Homegrown garden tomato harvest! ~ Ham Pie Sandwiches

26 August 2014

Homegrown garden tomato harvest!

Homegrown garden tomato harvest: Caspian pink tomatoes

It is finally tomato season! HOORAY. The plants are all doing fairly well, even with limited watering.

These guys are Caspian Pinks, the same variety I grew last year. They're large, heavy pink heirlooms with some ribbing at the top and a lovely intense flavor. I got a few volunteer seedlings, transplanted two of them for reasonable spacing, and let them go to town.

Some of the blossoms bloom and then dry to a crisp immediately, but plenty of them go ahead and set fruit too. Considering how big these tomatoes tend to get -- both plants and fruit -- I'm fine with that. The flavor is worth it.

Homegrown garden tomato harvest: Caspian pink tomatoes

As you can see, they also tend to split a bit at the top. It's nothing too serious, though.

Evidently tomato splits are caused by lots of different things, from irregular watering to lack of calcium to lack of mulch. The shape of the varietal also makes a difference. I'm certainly guilty of irregular watering, since, you know, there's a drought, but I have plenty of calcium via eggshell soil supplements, and I mulched with cardboard, at least. In any case, the fruit is reasonably well yielding and delicious.

Homegrown garden tomato harvest: Dona tomatoes

My two other tomato plants are new-to-me heirlooms from the farmer's market tomato guys. These are Dona tomatoes, which are evidently a standard in French markets and prized for their balance. They're medium-sized and a classic orangey-red, and are by far the most prolific tomato I have this year. Look at that huge cluster of fruit!

Most of these are not quite ripe yet, so I can't report back on their taste. I can say that the stakes and cage are intent on falling over at every single opportunity, however.

Homegrown garden tomato harvest: Green Grape tomatoes

Next we have the Green Grape. Check out those striations!

This guy is a large grape tomato, maybe two inches long, that starts out green and ripens to gain a crown of orange stripes. Very nice. The fruit grows in smaller clusters, much like actual grapes.

Homegrown garden tomato harvest: Green Grape tomatoes

They're excellent for snacking, but not as full-flavored as some other grape and cherry tomatoes I've tried. So the next best idea is to make all the tomato salad in the land. It's clearly time to cut a big handful of them in half, sprinkle with with salt, and go to town. And, of course, since they're so strikingly colored, they would be a perfect addition to a mixed tomato salad.

Tomorrow: the rest of the garden!

6 comments:

Joanne said...

Yay for tomato season! Looks like you have an awesome harvest this year. #jealous :P

Sippity Sup said...

Yours are ahead of mine. I cheated and stocked up at the Farmers Market. GREG

Monet said...

These look amazing! Lulu went to a friend's house today and proceeded to pick off three of her tomatoes and eat them right there!

Michelle said...

I love the tour! I could eat ALL the tomatoes.

Eileen said...

Yes, all the tomatoes! I may be planning to supplement the stash with some farmer's market tomatoes this very day...

Amy said...

Eileen, those look gorgeous! Nice get on the two volunteer plants as well - you have to love it when that happens!