Let's get one thing straight:
I may be fairly decent when it comes to growing a tomato -- but I still suck when it comes to taking a picture of a tomato. In this case? It's not just the *first* tomato of the 2010 summer garden season. As you can tell by the extra-blurry photo to your right -- it's the first TWO tomatoes.
Well -- OK -- actually -- to be brutally honest -- it's not the first. Venus and I picked one a little early about ten days back. It was a paste variety tomato. Yes -- it was red. Yes - it was soft. And -- yes -- it tasted like something that comes out of the bottom of my tennis shoes after a long day of working in the Bird Back 40.
I never thought tomatoes could taste like that.
But that one didn't count! It was still cold. It didn't get the heat nor the care that tomatoes need to thrive and pump out the good fruit. These two however -- got a little bit of everything. They got a nice home in nice soil. They received the best in fertilizer -- water and care. And -- thanks to the past couple of days -- they also were the recipients of some mighty fine tomatoey-growing weather.
When just the thought of stepping outside in the sunshine brings sweat to your brow? It's good tomato weather.
The variety in this case? Cuor Di Bue - also known as -- Couer De Bouef. The starter plant -- which is now about five feet tall and fruiting like mad -- is/was a gift from Farmer Fred Hofman. A rough translation is "Ox Heart Beef." The online reviews are -- in a word -- outstanding.
Our tomato growing efforts are really starting to pick up now following an extremely slow start to the 2010 Summer Gardening season. The good weather is finally here -- plus the return of an old friend to the garden (he buzzed right in on Saturday) -- tells me that tomato season might be a tad late.
But it's looking up kids.
7 comments:
I picked my first red tomato (4th of July hybrid) today. It was the only one there. I have been eating a Sun Gold cherry tomato here and there but only in the last week.
Sweet! No tomatos for me yet! Lots of green ones! Enjoy!
Was it the Cuor di Bue "A" or the Cuor di Bue "B"?
i am now just getting a few tomatoes (still very green) across a variety of plants. enjoy, this sure is an odd season.
Fred: This was the B. The A is producing more of a Roma type of variety. The B is giving me that classic Ox Heart shape.
Greg: I find it odd that I haven't had a single cherry tomato yet -- and those are usually the first to yield ripe fruit. Strange.....
Jenn: Hit and miss for me. Lots of green ones on some plants. Not so much on the others.
Garry: Odd is a good word to use. So is strange. We can only hope that it will pick up with time.
Thanks for checking in. On a scale of 1-10 (one rating bad and 10 rating outstanding) -- I'd put both of last night's tomatoes at a 5.5. Not bad. But not anywhere close to outstanding. These were slightly better than something I'd get out of a farmer's market. We're not there -- yet.
I believe your hands were shaking from excitement of the tomato harvest when you attempted your photo shoot.
Settle down. There's much more to come.
Good job Bill! I've got great looking plants but no ripe tomatoes.
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