Today's harvest includes 24 Sunchocola, 16 Orange Paruche, 9 Sugar Snack, 5 Jaune Flamme, 4 Matt's Wild Cherry, 3 Berkeley Tie Dye (new), 3 SunGold, 2 Indigo Rose (new), 2 Nyagous (new), 2 Earliana, 2 Husky Cherry Red(1), Yellow Perfection, Adriana's Grande, Earl of Edgecombe, Stupice and Garden Peach(3) for a total of 77 tomatoes.
All of our newly harvested tomatoes look good. Berkeley Tie Dye wasn't a surprise as noted in yesterday's posting. Indigo Rose wasn't mentioned though I have been keeping an eye on it. I didn't notice the orange blush underneath a couple of the tomatoes, indicating ripeness. Nyagous was a pleasant surprise. We may have more Nyagous tomorrow.
Boy, Earl of Edgecombe is a pretty tomato. Bright orange tomato that looks nearly polished.
We barely beat yesterday's harvest total of 73 tomatoes. It looks like the first flush of Orange Paruche tomatoes is ending and the question remaining to be answered is will we get a second wave? I suspect we will. We've harvested nearly 500 Orange Paruche tomatoes this year (483), it's still early July and it's not a large tomato. The plant will hopefully have enough energy for another push. Sunchocola will definitely have another push but it isn't clear if it will be a long first wave or we dip and start up again. On a curious note, I'm harvesting some mature Sunchocola tomatoes that are nearly five feet off the ground. The top end of the "harvest zone" is already pretty high on this plant.
Showing posts with label Berkeley Tie Dye. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Berkeley Tie Dye. Show all posts
Monday, July 7, 2014
Sunday, June 8, 2014
SunGold and Orange Paruche Have Maturing Tomatoes!
Thursday's harvest: None. A ripe Stupice got pecked by a bird so I had to throw it away.
Friday's harvest: None. The next ripe Stupice got hit by a bird again. This tomato was pretty torn apart. When I went to pull it off, a whole branch of unripe Stupice came off with it. Grrrrrrrrrrr......
The Pineapple Pig tomato plant has a lot of leaves turning yellow and doesn't appear to be growing at the same pace as others.
Saturday's harvest: Sunchocola.
I noticed that Speckled Roman(1) and Golden Rave have growing tomatoes. Also, I should mention that Persimmon(2) (not Persimmon) had growing tomatoes some time ago but I had forgotten to mention it.
Today's harvest: Sunchocola.
I did a fair amount tomato training late in the evening.
SunGold and Orange Paruche have maturing tomatoes! In fact, I pulled off an Orange Paruche that looked ripe. I'll add that to tomorrow's totals.
Plants with growing tomatoes include Blue Beauty, Berkeley Tie Dye (now all the tomato plants in the "koi pond" have growing tomatoes), Indian Stripe (but the plant looks lousy) and Speckled Roman(2).
Sunchocola and Adriana's Grande are 6 feet tall. That's right, 6 feet tall. It's June 8, folks! This is ridiculous. German Orange Strawberry isn't that far behind, heightwise.
Friday's harvest: None. The next ripe Stupice got hit by a bird again. This tomato was pretty torn apart. When I went to pull it off, a whole branch of unripe Stupice came off with it. Grrrrrrrrrrr......
The Pineapple Pig tomato plant has a lot of leaves turning yellow and doesn't appear to be growing at the same pace as others.
Saturday's harvest: Sunchocola.
I noticed that Speckled Roman(1) and Golden Rave have growing tomatoes. Also, I should mention that Persimmon(2) (not Persimmon) had growing tomatoes some time ago but I had forgotten to mention it.
Today's harvest: Sunchocola.
I did a fair amount tomato training late in the evening.
SunGold and Orange Paruche have maturing tomatoes! In fact, I pulled off an Orange Paruche that looked ripe. I'll add that to tomorrow's totals.
Plants with growing tomatoes include Blue Beauty, Berkeley Tie Dye (now all the tomato plants in the "koi pond" have growing tomatoes), Indian Stripe (but the plant looks lousy) and Speckled Roman(2).
Sunchocola and Adriana's Grande are 6 feet tall. That's right, 6 feet tall. It's June 8, folks! This is ridiculous. German Orange Strawberry isn't that far behind, heightwise.
Thursday, May 29, 2014
We're Harvesting!
Tuesday's harvest includes 3 Stupice.
We're harvesting! We tried a couple of the Stupice and they taste like you'd expect -- a fresh tomato with a "classic" tomato taste. Nothing spectacular, nothing unusual, just a tomato you can slice in half and toss it into a salad. We're off to the races!
I added fertilizer to Black SeaMan. My wife watered it in and trimmed the burned leaves (the dogs pee on this plant for some reason). The plant does not look good but we hope for a turnaround.
Wednesday's harvest includes 2 Stupice.
My wife replaced the destroyed Blush with Momotaro.
Today's harvest includes 3 Stupice.
I cut a lot of the low branches for all the tomatoes again and did a lot of training. During my cutting and training I noticed several plants with tomatoes. These include German Orange Strawberry, Black Krim, Snow White, Pierce's Pride and Nyagous.
Every plant in the "koi pond" now has a growing tomato except Berkeley Tie Dye.
I added a stake to support Volunteer(2).
We're harvesting! We tried a couple of the Stupice and they taste like you'd expect -- a fresh tomato with a "classic" tomato taste. Nothing spectacular, nothing unusual, just a tomato you can slice in half and toss it into a salad. We're off to the races!
I added fertilizer to Black SeaMan. My wife watered it in and trimmed the burned leaves (the dogs pee on this plant for some reason). The plant does not look good but we hope for a turnaround.
Wednesday's harvest includes 2 Stupice.
My wife replaced the destroyed Blush with Momotaro.
Today's harvest includes 3 Stupice.
I cut a lot of the low branches for all the tomatoes again and did a lot of training. During my cutting and training I noticed several plants with tomatoes. These include German Orange Strawberry, Black Krim, Snow White, Pierce's Pride and Nyagous.
Every plant in the "koi pond" now has a growing tomato except Berkeley Tie Dye.
I added a stake to support Volunteer(2).
Friday, April 4, 2014
Catching Up On Some Back Yard Plantings(1)...
So let's catch up on some of the back yard plantings...
On Tuesday my wife replaced the back yard Berkeley Tie Dye (from seed) with Odoriko, replaced Evan's Purple Pear (grown from seed) with Cherokee Purple and replaced the now non-existent Pineapple Pig(2) with Red Pear Piriform.
On Wednesday I dug the holes and my wife planted Dr. Wyche's Yellow, Aunt Ruby's German Green, Black Icicle, Paul Robeson, Nyagous and Evan's Purple Pear. I pulled out about a gallon and half of rocks and asphalt.
The dirt for the back yard and "koi pond" tomatoes looks great. After I dig out the dirt I've been adding some kelp meal, a handful of worm castings and a handful of tomato fertilizer, then mix it all together. This is on top of all the compost we added a few months back.
On Tuesday my wife replaced the back yard Berkeley Tie Dye (from seed) with Odoriko, replaced Evan's Purple Pear (grown from seed) with Cherokee Purple and replaced the now non-existent Pineapple Pig(2) with Red Pear Piriform.
On Wednesday I dug the holes and my wife planted Dr. Wyche's Yellow, Aunt Ruby's German Green, Black Icicle, Paul Robeson, Nyagous and Evan's Purple Pear. I pulled out about a gallon and half of rocks and asphalt.
The dirt for the back yard and "koi pond" tomatoes looks great. After I dig out the dirt I've been adding some kelp meal, a handful of worm castings and a handful of tomato fertilizer, then mix it all together. This is on top of all the compost we added a few months back.
Thursday, April 3, 2014
The "Koi Pond" is Planted!
Let's try to catch up on some of this...
We've fully planted the "koi pond". We still need to put up cages and make dirt moats around the tomatoes, but they have been planted. We're making a concerted effort to get them in the ground as quickly as is reasonably possible.
A week ago last Tuesday (March 25) my wife planted Yellow Perfection, Sunchocola, Adriana's Grande, Janet's Jacinthe Jewel and Orange Paruche in the "koi pond". It's my understanding that last year's delicious Grande tomato is this year's Adriana's Grande. On Friday (after the Descanso Gardens prep work) I dug holes and my wife planted Earl of Edgecombe and German Orange Strawberry. Last Tuesday we planted Earliana, Vorlon and Berkeley Tie Dye. Yesterday we planted Bread and Salt and Hungarian Heart.
So we have 12 tomato plants in the "koi pond". We planted six tomatoes in the back yard today and I think we planted eight yesterday (but several of these plantings replaced existing seedlings).
We're trucking along...
We've fully planted the "koi pond". We still need to put up cages and make dirt moats around the tomatoes, but they have been planted. We're making a concerted effort to get them in the ground as quickly as is reasonably possible.
A week ago last Tuesday (March 25) my wife planted Yellow Perfection, Sunchocola, Adriana's Grande, Janet's Jacinthe Jewel and Orange Paruche in the "koi pond". It's my understanding that last year's delicious Grande tomato is this year's Adriana's Grande. On Friday (after the Descanso Gardens prep work) I dug holes and my wife planted Earl of Edgecombe and German Orange Strawberry. Last Tuesday we planted Earliana, Vorlon and Berkeley Tie Dye. Yesterday we planted Bread and Salt and Hungarian Heart.
So we have 12 tomato plants in the "koi pond". We planted six tomatoes in the back yard today and I think we planted eight yesterday (but several of these plantings replaced existing seedlings).
We're trucking along...
Thursday, March 13, 2014
The 2014 Growing Season Has Started!
Today I planted one purchased seedling and 11 of our seedlings grown from seed.
In the ground are Stupice (purchased), Beauty King, Porkchop, Berkeley Tie Dye, Evan's Purple Pear, Pink Berkeley Tie Dye, Solar Flare, Persimmon (seeds from The Tomato Lady of Beverly Hills, not the more famously named Persimmon), Green Grape and Pineapple Pig.
I also planted two duplicates by mistake: Persimmon and Pineapple Pig. I meant to plant a second Persimmon but in the front yard. There's a good chance I'll still plant one there.
So 12 are in the ground and they look pretty good! All of them were planted in the "Far East" in the back yard.
The 2014 growing season has started!
In the ground are Stupice (purchased), Beauty King, Porkchop, Berkeley Tie Dye, Evan's Purple Pear, Pink Berkeley Tie Dye, Solar Flare, Persimmon (seeds from The Tomato Lady of Beverly Hills, not the more famously named Persimmon), Green Grape and Pineapple Pig.
I also planted two duplicates by mistake: Persimmon and Pineapple Pig. I meant to plant a second Persimmon but in the front yard. There's a good chance I'll still plant one there.
So 12 are in the ground and they look pretty good! All of them were planted in the "Far East" in the back yard.
The 2014 growing season has started!
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
July 2013 Tomato Analysis
In July 2013 we harvested 1970 tomatoes, of which 770 were in the front yard and 1200 in the back yard.
Let's compare this year with prior harvests...
2013 -- 1970 -- Sixth
2012 -- 6068 -- Second
2011 -- 3863 -- Fifth
2010 -- 4108 -- Fourth
2009 -- 4576 -- Third
2008 -- 1629 -- Seventh
2007 -- 6154 -- First
This year barely beats out the worst harvest month, 2008. Bleah.
As you can see it's not a good year. Why?
I don't think the seedlings were as solid as other years. I simply think the plants were weaker and that's the main issue. What I've been keeping an eye on is beware of windstorms within a week or two of when you purchase your seedlings. I believe that occurred this year. The plants start strong and get to a reasonable height. Up to this point there appears to be nothing wrong with the seedlings. The plant starts to produce fruit and then "hits the wall". The plant starts to turn a grayish color and the fruit stays seriously underdeveloped.
There's so many tomato seedlings like this I can't list them all. Pierce's Pride, Clint Eastwood's Rowdy Red(1), Green Zebra, Blue Beauty, Berkeley Tie Dye, Pineapple, Stupice, Nyagous, Jersey Giant...all produced severely undersized tomatoes. Or in the case of Green Zebra, no edible ripe fruit at all.
The second thing that possibly affected the seedlings are that we took to long to actually put them in the ground. In some cases I think it took us over two weeks before we acquired the seedling and actually put it in the ground. That's too long. I'll think about digging some holes before we acquire seedlings next year.
I believe we fertilized pretty well in preparation for this year. One can always do more but I thought we were well prepared. Speaking of which, we still have some hay bales acquired about a month ago that we still need to spread on the ground.
The third thing was that we got hot early. No, we didn't hit 110 like we did in June of 2008 but there were several early heat waves.
So two out of three items we really didn't have control but we'll work on the third for next year.
August may not turn out so bad. We've had some relatively mild weather for the past week or so. I expect some of the remaining plants to recover somewhat and have a second wind. Let's see what happens.
Let's compare this year with prior harvests...
2013 -- 1970 -- Sixth
2012 -- 6068 -- Second
2011 -- 3863 -- Fifth
2010 -- 4108 -- Fourth
2009 -- 4576 -- Third
2008 -- 1629 -- Seventh
2007 -- 6154 -- First
This year barely beats out the worst harvest month, 2008. Bleah.
As you can see it's not a good year. Why?
I don't think the seedlings were as solid as other years. I simply think the plants were weaker and that's the main issue. What I've been keeping an eye on is beware of windstorms within a week or two of when you purchase your seedlings. I believe that occurred this year. The plants start strong and get to a reasonable height. Up to this point there appears to be nothing wrong with the seedlings. The plant starts to produce fruit and then "hits the wall". The plant starts to turn a grayish color and the fruit stays seriously underdeveloped.
There's so many tomato seedlings like this I can't list them all. Pierce's Pride, Clint Eastwood's Rowdy Red(1), Green Zebra, Blue Beauty, Berkeley Tie Dye, Pineapple, Stupice, Nyagous, Jersey Giant...all produced severely undersized tomatoes. Or in the case of Green Zebra, no edible ripe fruit at all.
The second thing that possibly affected the seedlings are that we took to long to actually put them in the ground. In some cases I think it took us over two weeks before we acquired the seedling and actually put it in the ground. That's too long. I'll think about digging some holes before we acquire seedlings next year.
I believe we fertilized pretty well in preparation for this year. One can always do more but I thought we were well prepared. Speaking of which, we still have some hay bales acquired about a month ago that we still need to spread on the ground.
The third thing was that we got hot early. No, we didn't hit 110 like we did in June of 2008 but there were several early heat waves.
So two out of three items we really didn't have control but we'll work on the third for next year.
August may not turn out so bad. We've had some relatively mild weather for the past week or so. I expect some of the remaining plants to recover somewhat and have a second wind. Let's see what happens.
Friday, July 12, 2013
Harvested A Mini Japanese Black Trifele
Yesterday's harvest includes 15 Black Cherry, 8 Sweet 100, 6 Vorlon (8 ounces, 6 ounces, 10 ounces), 5 Garden Peach, 4 Juliet, 4 Supersweet 100, 4 Husky Cherry Red, 4 Blue Beauty, 3 German Orange Strawberry (8 ounces), 3 Shah/Mikado, 2 Indigo Rose, 2 Speckled Roman(2), 2 Michael Pollan, 2 Hungarian Heart, 2 Dr. Wyche's Yellow (8.5 ounces, 12 ounces), Clint Eastwood's Rowdy Red(1), Stupice, Yellow Perfection, Black Krim (8 ounces), Snow White, Anana's Noire (18 ounces) and Husky Red(1) for a total of 73 tomatoes.
Today's harvest includes 17 Black Cherry, 10 Sweet 100, 6 Husky Cherry Red, 6 Blue Beauty, 4 Garden Peach, 3 Vorlon, 3 Berkeley Tie Dye, 3 Juliet, 3 Jaune Flamme, 3 Black Krim (8.5 ounces, 10 ounces), 2 Speckled Roman(1), 2 Supersweet 100, 2 German Orange Strawberry (7 ounces), 2 Piement, 2 Clint Eastwood's Rowdy Red(1), 2 Yellow Perfection, 2 Shah/Mikado, 2 Pineapple, Japanese Black Trifele (new), Porkchop, Black Seaman, Dr. Wyche's Yellow, Speckled Roman(2) and Snow White for a total of 80 tomatoes.
The Michael Pollan plant is basically dead. I don't want any more tomatoes off of this plant. This is somewhat amazing because three weeks ago I could argue that it's the strongest plant I had. Maybe a cutworm got it, maybe it couldn't handle the heat...but I won't harvest from this plant again. There are a few unripened ones sitting on our sill that I may count toward the final total...but the plant is dead. Pierce's Pride, Nyagous, Green Zebra, Black Seaman are functionally dead as well. Green Zebra has been dead for two weeks but we've had no time to pull it.
Piement has an amazing texture! The tomato is unique. It looks like a pepper. Take a chili from the Chile's Restaurant logo and straighten it out -- that's the look of Piement. And it tastes good, too. I don't think I've ever had a tomato with such a pleasant texture. Blue Beauty was good, Shah/Mikado was good but Piement was really good.
While Japanese Black Trifele is a new tomato, it is very small. This falls in line with some of our other plants like Clint Eastwood's Rowdy Red(1), Black Seaman, Berkeley Tie Dye, Pineapple, Pierce's Pride and maybe others.
I think this will be a bad year by comparison to other years. There are lots of "too small" tomatoes, weak/dying tomato plants and more blossom end rot than most years. I think the tomato seedlings were not as strong as prior years.
Today's harvest includes 17 Black Cherry, 10 Sweet 100, 6 Husky Cherry Red, 6 Blue Beauty, 4 Garden Peach, 3 Vorlon, 3 Berkeley Tie Dye, 3 Juliet, 3 Jaune Flamme, 3 Black Krim (8.5 ounces, 10 ounces), 2 Speckled Roman(1), 2 Supersweet 100, 2 German Orange Strawberry (7 ounces), 2 Piement, 2 Clint Eastwood's Rowdy Red(1), 2 Yellow Perfection, 2 Shah/Mikado, 2 Pineapple, Japanese Black Trifele (new), Porkchop, Black Seaman, Dr. Wyche's Yellow, Speckled Roman(2) and Snow White for a total of 80 tomatoes.
The Michael Pollan plant is basically dead. I don't want any more tomatoes off of this plant. This is somewhat amazing because three weeks ago I could argue that it's the strongest plant I had. Maybe a cutworm got it, maybe it couldn't handle the heat...but I won't harvest from this plant again. There are a few unripened ones sitting on our sill that I may count toward the final total...but the plant is dead. Pierce's Pride, Nyagous, Green Zebra, Black Seaman are functionally dead as well. Green Zebra has been dead for two weeks but we've had no time to pull it.
Piement has an amazing texture! The tomato is unique. It looks like a pepper. Take a chili from the Chile's Restaurant logo and straighten it out -- that's the look of Piement. And it tastes good, too. I don't think I've ever had a tomato with such a pleasant texture. Blue Beauty was good, Shah/Mikado was good but Piement was really good.
While Japanese Black Trifele is a new tomato, it is very small. This falls in line with some of our other plants like Clint Eastwood's Rowdy Red(1), Black Seaman, Berkeley Tie Dye, Pineapple, Pierce's Pride and maybe others.
I think this will be a bad year by comparison to other years. There are lots of "too small" tomatoes, weak/dying tomato plants and more blossom end rot than most years. I think the tomato seedlings were not as strong as prior years.
Wednesday, July 10, 2013
Harvested Grande!
Today's harvest includes 12 Black Cherry, 9 Sweet 100, 7 Yellow Perfection, 5 German Orange Strawberry (6 ounces, 7.5 ounces), 5 Shah/Mikado, 4 Juliet, 4 Garden Peach, 4 Husky Cherry Red, 3 Blue Beauty, 3 Vorlon (8.5 ounces, 9 ounces), 3 Michael Pollan, 2 Snow White, 2 Berkeley Tie Dye, 2 Missouri Pink Love Apple (6 ounces), Grande (17 ounces, new), Speckled Roman(1), Speckled Roman(2), Piement, Pineapple, Stupice, Paul Robeson, Isis Candy and Husky Red(1) for a total of 74 tomatoes.
Yesterday I gave some tomatoes to our local barrista. My wife had me give some tomatoes to a neighborhood friend of hers.
She made gazpacho for dinner and it tasted both delicious and healthy!
The new Grande tomato is our largest tomato this year so far.
Yesterday I gave some tomatoes to our local barrista. My wife had me give some tomatoes to a neighborhood friend of hers.
She made gazpacho for dinner and it tasted both delicious and healthy!
The new Grande tomato is our largest tomato this year so far.
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Harvested Black Krim and Missouri Pink Love Apple!
Today's harvest includes 9 Yellow Perfection, 6 Black Cherry, 2 Clint Eastwood's Rowdy Red, 2 Sweet 100, Black Krim (new) (11 ounces), Missouri Pink Love Apple (new) (6 ounces), Stupice, Pierce's Pride, Porkchop, Brad's Black Heart, Berkeley Tie Dye and Nyagous for a total of 27 tomatoes.
Last night we tried the Michael Pollan tomato. I liked it and my wife really liked it. We got a good report from her mother just the other day and this Michael Pollan didn't disappoint.
Missouri Pink Love Apple looks cute and the new Black Krim will be delicious, you see...
Update: We tried Missouri Pink Love Apple and Black Cherry tonight in a salad. Black Cherry was solidly good. But Missouri Pink Love Apple was downright delicious. Light, smooth, juicy, consistent with a slight watermelon flavor underneath the juicy tomato deliciousness. This specific tomato is highly recommended. Too bad there's no more to share.
Last night we tried the Michael Pollan tomato. I liked it and my wife really liked it. We got a good report from her mother just the other day and this Michael Pollan didn't disappoint.
Missouri Pink Love Apple looks cute and the new Black Krim will be delicious, you see...
Update: We tried Missouri Pink Love Apple and Black Cherry tonight in a salad. Black Cherry was solidly good. But Missouri Pink Love Apple was downright delicious. Light, smooth, juicy, consistent with a slight watermelon flavor underneath the juicy tomato deliciousness. This specific tomato is highly recommended. Too bad there's no more to share.
Sunday, June 23, 2013
Harvested Eight New Tomatoes!
Wednesday's harvest includes 7 Black Cherry, 3 Husky Cherry Red, 2 Stupice, SuperSweet 100 (new) and Yellow Perfection for a total of 14 tomatoes.
Thursday's harvest includes 7 Yellow Perfection, 4 Black Cherry, 3 Husky Cherry Red, 2 Shah/Mikado (new) and Porkchop for a total of 17 tomatoes.
Shah/Mikado tomatoes are a milky yellow color and looks interesting.
Friday's harvest includes 4 Yellow Perfection, 2 Michael Pollan (new), 2 Husky Cherry Red, Vorlon (14 ounces), Stupice, Black Cherry, Shah/Mikado and Black and Brown Boar for a total of 13 tomatoes.
The two Michael Pollan tomatoes were the largest Michael Pollan tomatoes I've ever seen. I put them on the scale and they both weighed two ounces. But for those unfamiliar with Michael Pollan tomatoes, that's huge! The Vorlon tomato is a beauty.
Saturday's harvest includes 11 Yellow Perfection, 4 Snow White (new), 2 Nyagous (new), 2 Husky Cherry Red, Black Seaman (new), Brad's Black Heart (new), Clint Eastwood's Rowdy Red, Stupice, Pierce's Pride and Black Cherry for a total of 25 tomatoes.
The harvested Brad's Black Heart was tiny and the plant still doesn't look good while the Black Seaman tomato looked okay.
I spent a lot of time catching up on tomato training and cleaning out the underbrush of a lot of the tomato plants -- probably about two and half hours or so. I deep watered about half the tomato plants in the ground in the back yard. While watering I was clearing out the underbrush and found harvestable tomatoes for Nyagous and Snow White! Hey, look what I found! It was a lot of work but the tomato plants look a lot better.
Later on we drove down to San Juan Capistrano to visit my in-laws and other relatives. We brought down all these tomatoes and more. Most of the relatives came away with tomatoes. We gave them all away. We had a great time!
Today's harvest includes 6 Husky Cherry Red, 6 Yellow Perfection, Berkeley Tie Dye (new), Stupice, Vorlon (9 ounces), Black Cherry and Nyagous for a total of 17 tomatoes.
I deep watered the rest of the back yard tomatoes in the ground and five tomato containers. I spent some more time clearing out tomato underbrush while watering.
The Berkeley Tie Dye is tiny, only one or two ounces.
There will be a good sized Hungarian Heart harvested tomorrow. The maturing tomatoes include Missouri Pink Love Apple though I'm sure there are others.
Green Zebra is for all intents and purposes dead. It's just a matter of time before we pull it out.
Thursday's harvest includes 7 Yellow Perfection, 4 Black Cherry, 3 Husky Cherry Red, 2 Shah/Mikado (new) and Porkchop for a total of 17 tomatoes.
Shah/Mikado tomatoes are a milky yellow color and looks interesting.
Friday's harvest includes 4 Yellow Perfection, 2 Michael Pollan (new), 2 Husky Cherry Red, Vorlon (14 ounces), Stupice, Black Cherry, Shah/Mikado and Black and Brown Boar for a total of 13 tomatoes.
The two Michael Pollan tomatoes were the largest Michael Pollan tomatoes I've ever seen. I put them on the scale and they both weighed two ounces. But for those unfamiliar with Michael Pollan tomatoes, that's huge! The Vorlon tomato is a beauty.
Saturday's harvest includes 11 Yellow Perfection, 4 Snow White (new), 2 Nyagous (new), 2 Husky Cherry Red, Black Seaman (new), Brad's Black Heart (new), Clint Eastwood's Rowdy Red, Stupice, Pierce's Pride and Black Cherry for a total of 25 tomatoes.
The harvested Brad's Black Heart was tiny and the plant still doesn't look good while the Black Seaman tomato looked okay.
I spent a lot of time catching up on tomato training and cleaning out the underbrush of a lot of the tomato plants -- probably about two and half hours or so. I deep watered about half the tomato plants in the ground in the back yard. While watering I was clearing out the underbrush and found harvestable tomatoes for Nyagous and Snow White! Hey, look what I found! It was a lot of work but the tomato plants look a lot better.
Later on we drove down to San Juan Capistrano to visit my in-laws and other relatives. We brought down all these tomatoes and more. Most of the relatives came away with tomatoes. We gave them all away. We had a great time!
Today's harvest includes 6 Husky Cherry Red, 6 Yellow Perfection, Berkeley Tie Dye (new), Stupice, Vorlon (9 ounces), Black Cherry and Nyagous for a total of 17 tomatoes.
I deep watered the rest of the back yard tomatoes in the ground and five tomato containers. I spent some more time clearing out tomato underbrush while watering.
The Berkeley Tie Dye is tiny, only one or two ounces.
There will be a good sized Hungarian Heart harvested tomorrow. The maturing tomatoes include Missouri Pink Love Apple though I'm sure there are others.
Green Zebra is for all intents and purposes dead. It's just a matter of time before we pull it out.
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
Finished Planting the Front Yard
Yesterday afternoon my wife planted Paul Robeson, Black Seaman, Berkeley Tie Dye, Brad's Black Heart, Dr. Wyche's Yellow and Speckled Roman in the front yard "koi pond". I assisted with the last couple of holes but my wife did a vast majority of the work.
In theory our front yard is now finished, though we may add one more in a shaded area of the "corner office".
Tonight I started my first hole in the back yard. I pulled out enough rocks and stuff (there was at least one shard of glass) to fill a one gallon container. But there was a huge rock to the east of the hole that I simply could not get out of the hole. I'll try again in the morning before I head out to work. I hope the soil around the rock dries out and I can dislodge it. If I can't get it out my wife will plant something just to the west of this rock.
In theory our front yard is now finished, though we may add one more in a shaded area of the "corner office".
Tonight I started my first hole in the back yard. I pulled out enough rocks and stuff (there was at least one shard of glass) to fill a one gallon container. But there was a huge rock to the east of the hole that I simply could not get out of the hole. I'll try again in the morning before I head out to work. I hope the soil around the rock dries out and I can dislodge it. If I can't get it out my wife will plant something just to the west of this rock.
Tuesday, July 24, 2012
Harvested Over 600 Husky Cherry Red(1) Tomatoes!
Today's harvest includes 60 SunGold, 42 Black Cherry(1), 26 Husky Cherry Red(1), 14 Husky Cherry Red(2), 7 Garden Peach, 6 Snow White(1), 6 Indigo Rose, 5 Nyagous(2) (not Nyagous), 4 Black Krim(2) (8 ounces, 11 ounces), 4 SunSugar, 3 Black From Tula (6 ounces, 7 ounces), 3 Thessaloniki, 3 Amana Orange (13 ounces, 11 ounces, 14.5 ounces), 3 Persimmon (21 ounces, 16.5 ounces, 13.5 ounces), 2 Pierce's Pride(1) (6 ounces, 10 ounces), 2 Oaxacan Pink (10.5 ounces, 11 ounces), 2 Black and Brown Boar(2), 2 Big Bite, 2 Noire Charbonneuse(2), 2 Japanese Black Trifele, 2 German Orange Strawberry, 2 Red Currant, 2 Clint Eastwood's Rowdy Red, 2 Delicious (6 ounces, 6 ounces), 2 Berkeley Tie Dye (11 ounces, 6 ounces), 2 Italian Heirloom (12.5 ounces, 7.5 ounces), 2 Black and Brown Boar(1), 2 Yellow Perfection, Pink Berkeley Tie Dye(2), Porkchop(1) (16 ounces), Noire Charbonneuse(1), Indigo Apple(2), Redfield Beauty, Snow White(2), Green Grape, Speckled Roman(1), Speckled Roman(3), Yellow Furry Boar, Oaxacan Jewel (16 ounces), Olga's Round Yellow Chicken Egg (6 ounces), Nebraska Wedding (7 ounces), Red Boar(2), Omar's Lebanese (20 ounces) and Purple Dog Creek (8.5 ounces) for a total of 230 tomatoes.
Even though today's harvest has lower numbers than yesterday's, it's clearly a heavier harvest. There's plenty of beautiful large tomatoes today's harvest, including Omar's Lebanese, Persimmon, Oaxacan Jewel, Porkchop(1), Oaxacan Pink and Amana Orange. Today's harvest was a really nice one.
My wife pulled out Yellow Currant yesterday.
We've now harvested over 1700 SunGold tomaotes (1733) and over 600 Husky Cherry Red(1) tomatoes (623). Also, we've now harvested over 4500 tomatoes in July (4618).
Even though today's harvest has lower numbers than yesterday's, it's clearly a heavier harvest. There's plenty of beautiful large tomatoes today's harvest, including Omar's Lebanese, Persimmon, Oaxacan Jewel, Porkchop(1), Oaxacan Pink and Amana Orange. Today's harvest was a really nice one.
My wife pulled out Yellow Currant yesterday.
We've now harvested over 1700 SunGold tomaotes (1733) and over 600 Husky Cherry Red(1) tomatoes (623). Also, we've now harvested over 4500 tomatoes in July (4618).
Friday, July 20, 2012
Harvested Over 4500 Tomatoes This Year!
Today's harvest includes 72 SunGold, 23 Husky Cherry Red(1), 19 Husky Cherry Red(2), 12 Black Cherry(1), 9 Garden Peach, 7 Snow White(1), 5 Yellow Perfection, 4 Carmello (6 ounces), 4 Jaune Flamme(2), 4 SunSugar, 4 Nyagous(2) (not Nyagous), 4 Black From Tula (9 ounces, 8 ounces, 9.5 ounces), 3 Speckled Roman(3) (7 ounces), 3 Yellow Furry Boar (6.5 ounces), 3 Pink Furry Boar (6 ounces), 3 Matt's Wild Cherry, 3 Brown Berry, 2 Black and Brown Boar(2), 2 Delicious (6 ounces, 6 ounces), 2 Red Currant, 2 Yellow Currant, 2 Black and Brown Boar(1), 2 Indigo Rose, 2 Dr. Wyche's Yellow (7 ounces, 7.5 ounces), 2 Crimson Cushion (8 ounces), 2 Green Grape, 2 Snow White(2), 2 Brad's Black Heart (12 ounces), 2 Japanese Black Trifele (8 ounces), 2 Creme Brulee (7 ounces), 2 Jaune Flamme(1), 2 Watermelon (8.5 ounces, 10.5 ounces), Noire Charbonneuse(1), Noire Charbonneuse(2), Berkeley Tie Dye, Vorlon (10 ounces), Speckled Roman(2) (6 ounces), Pineapple Pig (17 ounces), Oaxacan Jewel (12.5 ounces), Gypsy, Marmara (6 ounces), Black Krim(1) (9.5 ounces), Black Krim(2), Pink Berkeley Tie Dye(2) (7.5 ounces), Persimmon (14 ounces), Italian Heirloom (9 ounces), Taxi and Marianna's Peace (9 ounces) for a total of 228 tomatoes.
My wife will appreciate fewer harvested tomatoes today. Yesterday she completed the watering of the back yard tomatoes but otherwise spent the whole day processing and giving away tomatoes. It was an all day job and understandably she was a bit overwhelmed by the end of the day.
This morning we taste tested Yellow Furry Boar and Creme Brulee. Yellow Furry Boar was a nice, smooth tasting milky yellow tomato. But our collective socks were knocked off by Creme Brulee. The taste really can't be condensed down into a simple description. I find it to be a great combination between both a red tomato (tomato taste) with a brown tomato (smooth, smoky undertones). Both flavors are there but neither dominates. Both tomatoes worked but Creme Brulee was just outstanding.
A Red Boar(2) is maturing.
We've now harvested over 1400 SunGold tomatoes for the year (1446). Also, we've now harvested over 2000 back yard tomatoes in July (2065), over 3500 overall for the month (3674) and over 4500 for the year (4538).
My wife will appreciate fewer harvested tomatoes today. Yesterday she completed the watering of the back yard tomatoes but otherwise spent the whole day processing and giving away tomatoes. It was an all day job and understandably she was a bit overwhelmed by the end of the day.
This morning we taste tested Yellow Furry Boar and Creme Brulee. Yellow Furry Boar was a nice, smooth tasting milky yellow tomato. But our collective socks were knocked off by Creme Brulee. The taste really can't be condensed down into a simple description. I find it to be a great combination between both a red tomato (tomato taste) with a brown tomato (smooth, smoky undertones). Both flavors are there but neither dominates. Both tomatoes worked but Creme Brulee was just outstanding.
A Red Boar(2) is maturing.
We've now harvested over 1400 SunGold tomatoes for the year (1446). Also, we've now harvested over 2000 back yard tomatoes in July (2065), over 3500 overall for the month (3674) and over 4500 for the year (4538).
Monday, July 9, 2012
Harvested Pink Furry Boar!
Today's harvest includes 44 SunGold, 13 Husky Cherry Red(1), 10 Husky Cherry Red(2), 7 Yellow Currant, 6 Red Currant, 5 Garden Peach, 5 Yellow Perfection, 4 Nyagous(1), 4 SunSugar, 3 Green Grape, 3 Carmello, 3 Crimson Cushion, 2 Berkeley Tie Dye (7 ounces, 16 ounces), 2 Italian Heirloom (9 ounces, 8 ounces), 2 Matt's Wild Cherry, 2 Noire Charbonneuse(1) (7 ounces, 6.5 ounces), 2 Big Bite (9 ounces), 2 Black From Tula (7 ounces), 2 Pineapple Pig (9.5 ounces, 9 ounces), Pink Furry Boar (new), Dr. Wyche's Yellow, Sweet Million, Black Cherry(1), Snow White(1), Watermelon (9.5 ounces) and Indigo Rose for a total of 128 tomatoes.
I couple of tomato plants in the back yard had a 45 degree angle -- they got top heavy -- so I needed to stake them. I also staked a couple more (Berkeley Tie Dye being one of them) that had issues.
Something besides a bird ate a big chunk out of a large Big Zebra tomato last night. Perhaps an opossum?
My wife went to a party last night with some friends and of course she brought tomatoes. According to the consensus at the party, Pineapple Pig was a little watery and bland. But the tomato "chips" dried in the humidifier was a huge hit. The first batch was completely gone -- nothing remained.
Pink Furry Boar is a cute looking tomato, looking somewhat like an apple.
Both Pierce's Pride plants have maturing tomatoes.
We've now harvested over 600 SunGold tomatoes (630) and over 300 Husky Cherry Red(1) tomatoes (307). And we've harvested over 2000 tomatoes for the year (2006).
I couple of tomato plants in the back yard had a 45 degree angle -- they got top heavy -- so I needed to stake them. I also staked a couple more (Berkeley Tie Dye being one of them) that had issues.
Something besides a bird ate a big chunk out of a large Big Zebra tomato last night. Perhaps an opossum?
My wife went to a party last night with some friends and of course she brought tomatoes. According to the consensus at the party, Pineapple Pig was a little watery and bland. But the tomato "chips" dried in the humidifier was a huge hit. The first batch was completely gone -- nothing remained.
Pink Furry Boar is a cute looking tomato, looking somewhat like an apple.
Both Pierce's Pride plants have maturing tomatoes.
We've now harvested over 600 SunGold tomatoes (630) and over 300 Husky Cherry Red(1) tomatoes (307). And we've harvested over 2000 tomatoes for the year (2006).
Saturday, July 7, 2012
Harvested 3 New Tomatoes!
Today's harvest includes 37 SunGold, 15 Husky Cherry Red(1), 13 Husky Cherry Red(2), 7 Green Grape, 7 Crimson Cushion (6.5 ounces, 7 ounces, 6 ounces, 7 ounces), 6 SunSugar, 6 Yellow Perfection, 5 Red Currant, 5 Matt's Wild Cherry, 4 Dr. Wyche's Yellow (8.5 ounces, 10.5 ounces, 26.5 ounces, 11 ounces), 4 Yellow Currant, 3 Snow White(1), 3 Nyagous(1), 2 Chinese Tea, 2 Pink Berkeley Tie Dye(2) (7.5 ounces, 6.5 ounces), 2 Sweet Million, 2 Redfield Beauty, 2 Carmello, Berkeley Tie Dye (new) (17.5 ounces), Garden Peach (new), Olga's Round Yellow Chicken Egg (new), Black and Brown Boar(1), Ella's Pink Plum, Big Bite, Black Krim(2), Black From Tula (6 ounces), Giant Syrian (12 ounces) and Indigo Rose for a total of 135 tomatoes.
That's not a misprint, we picked a Dr. Wyche's Yellow that weighed more than one and a half pounds. Our record to date was a Mexico tomato that came in at 30 ounces.
Here's an image of today's harvest:
The pile in the lower left are the Crimson Cushions. The yellow row on the right are the Dr. Wyche's Yellow tomatoes. The beautiful Berkeley Tie Dye is next to the postal scale used to weigh the tomatoes. The back left has the two Pink Berkeley Tie Dye(2) tomatoes. And behind it is Olga's Round Yellow Chicken Egg.
Speaking of which, we had another small taste test this morning for breakfast. We tried Olga's Round Yellow Chicken Egg, Green Zebra, Yellow Furry Boar and Indigo Apple. Olga's Round Yellow Chicken Egg was the winner of this bunch. We harvested it at just the right time and the flavor really popped. Green Zebra and Indigo Apple were both good. The loser was Yellow Furry Boar. But there's no point in describing what was wrong with it because we simply tried it too late. We harvested it maybe a day too late but took three days to sample it from there. It gets a pass.
Yesterday my in-laws came over while I was at work. They brought our dog back (My wife had dropped our dog off with her parents before the 4th so we could enjoy dinner with some out of town friends that evening. You shouldn't leave a dog alone with fireworks going off everywhere...) and spent the afternoon with my wife. They loved the tomato sauce my wife made.
During the visit the dehydrator was brought out of the garage and set up. Many tomatoes were cut up and placed in the dehydrator. The contraption was left on over night and the tomato slices slowly dried. Here's an image from today:
Maturing tomatoes include Black Krim(1), White Zebra, Speckled Roman(3) and Italian Heirloom.
We've now havested more tomatoes as of July 7 (858) than we did in all of June (842).
And we've harvested over 500 SunGold tomatoes this year (512).
That's not a misprint, we picked a Dr. Wyche's Yellow that weighed more than one and a half pounds. Our record to date was a Mexico tomato that came in at 30 ounces.
Here's an image of today's harvest:
The pile in the lower left are the Crimson Cushions. The yellow row on the right are the Dr. Wyche's Yellow tomatoes. The beautiful Berkeley Tie Dye is next to the postal scale used to weigh the tomatoes. The back left has the two Pink Berkeley Tie Dye(2) tomatoes. And behind it is Olga's Round Yellow Chicken Egg.
Speaking of which, we had another small taste test this morning for breakfast. We tried Olga's Round Yellow Chicken Egg, Green Zebra, Yellow Furry Boar and Indigo Apple. Olga's Round Yellow Chicken Egg was the winner of this bunch. We harvested it at just the right time and the flavor really popped. Green Zebra and Indigo Apple were both good. The loser was Yellow Furry Boar. But there's no point in describing what was wrong with it because we simply tried it too late. We harvested it maybe a day too late but took three days to sample it from there. It gets a pass.
Yesterday my in-laws came over while I was at work. They brought our dog back (My wife had dropped our dog off with her parents before the 4th so we could enjoy dinner with some out of town friends that evening. You shouldn't leave a dog alone with fireworks going off everywhere...) and spent the afternoon with my wife. They loved the tomato sauce my wife made.
During the visit the dehydrator was brought out of the garage and set up. Many tomatoes were cut up and placed in the dehydrator. The contraption was left on over night and the tomato slices slowly dried. Here's an image from today:
Maturing tomatoes include Black Krim(1), White Zebra, Speckled Roman(3) and Italian Heirloom.
We've now havested more tomatoes as of July 7 (858) than we did in all of June (842).
And we've harvested over 500 SunGold tomatoes this year (512).
Friday, May 25, 2012
Five More Plants With Growing Tomatoes!
Today's harvest: Husky Cherry Red(1) and Husky Cherry Red(2) for a total of 2 tomatoes.
My wife completed watering the back yard tomatoes yesterday. She had split the chore over a two day period. Also, she has been doing some minor "training" as well.
Other plants with growing tomatoes include Redfield Beauty, Chinese Tea, Berkeley Tie Dye, Japanese Black Trifele and Italian Heirloom.
I had expressed concerns in a prior blog post that there are both indications of both a good harvest year and a bad harvest year. At this point, the benefits of adding large amounts of compost in February are outweighing concerns of a mid-March freeze. It's too early to say for sure but indications are pointing more toward a strong year.
My wife completed watering the back yard tomatoes yesterday. She had split the chore over a two day period. Also, she has been doing some minor "training" as well.
Other plants with growing tomatoes include Redfield Beauty, Chinese Tea, Berkeley Tie Dye, Japanese Black Trifele and Italian Heirloom.
I had expressed concerns in a prior blog post that there are both indications of both a good harvest year and a bad harvest year. At this point, the benefits of adding large amounts of compost in February are outweighing concerns of a mid-March freeze. It's too early to say for sure but indications are pointing more toward a strong year.
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Planted 14 Tomato Seedlings
On Thursday my wife planted Redfield Beauty, Chinese Tea, Nyagous, Berkeley Tie-Dye and Specked Roman(1) in the "corner office" in the front yard.
On Friday my wife planted Kellogg's Breakfast in the "corner office". She planted Ella's Pink Plum, SunGold, Black and Brown Boar, Oaxacan Jewel, Dr. Wyche's Yellow, Speckled Roman(2) and Olga's Round Yellow Chicken Egg in the "koi pond" in the front yard.
Today we transferred Ella's Pink Plum to a container and replaced it with Noire Charbonneuse.
Also, I took out last year's SunSugar. It had done well during the winter cold but the March cold snap had put a mottled color on many of the leaves. The plant actually had a dozen or so tomatoes on it. Had it not suffered from the March cold snap we might have left it in. But I pulled it today.
I emptied three large pots and mixed it with some remaining compostable dirt. Then I refilled these pots and distributed them throughout the back yard.
Earlier this week my wife made a third raised bed in the backyard using some of our cinder blocks piled up on the side of the house, added compostable dirt and has planted. We're in the process of replacing our second raised bed with more of these cinder blocks.
On Friday my wife planted Kellogg's Breakfast in the "corner office". She planted Ella's Pink Plum, SunGold, Black and Brown Boar, Oaxacan Jewel, Dr. Wyche's Yellow, Speckled Roman(2) and Olga's Round Yellow Chicken Egg in the "koi pond" in the front yard.
Today we transferred Ella's Pink Plum to a container and replaced it with Noire Charbonneuse.
Also, I took out last year's SunSugar. It had done well during the winter cold but the March cold snap had put a mottled color on many of the leaves. The plant actually had a dozen or so tomatoes on it. Had it not suffered from the March cold snap we might have left it in. But I pulled it today.
I emptied three large pots and mixed it with some remaining compostable dirt. Then I refilled these pots and distributed them throughout the back yard.
Earlier this week my wife made a third raised bed in the backyard using some of our cinder blocks piled up on the side of the house, added compostable dirt and has planted. We're in the process of replacing our second raised bed with more of these cinder blocks.
Sunday, December 18, 2011
And Then There Was One...
Late last Sunday my wife pulled out Stupice, Jaune Flamme and Berkeley Tie Dye. She cut back SunSugar severely, so much so that I consider it pulled out for 2012. Since this is a grafted tomato my wife wanted to see if it would come back if it was cut back like a rose. It seems like a reasonable experiment.
That leaves SunGold(1) as the remaining tomato plant for 2011.
On Saturday I harvested 16 SunGold(1) tomatoes and today I harvested 4 more.
We've now harvested over 575 SunGold(1) tomatoes (580)! SunGold(1) has moderate wind and cold damage but still should produce a few more good tomatoes. We had them for dinner tonight and last Sunday night. They're still quite good!
That leaves SunGold(1) as the remaining tomato plant for 2011.
On Saturday I harvested 16 SunGold(1) tomatoes and today I harvested 4 more.
We've now harvested over 575 SunGold(1) tomatoes (580)! SunGold(1) has moderate wind and cold damage but still should produce a few more good tomatoes. We had them for dinner tonight and last Sunday night. They're still quite good!
Sunday, May 15, 2011
Planted Black From Tula and Black Zebra
On Saturday I put together a shed and fixed the fence surrounding the “koi pond”. My wife deep watered the front yard tomatoes. Some in the back yard were deep watered as well.
I noticed Patio had more than one tomato.
Today we gave up on the Berkeley Tie Dye I damaged in April. We still have a Berkeley Tie Dye grown from seed in the same space but it has not grown significantly in quite some time. We put a Black From Tula in the same place. We also planted a Black Zebra in an area near some beets. Plants (not tomatoes) in pots were moved all over the place on the patio.
My wife continued to deep water the back yard tomatoes.
I noticed Patio had more than one tomato.
Today we gave up on the Berkeley Tie Dye I damaged in April. We still have a Berkeley Tie Dye grown from seed in the same space but it has not grown significantly in quite some time. We put a Black From Tula in the same place. We also planted a Black Zebra in an area near some beets. Plants (not tomatoes) in pots were moved all over the place on the patio.
My wife continued to deep water the back yard tomatoes.
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