Tag Archives: yellow tomato

2014 Tomatoes Part Three

Posted in 2014, Harvest, Vegetables by

Looking back on the tomato season, I would say that this year was weird. It could have been better but it also could have been much worse. Several young tomato plants met a terrible demise early in the season due to savage squirrels and some tomatoes didn’t perform as well as I’d hoped (a few plants producing only one or two tomatoes!). An early morning wind storm in July knocked a few pots of tomatoes from my deck on to the ground, surprisingly not breaking the pots but doing some damage to the plants inside of them. Aside from that, the plants did not suffer from any blight or insect infestations. Then almost all of the tomatoes had to be harvested several weeks early and brought into the house to ripen due to a freak summer snowstorm. But some plants did perform quite well – Black Cherry, Green Zebra, Indigo Rose, and Tumbler. My overall tomato harvest was big enough to last a couple of months and I was also able to roast and freeze a lot of tomatoes for use over the winter. Even though I’ve been growing tomatoes for as long as I’ve been gardening, each year brings new surprises and I learn new things – no two growing seasons are ever the same, especially in Calgary (or insert your location). I’ve made lots of notes for next year and I’m constantly exploring new methods to try (next year I will be experimenting with the disgusting fish head method). On a positive note, I did discover quite a few new-to-me varieties that I will be absolutely growing again, so even though the season was weird, I think it was successful.

And now on to the last tomatoes of the season!

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Doesn’t that cat bowl make you squeal in delight?!

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Chocolate Cherry

This was my first year growing Chocolate Cherry and you may confuse it with Black Cherry that I featured in an earlier tomato post because they look quite similar except Chocolate Cherry is quite a bit smaller in size. The harvest was just okay – it really could have been better, especially for an indeterminate plant. I got maybe a small bowl full of tomatoes, but this may have been the result of me trying to jam as many plants into a small space as I could – I’m blaming me, not the plant. Regardless of the small harvest, this tomato is really tasty – very sweet with very little acidity. The flavor is very pleasant and the texture is ideal for me – I will absolutely plant these again.

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Blondkopfchen

Say that one three times. For the life of me, I couldn’t remember what this plant was – I had to dig through my seeds to figure it out because the label got lost somewhere but once I figured it out I loudly said “Oh, of course!”. And I definitely won’t forget this one because although the tomatoes are teeny tiny, they taste amazing! They almost remind me of a currant tomato, size-wise. These little tomatoes are unlike any other yellow tomato I’ve had – they are very flavorful and have a really nice texture. They have a great balance between sweetness and acidity. These have also gone on my “must plant again” list. And I’m so pleased that I finally found a yellow tomato that I love.

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Riesentraube

I grew several small red tomatoes this year but only chose to feature Riesentraube because it was by far the worst. Riesentraube is larger than a cherry tomato and smaller than a paste tomato but the name actually translates to “giant bunch of grapes” in German. My harvest was not a “giant bunch” of grape-sized tomatoes, it was more like a “small bunch” of elephant grapes (if that’s a real thing), and the tomatoes themselves were nothing exciting. I was not a fan of the texture, they were not very sweet and fairly acidity which left me very disappointed. I juggled whether or not I wanted to include Riesentraube in my post but decided that maybe someone was considering it and I should warn that person to not bother.

That brings my 2014 tomato posts to an end. Read Part One here and Part Two here. Now to start planning for next year! I have my eye on another blue variety and several dwarf varieties and I’m always up for suggestions.

Chocolate Cherry tomatoes seeds from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, Blondkopfchen seeds from Urban Harvest (no longer available) but also sold at Seed Savers Exchange, Riesentraube from Urban Harvest (no longer available) but also sold at Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.

2014 Tomatoes Part Two

Posted in 2014, Harvest, Vegetables by

As you might remember, a few weeks ago I harvested almost all of my tomatoes and brought them inside due to a summer snow storm in the forecast – the tomatoes that remained outside were in pots that were moved to my unheated greenhouse, where they were just fine. And although the bulk of the tomatoes I brought indoors were green, they have been steadily ripening inside of cardboard boxes in my dining room. Today I wanted to share some of the medium sized tomatoes which are the most colorful of them all and let you know my thoughts on growing and eating them: Taxi, Green Zebra and Indigo Rose.

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Clockwise from top – Taxi, Indigo Rose, Green Zebra

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Taxi

This was my second time growing this determine variety. I originally purchased the seeds because I was looking for a non-cherry yellow determine tomato. I’m going to be honest and say that this tomato was a bit of a flop this year – it only produced one tomato. One. The plant itself also did not do very well – the foliage was unhealthy looking for most of the year. I have no real explanation for this except that perhaps I did not provide it with enough fertilizer throughout the growing season – or it just wasn’t impressed with the location I placed it (although this is not a strong argument as I had other tomatoes growing in the same location that did exceptionally well). As for the taste, that is definitely something worth mentioning: it isn’t anything very exciting. If you like a mild tomato with a very delicate flavor, little-to-no acidity, and a mushy texture, then this is the tomato for you (and maybe that is yellow tomatoes in general). I have to admit that I like a bit more punch with my homegrown tomatoes, although this one balances out strong flavors if I’m making fresh salsa with a few different varieties of tomatoes thrown in together. So would I grow it again? Probably not. Putting aside the fact that I only got one tomato from my plant, it just isn’t a very exciting tomato and I would rather use the space to grow a tomato that wasn’t this boring. Sorry Taxi.

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Green Zebra

Green Zebra is one of my favorite indeterminate varieties ever. I’ve grown it for about 4 years now and it has never failed me, always producing a ton of medium sized tomatoes on very healthy plants. The tomatoes ripen to a yellow/green color and you know they’re ready to eat when the skin has a little give when squeezed. My partner and I have differing opinions when it comes to the taste of this one – he found it too tart and acidity, but I thought it had just the right amount of tartness with a bit of sweetness. And I love the texture of this one. This tomato is going to remain on my “must grow” list.

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Indigo Rose

This was my first time successfully growing this indeterminate variety (I’d attempted last year, but squirrels). I purchased it because who wouldn’t want to try growing a blue tomato? I would describe the coloring as a dark purple (almost black in places) with dark red blushing – extremely beautiful. They were also very easy to grow, produced many tomatoes, and the plants remained very healthy all year – the ideal tomato plant in my opinion. The other thing to point out is that although they are an indeterminate variety, they are quite compact plants – not as compact as a determinate, but somewhere in between an indeterminate and determinate variety, which worked very well in my small space garden. I was skeptical that such a pretty tomato would have a forgettable taste but the taste is wonderful. They are very sweet with low acidity and have somewhat of a plum flavor and texture. Indigo Rose is absolutely in my top 3 tomatoes this year.

I’d love to hear about the tomatoes that you grew this year and I’d also love to hear any of your suggestions for a yellow variety.

Indigo Rose and Green Zebra seeds purchased from Urban Harvest, Taxi purchase from West Coast Seeds.