The last of last years tomatoes!

We ate the last of the ripened greenies this evening from last years garden. A couple of them were black tomatoes (variety unknown). They had to be from plants planted back on March 1 of last year because the only fall planted blacks were Cherokee Purple and I know when they were harvested and used.

I made a Frittata in a cast iron pan with sweated onions on the bottom, tomato slices on the onions, mushrooms on top of the tomatoes and baked it in the oven with cheese on top. As usual, the tomatoes were the star of the dish.

I will now start exhibiting withdrawal symptoms until my first tomatoes of this years garden ripen in early May.

Ted

[SEAMSFASTER]

I've got one small red tomato left, picked from the high tunnel and ripened indoors. It will be gone in a couple of days.

Then I've got a couple of Reverend Morrow's Long Keeper which I'll keep as long as possible just out of curiousity. Last year, I kept one tomato for 235 days before it started to degrade! These are offspring of that one.

Now hoping some dwarf plants will start putting on blossoms soon. It pains me to see family members come back from the grocery store with "fresh tomatoes" for dinner!

[b54red]

I still have a couple of dozen ripening. The trouble with ripening this time of the year is it takes so long and many rot before they get ripe; but they sure are a nice treat. I also will suffer withdrawal when they are gone. I have already taken steps to fix that by starting seed already.

[Tania]

Ted, it is so nice to have home-grown tomatoes keeping into the New Year!

I still have a small box of tomatoes to enjoy - only 'true' longkeepers only at this point: Riesentraube and Green Thumb. Riesentraube is still very good tasting, and I have not yet sampled Green Thumb yet, as they are still pretty firm.

I am not exhibiting tomato withdrawal symptoms yet, but will be in a month from now, especially when I will be seriously thinking about starting tomato seeds.

Bill, I hope you are still far away from the withdrawal!

Dale, good luck with your early dwarf starts!

Mmmm.... home grown tomatoes..... so good!!!!

[zeroma]

Boy, I've been withdrawing for some time now. Perhaps that's why I've had such a bad cold since Christmas LOL. The few I grew rotted or just didn't taste right when they finally turned ripe enough. I only had Chocolate cherry that I bothered to save.

The long keepers is what I'll have to have this coming season, just one. Tania, you say Riesentraube and Green Thumb are some of the best? Good to know. Ty.

[Tania]

Riesentraube is not a 'true' kongkeeper I guess, but it keeps so well when I just cut the entire fruit truss and let it sit in a box. They are still good now, after picking them in October. Just dried up a bit - which makes the taste even more concentrated!

Green Thumb is similar to other true longkeepers as it has the 'delayed ripening' gene. These tomatoes are picked green, and it takes months for them to slowly get some yellow-pinkish coloring. They continue to stay firm. As I have not tasted them yet, I cannot attest to their taste. Not yet. But taste-wise I liked Zhiraf (also known as Giraff) longkeeper tomato, it was pretty decent tasting.

This reminds me I need to regrow Zhiraf for fresh seeds! :0)

Actually, I also have a dozen or so 'Sosulka Belaya' tomatoes - still not rotted. I just checked.

We ate last bowl of Lollipop cherries last week.

[Tania]

Here are some pictures of Green Thumb, taken in November. They still look the same as of today.

http://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/F...-11-15_(3).JPG
http://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/F...2012-11-15.JPG

Tania,

Beautiful tomatoes! I've never thought of "Long Keeper" tomatoes as possessing a genetic attribute. That should be a commercial producers dream tomato. Now that I am aware of it, I'm not sure what my feelings about it are. I've always been repulsed by all types of fruit and vegetables which attain and retain their best appearance in artificial conditions. I always know a beautiful apple purchased in July will not have the sweet crispness of an apple purchased in October or November fresh from the tree. I can always spot the slight off color of Bananas which have been stored in a gaseous environment which delays ripening until a few days before they are delivered for sale. Their taste has always lost it's freshness. I'm not sure about tomatoes which contain a genetic trait which delays ripening. I'm curious how it effects taste.

The "last" tomatoes I referenced in this thread had been picked hard green and had ripened for about four weeks in the window sill and on the kitchen counter. They had lost enough moisture content that slight wrinkles had begun forming on the stem end. I wonder if dabbing a little wax on the stem end would slow the moisture loss while the tomato ripens. I believe the drying stem may function to wick moisture from the fruit. Due to the moisture loss, I've always believed tomatoes ripened in this manner have a more intense flavor. They are not usually great as fresh eating tomatoes because they lose some of their firm texture, but they are superior as cooking tomatoes and were great as thick slices in the Frattata.

Ted