Monday, July 16, 2012

In The Red

Last June I was in the black. Most of my tomato plants got blight very early in the season and went black. It was really bad so I pulled them, tossed 'em, and craved tomatoes the rest of the summer. The other tomato plants went black (actually brown) in September.

This summer I'm in the red! My heirloom tomatoes are in full production, particularly these German Johnson beefsteaks.

German Johnson tomatoes harvested this evening. The largest tomato weighs 22 ounces.

There are at least 15 more impressively large tomatoes hanging on my German Johnson vine in varying stages of growth and ripeness. I also have two Hillbilly vines in heavy bloom, three Black from Tulas started in May, a Bush Beefsteak, and one Sungold hybrid tomato in the ground.

If I could only plant one variety it would definitely be Black from Tula. But German Johnson is a close second. And I'm not complaining after a 13-month tomato drought in my garden.

What's everybody growing out there? What are your favorite varieties of heirloom tomatoes? E-mail me some pictures (vaplantman@yahoo.com) and I'll post the best looking tomato of the bunch.