Tigerella and Green Zebra. Will they be back on safari next year ?
Tigerella, yes. I grew it last year, enjoyed growing it again this year and look forward to welcoming its tiger trusses back next. It’s a nice size, has a cheerful appearance and good flavour.
Green Zebra – didn’t win a place in my heart. The colour’s a bit harsh and whereas some people struggle with the ‘black/dark’ tomatoes – I’ve a brain/mouth/visual/taste issue to get over re a green tomato being ripe.
But I like the stripey brigade so will be looking for another to replace it ….
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Emma Duncan’s article in today’s (Saturday) ‘Times’ (Thunderer: “Perfect tomatoes are the proof of capitalism’s triumph”) might suggest that she is doomed never to become more than a deputy editor of ‘The Economist’, if one needs logic to become the editor. That she should use the tomato-growing failure of one (!) novice grower as proof of the superiority of Tesco’s “perfect (!) tomato” and proffer as a truism that people like doing only what they are good at both indicate her ignorance and the illogicality of her argument. Perhaps she should be recommending tomatolover.com to her sad sister and be considering that capitalism might make more with fewer, but doesn’t mean either perfection of the product or happiness of the labourer in the process. Her condescending view that amateurs “are all very well” would, taken to its logical conclusion, mean that we should be doomed to eating Tesco tomatoes for the rest of our lives. Silly woman… and clearly not a multi-tasker, either. I could have written a letter to the editor, but prefer to write for the clearer-thinking audience of this esteemed corner of the amateur horticultural plot.
Oh dear – well at least she described us as ‘all very well”. In a week when Andrew Marr has taken bloggers to task – and finds, it seems, absolutely nothing to commend them, I’m beginning to feel I might be on the end of professional jounalistic ‘pincer movement’ ! (And even he managed to yoke innocent vegetable into his insult stream – by refering to bloggers as being ‘cauliflower-nosed’ – and there was I thinking the cauli was only associated with ears -perhaps he didn’t want attention given to ears? )
Oh well – I shall enjoy carrying on growing and eating my ‘red’ tomatoes ( and continue with my multi-floreted writing).
[Andrew Marr] added: “Most of the blogging is too angry and too abusive. Terrible things are said online because they are anonymous. People say things online that they wouldn’t dream of saying in person.”
I fink wot u rite iz all a load of veg.
[Outraged, late at night, from Yorkshire - name and address definitely not supplied]
In case you didn’t see The Times on Monday – you’ll be pleased to know that a gentleman tomato grower wrote to the letters page to express ‘ astonishment’ at the writer’s sister’s failure with growing tomatoes! He then went on to surmise that perhaps she had chosen something productive – but of poor flavour to grow – like Moneymaker – and suggested instead she try Gardeners Delight – which would give her a tomato far superior in flavour to anything bought from a supermarket!
Whilst far too noble a breed to throw rotten ones – it’s good to see true and tasty tomato lovers are fighting back with words (and with names and addresses supplied !!)
I’m not at all surprised that somebody wrote in. Tomatoes or no tomatoes, the article made no sense at all. It didn’t occur to Emma Duncan that people might choose to grow their own because they love the produce or because they can grow something unavailable in supermarkets. I wonder if anyone will recommend your blog to her sister – it would do her good to know that she’s probably a better tomato grower than her sister is a journalist.