Black Brandywine Tomato

[Nyboy]

Now I am craving a BLT big time.

 

[thistlebloom]

I love all the variety of colors that tomatoes come in. One of the best I remember eating was a huge orange and red and yellow heirloom that I bought at the farmers market in mom and dads town. I have no idea what it was, but it was a complex flavor and big enough to feed a small family.

Do you photo catalog all your tomato varieties @PhilaGardener ? What a good way to remember what does what. Those are beautiful tomatoes too btw.

 

[Smart Red]

Sure, something for all tastes! Here is Chalk's Early Jewel.

This is a local (to me, originating in nearby Norristown PA) heirloom that was very popular around the turn of the 20th Century and one I am glad to preserve (and share!) to help keep it going for the next hundred years. It is a great grower and quite productive.

So is this a determinate or indeterminate tomato? The size, color, and rich red shoulders would make this an ideal canning variety if it is determinate and the fruits ripen at about the same time.

It would be so awesome to be able to harvest a bushel of these at one time for preserving.

 

[PhilaGardener]

Thanks, everyone, for your complements!

@thistlebloom , I've started taking digital photographs of varieties as a reference for what I grew when. They also will help me judge if I get any off-types as I save seeds and grow them year after year. I have had problems bagging blossoms so live with open pollination; I am not put off by the possibility of something new popping up, but want to know when it does.

@Smart Red , Chalk's Early Jewel is an indeterminate, regular leaf plant that ripens its fruit over an extended period. At the moment, it is the most robust plant in my garden - well branched, over 7 ft tall and still setting fruit! I think it just loves growing back near "home"!

 

[Smiles Jr.]

Sure, something for all tastes! Here is Chalk's Early Jewel.

This is a local (to me, originating in nearby Norristown PA) heirloom that was very popular around the turn of the 20th Century and one I am glad to preserve (and share!) to help keep it going for the next hundred years. It is a great grower and quite productive.

Wow! Now that's a nice looking pair of tomatoes! Sounds kind of sexy doesn't it? Your photo and labeling idea is great. Can I copy that idea? My dad was really, really into his heirloom tomatoes. Several years ago he was in an informal club of folks who traded heirloom seeds every winter. One year he had over 100 tomato plants out in the west garden and it was just him and mom here at PlayStation.

 

[digitS']

I'm not sure if I'd want to look at such beautiful pictures of my heirlooms during the off-season ...

Absence makes the heart grow fonder, ya know. Sniff ...

But, you are using them as a reference when others show up, PhilaGardener! Yeah, that makes sense to me. Each of my varieties is different from the others but that is deliberate. Maybe I'd like to grow similar varieties and do comparisons. It would be easier to separate them in the kitchen for taste tests, and all. I'm a little disorganized in all things garden!

Steve

 

[PhilaGardener]

I often wish I had a camera when I'm in the garden, but with moisture and dust there I tend not to have it handy when a great photo presents itself. I'm working on that.

Photographing tomatoes is easier as I finish ripening them in the house or the birds will damage them. The masking tape label is functional - I take a roll and pen to the garden and label the ones from which I want to save seed as they come off the plant. The tape stays on the fruit as it ripens (my family knows not to eat those), gets documented with the fruit, goes on the container with the seed for fermentation prep, and then stays with the seed as they are dried and then stored. The rest of the tomato is not wasted (which is why I don't mark the fruit directly with a marker). It is a simple system and keeps things straight. (No more "which yellow was that . . . " moments!)

If any part of that works for you, go for it. And yes, there are a few that never make it back to the house! After all, the taste test is critical evaluation step

 

[digitS']

I won't upset @Sprig by posting a picture of how I keep track of fresh tomatoes for seedsaving. Here is a LINK.

I've decided on a way to fine tune my tool rack technique . I have an inventory of seed that I put together every winter. For my saved seed, I need to put the year the seed was harvested. That will keep me from relying on seed that has some years on it.

Yes, I know old seed will sprout - eventually. There is little reason to go through the stress of waiting for it when most everything I want around season after season is around, season after season.

Steve

 

[PhilaGardener]

Each to their own

I do think the French Canadians take the prize, however . . .

 

[SprigOfTheLivingDead]

Patience!

They do get riper but in my garden I have to pick and finish them indoors or the birds would enjoy them first!

That looks absolutely gorgeous. And yes, they taste absolutely amazing. I like them a bit more than Dester, which I thought had too tough of skin.

As for a camera: I recently got myself an Olympus TG-4 as I've destroyed a few others in my backpacking and NPS work. This is a waterproof, dustproof, resistant to crushing (200lbs I think) and can deal with winter cold. So far I love it. Took it on a recent BWCA trip where it rained the entire time