April showers

1-month old Cherokee Purple tomatoes (potted at 7-day old germinated seedlings)

In the first half of April 2015 we saw a lot of sun and temperatures between 18-25C° -- amazing weather that I hoped would repeat itself again this year. Well it looks like we may be in for a damp month but that's okay as long as it doesn't rain buckets. On the first sunny day that arrives, I need to get moving and plant some Aloha and Hawaii in the garden.

Summer dahlias: Hawaii, Duet, Aloha

Today's high: 13°C / 55°F

Rose de Berne tomatoes

If Snow White's wicked stepmother-queen had run out of apples, she might have tempted her fair skin stepdaughter with these tomatoes instead. Rose de Bernes, reported to be a swiss heirloom, looks irresistible in its rosy pinkish-red color, is just the right size that fits daintily in your palm, and has an equally dainty and delicious tomato flavor. Sweet, a hint of spicy and balanced acidity. The shape is a roundish, squat look. Perfect skin, not much cracking (except for when we had that unexpected downpour after a dry spell), great ratio of flesh to seed, and some had yellow-green shoulders. The color in my image does not accurately reflect that awesome pinkish-red hue, and when I go out to check their ripening condition, how they look on the vine seems to differ a bit when I take them inside.

I didn't get as much yield as I thought there would be, but the plants were in the section where we had put much less horse manure. I will most likely plant these next year because I like to have a mix of sizes and this one fits right into the small category.

Average daytime temperature: 23°C / 73°F

Live long and prosper

That's what I tell my plants when I'm out there pinching off persistent tomato suckers. In the past 13 days the temperature has gradually increased to where it is now averaging about 27-28°C. Coupled with the cooler nights and occasional rainstorm, this has been a tremendous benefit to everything in the garden and front yard, and I've been spending a couple of hours each morning doing weed control. There has already been beautiful and bountiful harvests from other gardeners on the web, but since our season starts a little later, this is the period where I wish summer would fastforward so that the tomatofest can begin. No zucchini, no cukes? Bah! I can get those anytime at the supermarket, along with lettuce, eggplants and beans, but heirloom tomatoes is another thing altogether, because in Italy we just don't have pomodoro (tomato) madness like everywhere else. The cuore di bue and san marzano types are the staples in most gardens, so I'm trying to figure out how I'll explain why mine are pink and purple when I share some with the neighbors. No, this is not genetically modified, I swear! It's still another month or so away and anything can happen (like a swarm of locusts or baseball-sized hail), so in the meantime, here are photos that I took this morning of what's thriving in the orto.

Today

13 days ago

Bulls Blood beets and young japanese pear

Wild strawberries and purple & green shiso

Carbon and Cherokee Purple tomatoes

Average daytime temperature: 27C / 81°F

2009 hits, misses and definite keepers: the Tomatoes

Despite the less than ideal weather conditions in spring, I'd have to say that this year's tomato crop was a success. The harvest may not have been as great, but what few we did get were satisfactory enough in quality to decide whether we'll grow them again or not. The one thing I've learned most about tomatoes is that they need sun. I've grown them in containers, in good amended soil, in lousy mixed clay, and in all sorts of places in my yard and garden, but the ones that did best were those that were exposed to a sunny spot for at least 6 hours a day. The ones that did better were the ones grown in amended soil (manure/compost) or where I had previously grown fava plants. I still remember the neighbor who once said that we couldn't grow anything in this tough mountain clay, but I think he just didn't believe us city folk to possess so much determination to succeed. I can't live without tomatoes, so let's begin!

Pink Brandywine

In 2008, a shaded corner in the yard was the only space I had for these and while they grew and grew and yielded beautiful, oddly-shaped and enormous tomatoes, the lack of abundant sunshine took its toll. The monsters stayed green, all the way into late October, which is when I told my husband to collect them before it got too cold (I was away) and allow them to ripen indoors on their own. They did turn color, but the flavor was definitely lacking. This year they earned a prime spot in the garden, in soil where fava beans had previously grown. The 5 plants are still reaching for the stars and producing flowers like they were on a mission. What fruit we've already tasted has been an excellent balance of acid/sweet (so good in a caprese salad) that I will be growing these again.

Ananas Noire

In the end, color does make a difference. But after reading Ananas Noir: Hanna’s Tomato Tastings, waiting it out another few days was just not going to happen for me. Like she says, this tomato is sweet, even if it doesn't taste like any pineapple I've ever eaten, or even a tomato at that. The interior, when ripened properly, is supposed to be a green, yellow and purple mix. I won't be growing it next year.

Growing notes: going against all gardening logic, I started these from seed on April 2nd just for the heck of it. Six weeks later the seedlings were stuck in the only remaining space in the garden - a hole dug into clay dirt - along with some potting soil and a little helping of bat guano. The 3 plants bravely weathered wind, rain and hail, but in the end only one would grow strong enough to produce anything. Well actually it produced only 2 - this one here at a decent 10 oz. (they are said to grow up to 1.5 lbs), and another that I promise not to pick until it passes the squeeze test.

Cherokee Purple

Last year I grew these both in a container and mixed clay soil and they did so-so. Small harvest, but really great fruit, and my husband saved seeds as an experiment for this year's planting. That said, I started Cherokee Purples in mid-March with the sole intention of seeing if his seed-saving experiment would work. Of course it did, and managed to produce 2 tomatoes on a 3-foot tall plant. They tasted as wonderful as they had in 2008, but again, were victims of spring's bad weather — the plants didn't grow as big as they should have. The tomatoes have a smoky, sweet/tart flavor and again Hanna saves my day with her Cherokee Purple Tomato Tastings 2009. Bless that woman! I'll be growing these in a prime spot next year.

Marmande

At Baker Creek where I purchased the seeds from, the description of Marmande was too tempting to resist:

Scarlet, lightly ribbed fruit, have the full rich flavor that is so enjoyed in Europe. Medium-large size fruit are produced even in cool weather.

Produce they did, but I didn't care much for the higher ratio of seeds to flesh as you can see here in the photo. Not a keeper.

Black Krim

What more can I say about this tomato? Love its flavor, its juiciness and its color. I loved it so much that I even stripped it down naked to prove to myself that sometimes, beauty is not only skin deep. A definite keeper.

Rouge d'Irak

The seeds for these were from another seed-saving experiment that my husband did last year. I didn't grow them for production (they did fantastic in 2008), but just as a test to see how they'd do in the soil (mixed clay) in our back garden. As you can see, Rouge d'Iraks came through with flying colors, even with the wet weather in spring, so I will grow these again in 2010. For production purposes this time.

Japanese Black Trifele

My only big disappointment for 2009. Baker Creek described them in this way:

Attractive tomatoes are the shape and size of a Bartlett pear with a beautiful purplish-brick color. The flavor is absolutely sublime, having all the richness of fine chocolate.

Well mine were perhaps, the size of half a pear. Color-wise they looked like the above for the whole season. And fine chocolate? Not in the least bit...for me anyway. But I'm cutting Japanese Black Trifele tomatoes some slack because they were on the front line when it was cold and rainy, stuck at the top of the garden slope where it's more exposed to the elements. They also got nailed by hail, poor things, and didn't stand a chance when the slugs came along. If I can manage a free spot in the garden next year, I'll grow at least two plants to see how they do again.

Average daytime temperature: 19°C / 66°F
Snow has already been reported at higher elevations in the region of Trentino!

Furry Yellow Hog

Seeds for this tomato were sent gratis from Baker Creek as a *new test variety* and with a name like that...well hello, you can imagine how eager I was to grow this. They are of the 'peach type' due to the faint, fuzzy feel to the skin, even if this factor is hardly discernible on the tongue. From what information I could find, this is an experimental variety from Wild Boar Farms, and if the website weren't so bothersome, I'd have included a direct link. [Clicking on the links under the main header or clicking to enlarge images enables a pop-up ad that reappears even when you hit the 'BACK' button. Grrrr....]

At first I was under the impression that this was a cherry tomato, but Wild Boar's website points to a german page where the detail for this tomato translates loosely as such:

Yellow and greenish-white striped peach tomato; approx. 100 grams; mild, tangy flavor; very juicy; middle-maturing.

The first thing that I want to note about this variety is that it isn't middle-maturing, at least not in the prealpine mountains where we live. Of the Rouge d'Iraks, the Brandywines, the Cherokee Purples and Thessalonikis, this tomato is late, having given us less than a half dozen vine-ripened fruit. There is still a modest yield on the plants but they're still at the green furry stage, and I'm a little concerned since September has brought cooler temps. Even if it might seem otherwise from the macro shot, this is not a cherry-type, and the fruits on my plants range from 3-5 ounces. I still think the name is appropriate but maybe another adjective won't hurt - I'd call this one Furry Lazy Yellow Hog!

Soil/location(s):
area (A) mixed earth/potting soil in a large 5 gallon container
area (B) mixed clay/heavy soil situated on a medium slope with good drainage
Growing conditions/light: in full sun for most of the day (at least 8 hours)
Yield: modest, with 3-4 tomatoes in each cluster
Weight: 3-5 ounces with an almost apple-like shape to the larger fruit
Flavor/texture: light, citrusy flavor (even if my husband claims that it doesn't taste like a pomodoro as he knows it). Thick walls, meaty with not too much water in the gel.
A keeper or no?: at this early stage of my involvement with l'orto, I'm sticking with pinks, reds and blacks for now. Aside from the colors, I prefer deeper, more complex flavors. I love experimenting with the unique and unusual though, and am planting striped Black Pineapple tomatoes next year!
Extra notes:
No problems with pests or diseases other than slugs. I did a scratch-n-sniff test when they were partially yellow/half ripe (on the vine) and the smell reminded me of passionfruit! Some did sport a light showing of "freckles" but no other blemishes due to change in weather conditions (and again, we had a very mild summer this year). I just wish they would ripen.

Rouge d'Iraq

Quite an intriguing name for a tomato, and I'll admit that these made the purchase list because of the controversial nature in which the description was written. Read for yourself at rareseeds.com. [Honestly Rowena, can't you just pick a plain ol' regular tom and leave politics alone?!] Now I don't care to further investigate what the fuss is all about, not to mention the validity of it, but suffice to say that Rouge d'Iraqs are the undisputed tomato producers of the garden this year — and that, fellow tomato enthusiasts, is all that matters right now. What it started me thinking though, is that I should at least leave some notes of my own, especially after what Hanna's Tomato Tastings suggested in reply to a comment of mine. She said, “The best thing to do is run your own test. Sometimes tomatoes grow and taste different depending on where they are grown. A so-so tomato for me may rock where you live. Take a chance and you may be surprised.”

So, from now on I will state a few facts on growing conditions, plant observations, flavor and of course, if I will grow a particular tomato again. Please bear with me as I'm a fledgling giardiniera (gardener). Any extra tips would be greatly appreciated.

Soil/location(s):
area (A) mixed earth/potting soil in a 6-foot corner of the lawn with excellent drainage
area (B) mixed clay/heavy soil situated on a medium slope with good drainage
Growing conditions/light: in full sun for most of the day (at least 8 hours)
Yield: unbelievably prolific, with up to 6 tomatoes in each cluster
Weight: 4-8 ounces, although I did get a couple of 12 oz. monsters!
Flavor/texture: ok taste, with a hint of sweetness and low acidity. Thick-skinned (noticeable when you bite into a fresh one) and a tad mealy but overall, firm enough to slice cleanly.
A keeper or flash-in-the-pan: a keeper if only for the sake of the yield. I use it in asian stirfries and also chopped fresh with cooked pasta, fresh basil, mozzarella and anchovies.
Extra notes:
Absolutely no problems with pests or diseases. For the plants grown in area (B), after 1 week of coddling I just let them be and they survived, although visually stunted compared to the ones grown in area (A). I was trying to mimic the growing conditions that you would expect of Iraq, and apparently the clay undersoil was damp enough for them to keep going. All I did was the occasional weeding and staking of the plants.

This indeterminate is determined to grow forever given prime conditions so I ended up cutting the tops in area (A) to ensure that the tomatoes already developing would stand a chance of making it off the vine. I used 4-foot bamboo poles to hold up the plant but next year I'm getting sticks twice the length.

I'd also like to note that this year we had a mild summer. I live in the upper part of a mountain valley where the temps are moderate, with digits reaching the low to mid-80's. We also had occasional rain showers which kept everything green.