2010 Tomato Review, Pomme d' amour, Apple of Love

Last tomato harvest for this year.

"To everything there is a season, and a time for every purpose under heaven." -Eccleslastes 3:1

I spent much of yesterday removing tomato vines.  No new flowers in the last week or two and the remaining tomatoes on most plants were quite small.  I planted all of these the second week in March so they have been producing for quite some time now. I still have two Green Zebra plants that I had started from seed in late February and they have lots of tomatoes and blossoms on the vines. Hopefully these will give me tomatoes through September and maybe into October with luck.


Here is my review on what I planted.

• Heirloom Erica d' Australie: Heavy producer, 1-2 pounds. Late season. 90 days. Nice tomato, heavy producer. Repeat next year
• Heirloom Purple Russian: Heavy producer, purple red tomato. 6 ounce oblong egg shaped fruit. Sweet. 76 days. Repeat next year.
• Heirloom Debarao Red Plum: red 3-4 oz oval fruit, abundant crop, deep red paste tomato. Excellent flavor. 72 days. Nice tomato, will repeat next year.
• Heirloom Banana Legs: grew this one in a large clay pot.  Bush style plant. Heavy producer of nice meaty 3 inch long fruit. Much like a paste tomato.  Nice flavor, pretty in salads.  72 days. a repeat for next year.
• Heirloom Brandywine: Not sure which one this was. Second year I have tried Brandywine and I will not plant again.  Leaves are much like a potato plant, which is fine, but the leaves tend to turn yellow early on this plant as with the one I tried last year. Might be a mineral deficiency. Fruit was small and took 80 or more days. Too many other heirlooms out there that will do much better than this one has for me.
• Heirloom Yellow Bell: 2" fruit.  Yellow pear shape tomato, very large-much like a small paste tomato.  Meaty, nice flavor.  Grew this one on the ground and let it vine on its own.  Spread about 15 feet around.  Prolific, produces in clusters.  Will repeat if I can find it again.
• Heirloom Yellow Stuffer: This plant was a volunteer. Coming up on its own from last year. Forgot about it until I began picking and found it to be this one.  Great tomato for stuffing with a rice salad for a light summer lunch or dinner.  Hollow inside, fun to grow.  Will repeat if I can find it or might be back on its own again. 85 days. Love this one.
• Heirloom Dr. Lyle: Pink beefsteak. 70-80 days. Excellent flavor. For me this one needed the longer growing time. Large fruit, no cracks, but odd shaped. Will repeat this one next year. 
• Estiva (F1) French Hybrid Salad Tomato: Love this plant! Never stopped producing.  6 to 8 tomatoes clustered like a cherry tomato.  Nice 2 inch round fruit. 70 days or earlier. If you have trouble with tomato plants, give this one a try.  A must have for next year.
• Heirloom Green Zebra: probably my favorite tomato. So pretty when cut.  Small 1-2 inch tomato, green/yellow in color with stripes. Nice tangy tomato taste. 80 days. This plant takes a long time for the fruit to ripen.  They come early on the vine, be patient. You will be rewarded. A must have for next year.
• Golden Sweet Hybrid Grape: heavy producer, excellent flavor. Yellow pear or grape shape.  60 days. Repeat next year.
• Sun Grape Hybrid Red Grape: Heavy producer with excellent flavor. 60 days. Repeat next year.
• Heirloom Cherokee Purple: Excellent flavor. Beautiful tomato when cut.  Nice variation in color. 80 days.  Needs at least this much time. Repeat next year.
• Heirloom Pineapple: Another favorite. 70-75 days. Beautiful bi-colored red/yellow/orange striations. Excellent flavor. A must have for next year.
• Victoria Supreme VFFNA Hybrid: Excellent paste tomato. 70 days. Took cutting of this plant and rooting directly in the ground. Ended up with three more plants. A must have for next year.
• Heirloom Carbon Black Salad: Beautiful fruit, no cracks. 10-14 oz fruit.  Must have for next year. Will grow this instead of Brandywine. needs at least 76 days.
• Heirloom German Johnson: Excellent flavor, large fruit. 78-80 days. Good repeat for next year.
• Early Girl VF: Outstanding, heavy producer of nice small salad size tomatoes.  Always had one to pick on this plant.  65 days. Will plant next year.

In review the, only one I would not repeat is Brandywine. I am delighted with the success I have had this year with my tomatoes.  I failed to have very many cucumbers; as with last year they developed downy mildew early on. I never use sprays or insecticide in my garden but next year I will need to watch for this and probably will spray with a fungicide if it happens again.


"Summer Scallop trio" a Pattypan mix, "Raven" a zucchini, "Ronde de Nice" a round zucchini and "Supersett" yellow crookneck squash were all great producers as usual. I purchased the seeds from Renee's Garden Seeds 


In the next few weeks I will be working on adding a couple more raised beds for my fall/winter garden; that will give me 5 in all. We are expecting some more hot weather so I will plant towards the end of the month.

In review: I need more land!