Copia. Last year in my PNW garden it turned out a mule, like half a dozen other varieties. BAD year.
And, of course , I will grow my own favorite , Ananas Noire.
Ah, already a big bunch of GWR.

[Black Krim]

My GWR list is growing .....Again....lol

[gorbelly]

Originally Posted by Ricky Shaw

In my mind, the difference is the Malachite Box gel [...]
The 50/50 blend of locules and meat is a plus for me. Some other GWR I've tasted were decidedly more dense, but often lean toward doughy. The zing of the gel is the perfect off-set to the subtle sweetness of the meatier core. This is a tomato that can win festival crowns.

I think you're absolutely right in your assessment. It really bursts with flavor in a special way. I'm always surprised that it doesn't get more uniformly good feedback on tville, but I do notice it gets better reviews in more northerly or colder zones, so maybe it tastes better where it gets less extreme heat. I was surprised it had pretty good fruit set during the middle of this past year's unusually and brutally hot and dry summer in the NE, but I did get a few mushy, off-tasting tomatoes and some BER. Most fruits did not have a problem, though, and the plant is productive enough that the "off" fruits were not too much of a disappointment. But maybe with more extended heat, it's more disappointing. It was still producing like a champ when I pulled in late Oct., and the late fruit still tasted quite good.

If I had enough space to repeat varieties more, I'd grow it every year. It's definitely coming back at some point soon, though.

[Gardeneer]

Originally Posted by Gardeneer

Thanks to Gorbelly, I have Malachite Box seeds.
I will grow it as 'versus ' with ARGG,
I also have to seeds of something that I think is Green Copia. Last year in my PNW garden it turned out a mule, like half a dozen other varieties. BAD year.
And, of course , I will grow my own favorite , Ananas Noire.
Ah, already a big bunch of GWR.

Quoting my own post as reference.
I was just googling and ended up looking into ARGG.
Surprisingly I found it as almost identical to Malachite Box, posted by gorbelly.
Here it is
ARGG.jpg
Just look at the one on the top, with strips and a long blossom mark. Then compare it to a similar one in gorbelly's pictures.
What do you think ?

Now here is the Malachite in gorbelly's post.