Tuesday, July 31, 2007

You Say Toe-mah-to

I say Tomato! Tomato! Tomato! I finally picked my first three tomatoes. Well, first full sized tomatoes. Cherry tomatoes have been ripening for a couple weeks. Wanna see them? Okay great!


Azoychka Tomato, bottom and top.

This ripe tomato snuck up on me. I thought that Super Bush would be the first, but it was a tie. Picked at day 69 from setting the plants out in the garden. This tomato is right on schedule with the estimated days to maturity (DTM) of their seed packet. See that cracking? No biggy, just cut it away. The tomato is still just fine to eat. Tomatoes often have scarring on the top or shoulders. For that reason, I store tomatoes upside down, shoulders down, so that if any bruising occurs, it's on the part that most likely will be cut away.


Azoychka sliced

Bright yellow inside, this is one happy tomato. I forgot to weigh it. I was a little bit excited about eating my first tomato and stopping to get a picture was about as much thought as I put into it. But based on experience, I'd say it was about 7 ounces. It was just the right amount for piling on a sandwich.

Azoychka sandwich with bacon. Only half left because I had already eaten the first half
when I thought to take this picture.


I said I was going to have a BLT, but I left off the L. I like it better this way anyway. It has been said in descriptions, that Azoychka has a hint of citrus. I would agree with that. It is just a hint. A nice contrast to the saltiness of the other ingredients of the sandwich. And the color... you just can't get a prettier yellow than that. Try this heirloom from Russia.

Super Bush tomato. These are the ones we've been watching. They weigh 13 oz and 6 oz.


Here is the 6 oz tomato sliced, one small slice missing, due to being tasted.

Well, I have to say I was pleasantly surprised at the flavor in this tomato. Somehow, I got a prejudice in my head about container or "patio" tomatoes. But the description did say this would be a good tomato and it is indeed! Meaty, juicy, a little sweet. Good tomato. Definitely worth growing. A great find for anyone growing in containers. This plant is compact and very sturdy. A minimal amount of staking is required to keep the top heavy plant from flopping over. I did not prune it at all. Lots more tomatoes to come on this plant as well.


Cherry tomato line-up. Left to right, Tumbling Tom (red), Tumbling Tom Yellow,
Black Cherry, Sungold, Ildi, and Grape

Okay, cherry tomatoes, don't feel left out. We love you too. Hubby and I snack on these all the time. He really gets a kick out of picking and eating them right in the garden, while I point out everything I'm growing. I like to pick a bowl full and set them on the table for passersby to pluck as needed (wanted).

My absolute favorite is the sungold. These are little orange nuggets of goodness. They are very sweet, very fruity, very abundant and early with the first ripe fruits coming in at 45 days from planting out. My second favorite, I got to try for the first time last night, and that is black cherry. Very good, sweet little tomato. I've only eaten one so far, so I'll have to eat more before I can give a thorough review.

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