Because you asked, here’s a photo of the inside of the ‘Black Pear’ tomato.
I ate another one yesterday afternoon. They really are soft, dense, sweet, and rich. Whether or not they beat out my #1 ‘Black Krim’ or ‘Purple Cherokee’ (I can’t tell the difference in taste or appearance) remains to be seen. I’ll let you know when the first ‘Black Krim’ ripens. I started them a tad late at the community garden so they’re just coming around now.
Leave a commentUpdate: The first of the next batch has ripened. I had both my neighbour and my spouse do a taste test and we all agree that while it is tasty, it doesn’t stand up to the black indeterminates like ‘Black Krim’ or ‘Black Plum’. My final verdict is that it’s a great mid-sized determinate perfect for small spaces like fire escapes, but if you want the real thing get a HUGE plastic garbage can and grow an indeterminate variety.
I’ve been waiting anxiously for the first ‘Black Seaman’ tomato to ripen. From the looks of things I was certain this would be my new #1 determinate but I was hesitant to even go there in my mind without tasting one first. I watched everyday with bated breath as a large crop of good-sized green tomatoes blushed with color. The first was eaten by a large raccoon (The largest I have ever seen! A film crew could use this deck as a location for Wild Kingdom). And then over the weekend we caught the tail end of hurricane Ernesto and the bulk of the nearly ripe ‘Black Seamans’ burst open as a result of torrential downpours and had to be quickly, and prematurely plucked from the vine. We tasted a few with salt and I will say that they were rich and flavorful with a hint of tang, even when under-ripe. Some were on the mealy side but that was likely caused by the splitting. I will provide a more thorough update on taste when the next batch ripen but in the meantime here’s why this variety has been given a tentative spot in my top 5:
I would love to bring you more hard-core gardening experience type information but I am completely emersed in the harvest season and relishing the fruits of my labour. I just ate lunch — a fried egg sandwich on spelt toast with a slice of garden tomato, fresh basil, mayo, and oyster mushrooms — and I couldn’t wait to get back to my computer to tell you about the delicious black pear tomato. Perhaps I am glorifying it because it’s the first large tomato of the season and the first tomato is always THE BEST TOMATO THE WORLD HAS EVER KNOWN! However, this tomato was juicy, sweet, and rich tasting. It cut easily into a perfect sandwich slice packed with dense meatiness in the centre and fresh and juicy towards the edges; not at all mushy or mealy. Don’t you think the shape looks like a cute little hobo sack?
I’m definitely adding this one to my list of new faves.
A few tips for container growing:
Phase 1 of “Project Deck Garden 2006″ was enacted yesterday afternoon. It was inspired by a sunny day and a headache that wouldn’t quit, which not surprisingly, was abated after a few hours in the fresh air. I won’t bore you with the details as Phase 1 involves large helpings of gardening’s lesser joys; clean-up, pot shifting, and organization. Instead I will list the enjoyable activities:
And then Davin showed up to help and informed me that in the tradition of bizarre, unexplainable things that happen around the street garden, someone had left a plastic wrapped cauliflower in the garden as a gift. But it seems, in an even stranger twist, that in exchange, they took the large paper bags that were holding the compostables that were waiting to be put out for city collection. Yes, they left the plant bits sitting on the sidewalk, but took the completely dilapitated and unusable bags. Huh? I REALLY have to get on making those signs I’ve been meaning to make since 2000.
Another seed order arrived in the mail from Greta’s Organic Gardens. I need to get on these asap as time is ticking. The bulk of these are tomato varieties I am testing out on the rooftop this year.
Can you believe I have one more small order on its way? Yikes. And now I have to get some arugula! Yeah and did I mention the seeds I impulse-bought off a rack last week?
The more I garden the more clearly I understand that gardening is a continuous learning process. The last few years have been excellent reminders of that. Last year’s weather was unseasonably grey, cool, and wet and I had to adjust and strategize to work within those limitations (and positives). This year has been incredibly hot, bright, and dry and so again I have had to make a complete 180 and adjust everything I did last year to cope. It’s been quite an education.
It’s fair to say that this year has been a lot of work. Maintenance on the rooftop has been the greatest challenge and has been where the bulk of my energy went. As a result something had to give and as usual it was the side garden. It’s currently incredibly overgrown and in desperate need of attention. I sorta-almost-kinda get why people with money hire in gardening help!
On the flip side my rooftop deck has been thriving as a result of the hot weather — it’s a jungle out there. The tomatillo plants are twice their usual size! I have to push leafy stalks to the side to gain access to plants on the fire escape. The tomatoes are producing in vast quantities. It’s almost time to do a rundown of this year’s harvest. I know it’s early but to be honest most of my rooftop plants are close to done for the season. If I get it together I can have most of my deck cleaned up well before it gets cold. That would definitely a first!
And now — because I am lazy and tired of writing — the pictures.
I’ll be roasting these babies (Black Plum) in the oven tonight for delicious roasted tomato sauce.
Most of this is from the rooftop container plants but some of this (namely the monster zucchini and yellow ‘Taxi’ tomatoes) is from my community plot. I don’t like to over-grow my veggies but recent rains freed me up from frequent trips to the community garden and that massive zucchini blew up in size in the meantime. There were lemon cucumbers but we ate them with last night’s dinner.
I get a few of these every year. I don’t think they liked the intense heat because they waited until the temperature cooled some to show themselves. They never do enough damage to bother.
I’ll let this guy take care of business.
The anise-hyssop loves the heat. Some days this plant is area is teaming with pollinators.
‘Purple Beauty Peppers: I’m so proud of this plant. It’s been producing well and is still making more. It’s a tasty variety. I will definitely grow this again.
Green Sausage Tomatoes: I’m not a fan of these and the plants have been incredibly prolific. I harvested a ton the other day and made up a batch of Green Tomato Chutney (the recipe is in the YGG book). It’s good on crackers with cheese.
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