Blonde Boar

[RobinB]

This one is new for me this year. I expected it to be sweet. I wasn't sure when to pick them. The first one I tried when the tomato had turned yellow, but the stripes were faded, but still somewhat green. It was a spitter for sure! For the second ripe fruit, I waited until the stripes had all turned golden. Better, but there was no sweetness there at all. Once I got past that, walked away, came back and tried it again with an open mind, it wasn't bad. Lemony, citrusy... not bad. I've only tried the two so far, so I hope they get just a little bit of sweetness.

The attached photos show my first cluster to ripen, the first was taken on July 12, the second was taken on July 15. I picked the top one in the cluster to try.

Robin

[Crandrew]

well at least they sure look good Green Salsa time?

[meadowyck]

That sure is a beautiful tomato, keep trying them at various stages to see how much of a difference there is, and why of course please report back to us....

[livinonfaith]

I grew these for the first time this year, as well. Like you, I was a little disappointed in the flavor, at least at first.

Then I left some on the counter and forgot about them for a couple of weeks. (Okay, maybe I ignored them because I had tastier ones to eat.)

Finally, I ran out of my favorite tomatoes and went back to the Blonde Boars piling up in the corner. Amazingly, they still looked quite edible. On the older ones, the stripes were almost non existent and they were a bit translucent looking. A few of them had developed a very slight blush at the bottom.

These "aged" tomatoes were much better than the first ones I had tried. Apparently, they needed to rest for a while after they were picked. While they never got really sweet, they did develop a pleasant tangy semi-sweet taste. They were actually my brother's favorite in our small (ten varieties) tomato tasting.

I've found that a lot of the heirlooms seem to taste better if you pick them slightly under full ripeness and let them age a bit on the counter. They don't seem to get mealy that way. Then there are a few that are better if ripened on the plant. I don't know why some do better one way or the other, though. It's kind of trial and error.

[Diriel]

A lot of people seem to equate sweet with best when talking tomato's. Personally I do enjoy some sweetness, but at the same time there are other flavors that really Make the tomato as far as im concerned. In no way do I look *First* for sweet, then later for flavor.

Interesting...

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by livinonfaith

I grew these for the first time this year, as well. Like you, I was a little disappointed in the flavor, at least at first.

Then I left some on the counter and forgot about them for a couple of weeks. (Okay, maybe I ignored them because I had tastier ones to eat.)

Finally, I ran out of my favorite tomatoes and went back to the Blonde Boars piling up in the corner. Amazingly, they still looked quite edible. On the older ones, the stripes were almost non existent and they were a bit translucent looking. A few of them had developed a very slight blush at the bottom.

These "aged" tomatoes were much better than the first ones I had tried. Apparently, they needed to rest for a while after they were picked. While they never got really sweet, they did develop a pleasant tangy semi-sweet taste. They were actually my brother's favorite in our small (ten varieties) tomato tasting.

I've found that a lot of the heirlooms seem to taste better if you pick them slightly under full ripeness and let them age a bit on the counter. They don't seem to get mealy that way. Then there are a few that are better if ripened on the plant. I don't know why some do better one way or the other, though. It's kind of trial and error.

Livin, if you meant to suggest that Blonde Boar is an heirloom variety it's not. I write a post in the White varieties thread here about name changes and all that from White Zebra, which was wrong, to Blonde Boar, a Brad Gates variety, which is correct.

But I'm envious that you still have tomatoes from your garden that are edible.