Tomatoes 2018 post-game

The tomatoes deserve their own entry, if only for the number of varieties we tried.

While I did the Italian grandfather method this year, I chose to not pick off all the sucker branches. This led to multiple bifurcations and a high density of vines in a small space.

The plants were not as lush overall like they have been in the past. Also, many had “cat facing”, which is a deformity and scarring of the lower pole of the fruit. I added a pack of compost to each planter, but may need to enrich the soil more. Some have suggested a lack of calcium so perhaps add some lime or fish fertilizer during the soil prep next year. I was also worried that I was over watering, but I think that I actually under watered.

• Paul Robeson – while always a favorite, these were not very productive this year.
• Momotaro – always takes a very long time. Very top heavy plant, which topples over its own weight every year. Very plump fruit for the late season.

• Mushroom basket – very interesting looking heirloom with scalloped edges. Quite productive, more than we could keep up. The kids were put off by the ridges.
• Indigo rose – fruit starts green then quickly turns indigo black. Very hard for pretty much the whole summer. Then the bottoms turn red and the fruit starts to soften. Nicely sweet with a smoky flavor. Very nice.
• Sweet million – an old standby. Just not very productive this year.
• Red velvet – interesting. The plant is silvery velvet like a lamb’s ear. The fruit also have a sort of fuzz. More productive than the sweet million right next to it.
• Sun peach – also more productive than the sweet million. Very nice flavor, subtle peach varietals.
• Black Krim – this and the Ananas noire were late additions to box 1, and neither grew very much so I think was related to the soil. However, good size and flavor, although split very easily.
• Ananas noire (black pineapple) – this was an awesome find. Supposedly has multicolored skin, although ours looked a lot like Paul Robeson, brick red with green shoulders. These have an amazing flavor, very sweet with a hint of tropical fruit. Perhaps we allowed ours to get overripe, but they were excellent nonetheless. Definitely revisit again in the future.