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feldon30 · July 11, 2007

I made another visit to Suze's yesterday. We stopped well short of tasting 49 tomato varieties this time. A dozen seemed plenty.

Pink: Aunt Ginny's Purple, Earl's Faux, Brandy Boy, Grandfather Ashlock

AGP was nice. Not a blockbuster for me, especially compared to the incredible Earl's Faux and Brandy Boy. A ripe Brandywine Sudduth's was not available. Grandfather Ashlock was not memorable.

Black/Purple: Vorlon, Brad's Black Heart
Brad's Black Heart had a good flavor and that sharp contrast of red and orange flesh with green locules that actually looks like some of the unverifiable pictures which have been posted by seed catalogs of Black Sea Man.

Suze showed courage in the face of adversity and gave BSM another shot. It was a spitter. Just looking at the cut fruit, it does not look like a winner. It's kind of dry and the brownish-purple color is kind of pale and uninteresting. Compare this to Cherokee Purple, etc. which have flesh of a striking, glistening color.

Vorlon was quite nice.

Green: Green Giant, Humph

Once again, that "green when ripe" tomato flavor that so many have spoken about remained elusive for me. It's frustrating. I found Green Giant to taste better than Humph (Suze liked both) but I could not imagine growing either at least for my tastes.

Green Giant is distinctive among green-when-ripes because even closeup, the tomato gives up few clues that it is ripe. Faint pinkish-yellow hues appear only on the bottom. My response when Suze pointed to a ripe one was "Are you kidding?" Anyone growing Green Giant would be wise to start checking the larger fruits by feel when they approach DTM. I have heard of an experienced gardener letting many fruits rot on the vine because they showed no obvious sign of ripeness.

Orange/Gold: Summer Cider, Yellow Brandywine (Platfoot), Aunt Gertie's Gold, Gingersnap

I found Summer Cider to have a very good flavor and I am considering growing it, since it was productive for Suze. Choosing a favorite between Yellow Brandywine and Aunt Gertie's Gold was tough for me, I liked both. I tasted an acidic spiciness in all three that I really liked. I think I like gold tomatoes more than Suze does. I have also gotten to taste Kellogg's Breakfast and found it to have a very nice smooth, spicy flavor. I think Gold tomatoes would be exceptional when dehydrated or roasted.

P.S. Gingersnap was REVOLTING.

Can't Deny that it's July
Some of the fruits are starting to show heat stress with corking on the top and uneven ripening, and some of Suze's plants have definitely been stricken with various blights, but what is amazing is that a good 80% of her plants still look very healthy and are still loaded up with fruit. It has to be some kind of record.

I'm back in Houston with another table full of tomatoes to parcel out to unsuspecting friends.

July 11, 2007	#31
feldon30 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2006 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 5,346	I made another visit to Suze's yesterday. We stopped well short of tasting 49 tomato varieties this time. A dozen seemed plenty. Pink: Aunt Ginny's Purple, Earl's Faux, Brandy Boy, Grandfather Ashlock AGP was nice. Not a blockbuster for me, especially compared to the incredible Earl's Faux and Brandy Boy. A ripe Brandywine Sudduth's was not available. Grandfather Ashlock was not memorable. Black/Purple: Vorlon, Brad's Black Heart Brad's Black Heart had a good flavor and that sharp contrast of red and orange flesh with green locules that actually looks like some of the unverifiable pictures which have been posted by seed catalogs of Black Sea Man. Suze showed courage in the face of adversity and gave BSM another shot. It was a spitter. Just looking at the cut fruit, it does not look like a winner. It's kind of dry and the brownish-purple color is kind of pale and uninteresting. Compare this to Cherokee Purple, etc. which have flesh of a striking, glistening color. Vorlon was quite nice. Green: Green Giant, Humph Once again, that "green when ripe" tomato flavor that so many have spoken about remained elusive for me. It's frustrating. I found Green Giant to taste better than Humph (Suze liked both) but I could not imagine growing either at least for my tastes. Green Giant is distinctive among green-when-ripes because even closeup, the tomato gives up few clues that it is ripe. Faint pinkish-yellow hues appear only on the bottom. My response when Suze pointed to a ripe one was "Are you kidding?" Anyone growing Green Giant would be wise to start checking the larger fruits by feel when they approach DTM. I have heard of an experienced gardener letting many fruits rot on the vine because they showed no obvious sign of ripeness. Orange/Gold: Summer Cider, Yellow Brandywine (Platfoot), Aunt Gertie's Gold, Gingersnap I found Summer Cider to have a very good flavor and I am considering growing it, since it was productive for Suze. Choosing a favorite between Yellow Brandywine and Aunt Gertie's Gold was tough for me, I liked both. I tasted an acidic spiciness in all three that I really liked. I think I like gold tomatoes more than Suze does. I have also gotten to taste Kellogg's Breakfast and found it to have a very nice smooth, spicy flavor. I think Gold tomatoes would be exceptional when dehydrated or roasted. P.S. Gingersnap was REVOLTING. Can't Deny that it's July Some of the fruits are starting to show heat stress with corking on the top and uneven ripening, and some of Suze's plants have definitely been stricken with various blights, but what is amazing is that a good 80% of her plants still look very healthy and are still loaded up with fruit. It has to be some kind of record. I'm back in Houston with another table full of tomatoes to parcel out to unsuspecting friends. __________________ [SIZE="3"]I've relaunched my gardening website -- [B]TheUnconventionalTomato.com[/B][/SIZE] * [I][SIZE="1"]*I'm not allowed to post weblinks so you'll have to copy-paste it manually.[/SIZE][/I]