Monday, September 17, 2012

Harvest Monday: the Big Kahuna

Every year I cross my fingers that my larger slicing/eating tomatoes will yield one big specimen and today was the day for this cherokee purple. Not bad at 19 ounces! There's another on the vine although it could be a close call. We had one day of heavy rain earlier in the week which caused cracked tops, but all in all I'm just glad that there was no problem of blossom end rot this year.

Once again, the harvest for this past week looks pretty much like those from earlier on, and our summer has finally come to an end with definitely cooler temps. I figure I'll take a break from Harvest Mondays until the winter garden harvest is ready, but during these coming months, I hope to visit and report on an italian truffle fair and perhaps a chestnut festival in France. Hop on over to Daphne's Harvest Monday to see what others are reaping from their gardens.

Todays high: 21°C / 70°F

15 comments:

Mias Trädgård said...

Wow, that is a really serious Cherokee Purple! Lovely! Hope it tastes as good as it looks! We alos got even colder up here in Sweden, but this summer has been very chilly, som I´m so glad that I got my greenhouse up last Year! Sounds lovely with both italian truffle fair and chestnut festival - I didn´t even know that they existed! Have a good time, hope to see some reports from there! :) Mia

Jenny Rottinger said...

That is one massive CP tomato!

~TastyTravels~ said...

Nice Cherokee Purple!! Yummy!!!

Michelle said...

Very pretty! I'm still waiting for my first beefsteak type tomato to ripen, the first one is just starting to turn.

I envy you being able to attend a truffle fair. Yum! And a chestnut festival, sounds delicious, I hope you get to go, I want to read all about it.

Shawn Ann said...

That is one impressive Cherokee Purple, though I have never weighed any of mine I am pretty sure none of them have been that big. Nice variety you have there!

Andrea said...

Oh when you pick a tomato like that one all the hard work in the Garden is well worth it !!! Bet you both enjoyed it.
Will be looking forward to your posts, especially the truffle fair......
This day last year I was in Montalcino and we walked to the market town of San Quirco d'Orcia and brought beautiful fresh fruit to eat for our morning tea.......

Liz said...

A beautiful selection of produce. I hope I get a tomato as impressive as your cherokee purple this year.

Rowena said...

I can only imagine how much colder Sweden is, and having a greenhouse must almost be a necessity to grow heat-loving vegetables. I'm curious to see what will be growing in your greenhouse come winter!

Rowena said...

Not quite Attack of the Killer Tomatoes, but one whoppah of a specimen to go on top of a burger!

Rowena said...

I judge each year's success by one big buggah like this one. Now, if I only had some salted salmon I could make some lomi-lomi stuff.

Rowena said...

The particularly dry summer that we had will mean few truffles in autumn or truffles of smaller size. I hope that won't equal to super sky-high prices!

Rowena said...

I tell you it's almost like getting the golden egg when one gets up to this size without problems of blossom end rot, blight and all of the other illnesses that tomato plants often succumb to. I kind of liken it to growing the biggest pumpkin for Halloween!

Rowena said...

You took the words right out of my mouth. It was delicious: smoky, sweet, a little bit of acid all enhanced with a sprinkle of sea salt. Montalcino at this time of year must be especially pretty.

Rowena said...

When you do get that big one, post a photo! If tomatoes grew the size of pumpkins I would be one very, very happy cook. Bruschetta or gazpacho for the whole neighborhood.

Mias Trädgård said...

Well, Rowena, This winter there will just be some plants there that needs to be protected from the wet winter weather outside, no heat is going to be on, can´t se the point of it (neither financially nor ecologically), but I also have a small conservatory, just outside my homeoffice, were I keep most of my citrusplants and olives with some more cold-tolerating chilies, a few cactusplants and pelargoniums etc. This is where I always saw my first seeds for the Year, so I don´t have to shovel myself through the snow to the greenhouse... Well, Yes, I´m really glad for my greenhouse (and conservatory)! Looking forward from Your report from the wonderful fairs! :) Mia