Friday, August 21, 2009
tomato taste test soon!
I have 7 varieties of tomatoes on my counter now! New Girl, Orange Blossom, Big Beef, Sudduth strain Brandywine, Cherokee Purple, Mortgage Lifter and Sun Gold. I'll check for more tomorrow and then we'll have a serious taste test. Any bets on the winner? The Mortgage Lifter (a gift from Ohio Heirloom seeds) sure is good lookin'.
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A few years ago my veg garden consisted of one Sudduth's Strain Brandywine tomato plant tucked in among my landlady's roses and lilies. The dirt was hard packed and the summer was dry. I watered and watered that Brandwine tomato. It gave exactly one fruit, about the size of my palm. When I finally picked it and ate it, it was the best tomato I had ever eaten. And the most costly!
Ahh. And you've probably never been happy with a tomato again. I think my Brandywine will probably win.
What's the difference between Brandywine and Brandywine Sudduth's Strain?
I also used to have low producing Brandywines in a raised bed where I lived before in CA and when I tried tomatoes here in RI in big containers on the deck.
I don't know why my tomato plants in the ground are growing like gangbusters this year. Maybe because nothing had been grown here in the garden for a number of years, I dunno.
Can't beat the good old variety Marmande for taste,beefiness and flavour but yours will be great, all of them because you grew them yourself!
Great! Marmande is a new variety to try next year.
About the SS Bradywines: "This is a strain that craig LeHoullier believes is of the original Brandywine. Around 1880 a Mrs. Sudduth of Tennessee gave seeds said to be in her family for 100 years, to tomato seedsman, Ben Quisenberry of Ohio." It seems that not all "Brandywines" are from the same stock.
My Brandywines have about 3 fruits per plant now. So do my Mortgage Lifter and Giant Belgium. Cherokee Purple have twice as many. Purple Calabash, New Girl, Big Beef and Orange Blossom have 20 or more. I couldn't even begin to count the Sungolds, hundreds!
Hmmm...I'm a huge Sungold fan, just can't beat how sweet they are! I think my next would be the Cherokee Purple. Unfortunately, I'm not a big Brandywine fan...weird, I know, but with me it's more of a texture thing. They're just a bit to soft for me. I did grow one Yellow Brandywine this year and it has grown really well. I like it sliced thin. My other favorite that I grew was the Black Krim, really interesting flavor!
Too me, the yellow Brandywine are softer than the pinks. I grew yellow once and won't grow that again. Mushy.
We meant to do the taste test yesterday, but ran out of energy and ended up going out. The test is now scheduled for tonight.
I'm sure the level of ripeness contributes to taste, especially for ones that tend to get mushy. They're all good and ripe now.
Kristin,
I like to eat tomatoes just a bit before they are actually technically ripe. To me a fully ripe tomato is a bit too squishy.
I love my Brandywines. The only downsides is that they do a huge first crop (20 lb per plant) and then tend to peter out. So it is feast or famine. I think that they have a narrow tolerance for setting late fruit since I get a lot of new blossoms and little actually setting.
My Brandywines were not mushy at all and I fully ripen them. Must be strains or micro-climates/soils.
We had a yellow brandywine last night that was much better than the last one. I guess it took less time to ripen on the vine and wasn't as mushy. I will remember to try those from now on a bit before it ripens!
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