Re: [gardeners] The tomatoes have started rolling in!
Margaret Lauterbach (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Wed, 12 Jul 2000 09:28:39 -0600
At 10:40 PM 7/11/00 -0400, you wrote:
>Hi, Ron -- I am quite surprised to hear you say that certain tomatoes
>are 'sweet', and others have a 'delightful note of salt'. I normally
>do grow some "Sweet 100s" which I gobble right off the vine before
>I can bring many inside -- and yes, perhaps I could say that they
>are sweet.
>
>We have a Master Gardener who starts at least 15 kinds of
>tomato each spring, just for fun. She brings a huge supply with
>her to our annual May plant swap -- whch is probably how I first
>got started with the "Sweet 100s"...
>
>The commercial tomatoes we get really do not have too much
>flavor. When the local truck farms start producing, especially
>in New Jersey, things should improve.
>
>We've survived the winter with the rather expensive tomatoes
>on a vine from Holland. And grape tomatoes have become the rage.
>In fact, cherry tomatoes have almost disappeared! Sad to say, yes,
>I do think the grape tomatoes have more flavor, but I have tired of
>them. I happen to be growing some cherry ones, courtesy of our
>cousin who had too many seedlings. They are just forming now,
>and it will take a while for them to reach maturity. Just think about
>it: local corn doesn't come in until perhaps the 2nd week of
>August! Zone 6 weather doesn't lend itself to a long gardening
>season . . .
>
>In my mind's eye, I associate tomatoes with Rutgers University,
>in N.J. They must have done a lot of research on the subject, many
>years ago. Wasn't there actually a tomato called 'Rutgers'..?
>
>Penny, NY
Still is. It's open pollinated, too. Penny, you have a garden, why aren't
you growing your own tomatoes? Try different varieties? The Riesentraube
cherry tomato is wonderful. Big beefsteak flavor in a shish kabob-sized
'mater. Look for different varieties of seeds at Chuck Wyatt's site:
www.heirloomtomatoes.net He grows in the Baltimore area, so your results
should be similar to his. Mine aren't similar in many cases, but I still
try different varieties. I'm growing 33 varieties this year (down from 70),
most of those varieties are old favorites. Just a different garden this
year. Margaret L