AZOYCHKA!!! Tastes Like BACON!!!

This is quickly becoming one of my favorite tomato varieties. First off, I just love the name: AZOYCHKA!!! It just sort of rolls off the tongue -- with excitement. What does it mean? I dunno. Think I'm smart? You've come to the WRONG place!

But it is one fine, lip-smacking tomato. One of the best I've ever had. And last night's harvest of three VEEERRRRYYY ripe Azoychka tomatoes came as a complete surprise.

This is happening a lot in our garden, and will continue to happen for the rest of the summer.

These tomatoes were located near the center of the raised bed and had been completed covered with foilage -- foilage that was starting to turn yellow in color by the way --which is why I missed them (the tomatoes are yellow too).

I did spot these tomatoes very early on in the growth process -- in late April -- and thought I had located them again. Alas, it was the wrong three tomato set. And while I was waiting for the wrong three tomato set to ripen -- these three had already ripened and were just waiting to be discovered.

Yeah, they were that ripe, that juicy, that GOOD!

The Azoychka is an heirloom, but is also a relatively new tomato to the United States. As you might guess, it is Russian. But the seeds of this variety, like many others from Eastern Europe, didn't start to show up in large numbers until the Wall fell and the Soviet Union bit the dust.

It has a creamy -- somewhat smoky taste. In my opinion? The Azoychka tastes like BACON! It's the perfect variety to use on a BLT -- or top on a burger. Others who are growing this variety haven't picked up on the bacon-type taste, but do agree that is has a smoky flavor that makes it very special.

It's a unique addition to the heirloom tomato garden of Bill & Venus Bird, and judging from the fruit set so far, it's going to be providing ripe, tasty fruit throughout the summer months.

Heirloom tomato season is here at last.