From Aug 12:
Quote:
Originally Posted by habitat_gardener
Tomatoes are just starting to ripen for me, and most of the first ones have BER from inconsistent watering. The taste winners so far, out of about 10 varieties, are Brutus and Green Gables. (Thanks to Marsha for seeds!) Sweet and luscious. It's so early in the season that every tomato tastes great, but these two are outstanding. Also notable are Jersey Devil and Black from Tula, which are the most productive so far and have had no BER.
Of the cherries. SunSugar F1 and Indigo Kumquat F1 are wonderful. They're both in the shady backyard, so are not very productive.
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Now that the season is starting to wind down (thanks partly to the unusual scorching heat, up to 107F, for a day or two), the clear winner is George Detsikas! It has produced the largest tomatoes, and though GD and Black from Tula have been the most consistent producers, I like GD more (which is surprising, because reds are usually my last choice). But BfT, unlike almost every other variety, has had no BER and has been a consistent size and shape. Brutus produced a few tomatoes early in the season, but has produced few since, all of which have had BER or sunburn, or been misshapen.
My partner likes Green Gables and Casey's Pure Yellow ("melony favor") best. GG has been fairly consistent, but most tomatoes have been smaller and more oval than I like. CPY produced a dozen all at once, then a few here and there. My other green-when-ripe, Malakhitivaya Shkatulka, produced very few and then gave up.
My fave from last year, Rebel Yell, produced smaller and fewer tomatoes than expected, in 2 gardens. Pruden's Purple, a longtime favorite, was also a sparse producer. The flavor of both was, however, excellent. Right next to them, Lithium Sunset churned out more than a couple dozen tomatoes last week! They are small, but surprisingly solid and flavorful.
Soldacki was late and didn't produce a single normal-size unblemished fruit, but the small ones and the parts remaining after blemishes were cut away made it worth growing.
At this point in the season, Jersey Devil has been outshadowed by other varieties, and nearly every one has cracked!