Two videos discussing the problem of mixed up varieties (or, tomatoes of the same name giving different results from different seed sources).


the first short one is on Mexico Midget.

This starts as me doing a self recorded video tomato tasting, but I then settled on Nepal - and we had a discussion about how two tomatoes called Nepal (grown by someone else, and me) can taste so different.  Well, after watching these two videos I guess it can't be said that I don't have opinions on things!

I hoped you enjoyed these little snippets from our event.  Starting tomorrow, it is back to the depressing reality that is this tomato growing experience in my baked, diseased Raleigh garden!

Sue and I each did a stroll around the tables and "tomato and people watched" for a bit prior to the start of the event.


Here are those two video clips.

There is an edit issue in this one - from 1:30 on, it repeats that previous half minute or so....that clip gave me editing fits, since I was pulling bits out for other clips.  Sorry!

If you want to know who anybody is, or what tomatoes you are looking at, post a comment and we will see what we can do (mention which video, at which time)


Enjoy!  More to come, including the Tomatopalooza event opening comments from Lee, Lori and me - a discussion about variable Mexico Midgets, and an informal tasting - focusing on Nepal.

Just added morning of August 3 (HOW can it be August already?!)

Here is a link to my friend Dean's impressions of Tomatopalooza - including some great pictures (Sue and I vote the pic of Dean's daughter with the tomato balloons as best of show!)

I've discussed the various miracles in tomato supplies and superb organization and support.  So let's get down to it and discuss the true stars of the show - the tomatoes!


I am going to refer to Brian's lovely, labeled pictures to jog my memory of what I tasted.  But first....at a general level, we had lots of reds and pinks, a pretty good supply of "blacks" (the unusual purple or brown tomatoes), yellows, oranges and bicolors.  For whatever reason, we were really short on white and green fruited varieties.  Though a much smaller representation than the past few years, the Dwarf tomato project table was an interesting place to taste and hang around, and showed once again the promise that the project holds.


So, on to what I tasted and what I thought about it (and I am pretty ruthless when tasting tomatoes!).  Alphabetically (again, following Brian's pics):


Aussie - bland - 5/10
Banksia Queen F4 - a pleasant surprise - 7.5
Beefywine - not bad, a bit crunchy - underripe? - 6
Beryl Beauty F6 - nice, I've had better, though - 7
Blazing Beauty F4 - very nice, Tim! - promising - 7.5 (not quite as orange as what the F3 showed, still segregating)
Bloody Butcher - YUCK!  a spitter....1
Brandywine OTV - one of the best of the day - superb - 8
Brandywine Sudduth - superb - 8.5 (always one of my favorites)
Chapman - dry, crunchy - underripe? - 4
Cherokee Green - I love that tomato - 8
Cuostralee - the pink one from Heirloom Seeds - nothing there! - 4
Dr Carolyn's Pink - had a musky, cooked flavor - 5
Druzba - bland - 5.5
Eva Purple Ball - average to pleasant - 6
German Johnson - typical - mild, sweet, a bit lacking - 6.5
Granny Cantrell - pretty good - a bit too mild - 6.5
Green Doctors - better than Green Grape, but still....5.5
Green Grape  - just don't like it very much - 5
KBX - a really nice tomato - balanced, flavorful - 7.5
Kelly Green - one of the better advanced dwarfs - 7.5
Little Lucky - tasty, a bit hollow - I've had better - 6.5
Mortgage Lifter Pale Leaf - mild and sweet - 7
Mr. Snow - one of the best of the tasting - great dwarf! - 8
Nepal -interesting!  Fruit I brought - superb - 8; fruit others brought - watery, bland - 5.  A lesson here.
Perth Pride - another best in tasting - bright, tart, complex - 7.5
Plentiful F2 - great competitor to Tasmanian chocolate- tasty! - 7.5
Porky F3 - a bit dry, mealy, bland - nice size purple heart for a dwarf - 5.5
Purple Haze - intense, but a bit of a cooked flavor - 6.5
Purple Haze X P20 - weird!  more fruit (berry) like - 4 (nearly a spitter!)
Red Brandywine - again, interesting - one sample bland, 5; another sample (different source) balanced and flavorful, 7
Rosella Crimson - two different fruit - 6 and 7 (one overripe, one underripe?)
Rosella Purple - very nice, and it can even be better - 7.5
Rosy indeterminate - pretty nice - 6.5
Rosy, orange fruit - very nice, great potential - 7.5
Rosy pink - two different fruit, similar flavors - fair - 6
Rosy purple fruit - very nice! - 7
Sarandipity - two fruit (two plants) - both average in flavor - 5.5
Snowy F2 from red - four different fruits - none of them stood out, one was awful - ranked from 2 to 6
Summertime Green - a bit overripe, can show much better - 6
Sunny F2 - three different fruit, I liked the orange one best - 5-6 range for all three
Sungold - interesting!  Tasted from two different bowls.  One was the real deal - 9! - the other must have been from saved seed - good but lacked the punch - 6.5
Sweet Sue - my F6 plant isn't the choice selection - good but not great - 6.5
Tasmanian Chocolate - I really liked it, best I've tasted - 7.5
Variegated - average tomato flavor - 6
Wild Fred - flavor just wasn't there in this selection - 6
Williams Striped- one of the better bicolors I've tasted - 7
Winsall - nice pink tomato, well balanced - 7.5
Witty - not as good as what I tasted at Lee's - 6
Yellow Brandywine - outstanding tomato - 8


So as I look through this list, somehow I managed to taste 60 varieties - and was ready to start eating tomatoes again the very next day!


Best tomatoes I tasted - Perth Pride, Dwarf Mr. Snow, Banksia Queen, Brandywine OTV, Brandywine Sudduth, Yellow Brandywine, Sungold, Cherokee Green (8 varieties stood out for me)


Worst tomatoes I tasted - Snowy from Red hybrid, white cherry; Purple Haze X P20; Bloody Butcher, Aussie, Chapman, imposter Nepal, imposter Red Brandywine. (7 varieties scraped the bottom).


OK, blog readers who attended Tomatopalooza - send me your lists to post!






  

What a day!  A few very first thoughts, now that I can think again!


Miracle #1 - the temperature!  The conditions were suitable for human life (unlike the previous two months....)


Miracle #2 - the tomatoes!  And to think Lee and I were a bit concerned when matching people and tomato donor numbers....(thanks to Miracles #3 and 4, see below)


Miracle #3 - Ira and Lisa from the Southern Exposure Seed Exchange tomato delivery service!


Miracle #4 - Darrel Jones from the Alabama tomato delivery service


Miracle #5 - that the venue chosen, and logistical planning, led to a smooth, stress-free, manageable event!


Miracle #6 - Lori, Brian and all of the other incredible volunteers!  You allowed Lee and I to really do what you said you would do - show up, taste and talk!


Much more later....


And a recipe below (much requested, and quite delicious...) - thanks to Thom Wiley for providing the goodies at the event, and the recipe!


And....here is a link to co-host Lee Newman's digital pics from the event, from the Tomatopalooza website.

There are a number of items I would like to draw your attention to.


The first, and by far most important,  is about ways to help out Hamid and Holly Mohajer - Hamid is now facing a major health challenge.  Please see this link - 


http://www.friendsforhamid.com/


there is much more on my News page.  Anyone who has met Holly or Hamid, or who has eaten a wonderful meal at Mo's Diner will certainly want to pitch in and help in any way that they can.  Sue and I hope to see you at one of the upcoming events that are scheduled.


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Next - we are approaching Tomatopalooza time - the event, on Saturday, July 31, is being run a bit differently this year - we are asking people to register.  Please see our website for more details.  If you do plan to come, this is a plea for....TOMATOES!  We always worry about running short, and with this being such a strange growing season, it is unclear what Lee and I will have ripe and ready for the event.


http://tomatopalooza.com/


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Then, there is the A Southern Season Cooking School this coming Sunday, July 25 - these are always wonderful events.  You can get more info and register at this link


https://www.southernseason.com/class/event.asp?id=19267


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And, finally, I will once again be on a Nova Scotia, Canada garden call in show - on Sunday, July 25, from 10:30-11 EST - you can listen live at the link below.


http://www.news957.com/


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Just kidding - one more thing!  Sue and I will be at the Zely and Ritz tomato dinner tonight - link below for more info.


http://www.zelyandritz.com/special_events_offers.html


I think that is it (and is certainly enough!).