Summertime Tomatoes!
Garden Week Eleven 6/19/2018
Summertime Tomatoes!
For most people, the garden is green and growing. I think the most popular vegetable will be the Tomato. With all the different options in growing tomatoes, what are we growing? Let’s look at the size of the plant and the fruit.
How much plant will grow?
Determinate: Growing between 2 and 3-foot-tall and require little or no staking or pruning. These plants will produce fruit all at once, then decline in production. Flowers are produced at the end of the shoots, which stops growth determining their length.
Indeterminate: Whether you like it or not, these plants will grow all summer. Rather than producing flowers at the ends of the branches, these plants produce flowers along the vines making them indeterminate. Because these plants will continue to grow or vine, they will require support and pruning. Without maintenance, these plants can run wild. With pruning, these plants can be trained and trellised.
Pruning indeterminate tomato plants:
Maintain the first main branch, which will become the main vine. Some choose to leave a strong sucker branch in place which will become a second vine. Sucker branches which are not removed will become additional tomato-producing vines.
Remove sucker branches which are located in the crook or just above a branch coming off the main vine of the tomato plant.
Enjoy eating and cooking with tomatoes, let’s look closer and the types of tomatoes available.
Bite-sized tomatoes often referred to as cherry, grape or pear tomatoes mostly have shorter growing seasons, with production in 55-70 days and can be prolific producers. These tomatoes tend to be 1-2 inches or 1-2 oz in overall size.
Roma, plum and other egg-sized tomatoes tend to produce in 60-75 days ranging from 2-3 inches or 2-3 oz.
Slicer, salad or globe tomatoes are mid-season tomatoes maturing in 70-80 days ranging from 2-4 inches and from 3-8 oz.
Beefsteak tomatoes are your largest tomatoes with production in 70-90+ days. Unlike the globe varieties, Beefsteaks have ridges rather than being perfectly round and weights come in at 1-2lbs each.
All tomatoes come in a variety of colors and flavor profiles. My favorites, include:
Brandywine: a pink beefsteak variety, maturing in 80 days and up to 1-.5 lbs. I enjoy the season’s first green tomatoes breaded and deep fried with egg on the side. When they mature they can be messy, but I like slicing and eating with a sprinkle of salt, so juicy!
Last beefsteaks of summer 2017: Mostly, lovely Amana orange tomatoes and a couple Brandywines hiding.
Amana Orange: an orange beefsteak, maturing in 80 days and up to 2 lb. With a hint of tropical flavor, these are a perfect summertime tomato. We roast with herbs and olive oil before canning and storing for winter use. You can also add some red wine vinegar for a more Italian-styled tomato.
The master chef of our house prefers to eat tomato like candy or apples: She is excited for:
Tommy Toe tomato: an old-fashioned red cherry tomato, producing perfect 1 oz. round cherries in 75 days. These are perfect in salads and just popping like candy, sweet and juicy!
Principe Borghese tomato: another perfectly red tomato, maturing in 70-75 days and producing 1-2 oz. cherries. Unlike most sweet cherry tomatoes these are drier making them perfect for drying and saucing. I have a feeling we will have plenty of sun-dried tomatoes and some experimenting with sauces once these start producing.
German Lunch Box: these egg-sized red tomatoes are produced in 70-80 days and are aptly named, because you want to through them in your lunch box and eat them like an apple.
Millionaire Tomato: a famous coral-pink beefsteak tomato, which was popular in grocers till the 1950’s, produces in 80 days and can weigh up to 1lb. Our chef is excited to taste the very tomatoey tomato of the Millionaire, which is great for slicing and canning.
White Tomesol Tomato: A unique white large slicer tomato, yes, white inside and out, which matures in 80 days. This is our first year growing these and she is excited to experiment with these beauties.
I’m going to make myself a ‘mater sandwich (classic summer sandwich in the south).
