Tomatoes 2020

[ducks4you]

@Pulsegleaner , they Are probably lagging. You should get some late, like end of August. I am on vacation, but DD's say I have big ones blushing, and I didn't have time to pick 3 Romas that were ready last week, before I left.
2019 was a Rotten growing year for me for tomatoes. I canned just as many that I saved from a hard freeze end of October as I did during the growing season. Go figure...

 

[digitS']

I made my summer tomato soup, this afternoon .

I'm very pleased that I learned to do that during the growing season rather than entirely waiting until ripening green tomatoes and after the first frosts. The soup has about half again more flavor!

The fresh cherries have been regular snacks but there are finally more than we want to snack on. Medium size -- I'm sure some are Bloody Butchers but some others must be Early Girls. Those are more firm and have yellow shoulders. Still haven't located the plant markers on the plants ripening a few.

I've read, and believe it is true, that the yellow shoulders are a result of hot temperatures. I can cut that off and it's okay because we will probably have moderate temperatures now and no more of that 104°f tomato brutality.

Who was it talking about the weight of the plants? Not quite happening here. In a sprawl as most always but showing way more healthy growth than usual. They better not delay bulking up and ripening fruit much longer. Dang, I've had frost in the August garden once before.

Steve

 

[ducks4you]

@digitS' , tomato soup recipe?

 

[digitS']

@ducks4you , I was the happy kid with the bowl of Campbell's tomato soup and a grilled cheese sandwich at the lunch table. Later, I would have a nice cup of hot V8 juice. As a teenager, I learned to put Tabasco sauce in either. No, not the sandwich but there are other ways to make that sandwich (a little) more interesting.

I matured to more sophisticated tastes but not much. The most important change was learning that all tomatoes need not be round and red. I haven't reached the time when there are many choices in the tomato patch but even a handful of golden cherries makes a difference in the mix of them. And, I left Campbell's behind.

Start some bacon cooking in the pan. You'll want it somewhat crisp. In the bacon fat, cook some diced onions and garlic until transparent. All that goes in the blender with the tomatoes. Don't bother to remove the skins.

Blend until smooth then it's back in the pot with a few twists of black pepper. Hot pepper if'n you like it spicy. You decide how long it needs to cook. Greek yogurt is a good thickening ingredient there are the last but, yesterday, it was cheddar cheese. All there was to it .

Steve

 

[ducks4you]

Sounds YUMMY and I Will try it! Thanks!!!

 

[baymule]

That does sound good.

 

[Artorius]

Interesting. The description for that variety is very similar to the Elfin pictured in my opening post, but taller... it must produce millions. Are the tomatoes meaty, like a miniature Roma?

@Zeedman ,
these are not meaty tomatoes, but they have a very good, sweet and sour taste. More sweet. A nice snack when working in the garden. Some flowers have fallen, but the polytunnel is too hot for this tomato. It prefers lower temperatures.

One of my favorite pasta tomatoes is Auria. Meaty and very prolific.

Photo from 2018

 

[flowerbug]

those look great!

we just picked a third time in the tomato patches and have about 140lbs to put up today. some we'll give to my brother and sister-in-law, but it is going to be a busy day getting those done.

 

[baymule]

@Artorius Those Auria paste tomatoes are hanging in bunches! They look like they would make good sauce.

 

[flowerbug]

well the plan didn't quite work out for today but i did get 22 quarts of tomato juice done this evening. the rest will have to get done tomorrow morning. since i've been doing juice only so far i'm going to put chunks up tomorrow just to do something different. we use plenty of both anyways.

these varieties of tomatoes we planted this year are pretty much the same flavor as the beefsteak tomatoes we've normally been growing. anytime we grow a new variety i haven't tried before i worry that we'll be disappointed. so that is a good thing.