Do you flip your seat up and leave the cinema before the final credits roll – or do you hang on to the end to see who the assistant to the assistant to the assistant was….?
I don’t know why today’s pickings made me think of that – but when I came back in from my daily tomato tour – instead of the usual yum utterance – the only appropriate response was Brrrrrrr, it’s cold out there !
And yet today I picked 2 new varieties; Lemon Tree and Cherokee Purple. In terms of starring in the big picture these definitely get a credit that’s bottom of the roll call and the optician’s chart in terms of noticeable contribution.
(Which means the only remaining unripe variety is Brandywine which I may well bring in and give a wee tot of its namesake to see if that puts a bit of colour in its cheeks.)
Whether I’ve not done well by Lemon Tree or it’s not done well by me … who’s to say. But I had trouble with the seedlings, and now this is the nearest it looks like I’ll get to a ripe fruit. And it’s still half green (the half hidden from the camera) . And taste, well I’m going to try and be kind. If it turned up in one of those little slice squeezers, next to an onion bhaji at my favourite curry house, then I might be so distracted by the delight that is the fragrant orb of their bhajis , that I might not notice the shortcomings of the tomato passing itself off as a lemon slice.
Cherokee Purple on the other hand is worthy of being wheeled out for its brief but big stage moment. A misshapen heavyweight (this one is 4oog) that’s really a big softy. This is juicy, melt-in-your-mouth tomato flesh. This is no tomato slice as chorus line to a burger in a bun – this is Pavarotti and Nessun dorma rendered edible.
(Oh and in case you were doing a sidebar scan, and thinking ‘what happened to Dasher?’ which was a Sutton’s grafted variety, it was a case of mistaken identity. On arrival I got the plants muddled, thought I resorted them correctly, and then one died. One I thought to be Elegance and a replacement was sent. But I’d got it wrong – it was in fact Dasher but it took me till well into fruiting to realise ! )
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It’s a shame “Lemon Tree” was so disappointing for you. You might try it when when one’s fully ripened as unripe tomatoes often are rather tasteless, even when there’s some colour.
“Cherokee Purple” looks and sounds fabby though – similar to “Gold Medal” except that’s yellow, orange and red throughout. It also tastes good.
Shame about “Dasher” too – it must have dashed off.
Yes – I agree it doesn’t feel like fair play to judge it on flavour when it’s still quite a lot of days of sunshine short of ripening ! And it’s a lovely shape. I can’t remember if I have any seeds left but if I do I’m going to try again next year – and sow it early.
Glad to hear ‘Gold Medal’ tastes good. They are spectacular these big tomatoes – the fact that they look and taste nice means that they make an impact even though the actual quantity of fruit is small ! They are a bit like mini-pumpkins !
Hi Sally, Cherokee Purple is officially my tomato of the year, best tasting fruits and strongest and healthiest looking plants in the green house. Lovely in a caprese salad or sliced or on top of a pizza. yum.
Hello
I like the idea of having a tomato of the year. I’ll have to think about what mine might be ! Last year Sungold was my top tomato. I’ll have to choose another for this year.
Great endorsement for Cherokee Purple – the taste and texture are wonderful . I wouldn’t say mine are the strongest plants though – so interesting that yours are thriving in a greenhouse – perhaps they do better with that added protection.