Tomato Tasting...

Late summer equals tomatoes in my book.  Glorious jewels of green, yellow, orange, pink, red, and purple hanging in the garden.  I wait all year for this moment!  It is my favorite piece of summer.  I tried a lot of new varieties this year, and I have a lot of tasting to do to find my favorites of the bunch.  I thought that I would share my thoughts on the taste testing with y'all so you know what's good too!

Green Moldovan Tomato.  Gorgeous greens, I love 'em!
Everything that I planted this year was heirloom, which is defined as being an established variety of a plant prior to WWII.  Heirlooms are a little slower to come on, they are also not quite as prolific.  There are several tomatoes that are still ripening that I haven't been able to sink my teeth into.  I am antsy to try them and I tell them every morning while I am watering the farm and feeding animals.  (Yes, I talk to my plants!)  As they ripen, I will continue to post tastings on each new variety.  

GREEN MOLDOVAN - I took a risk on this tomato, but I have ended up being one of it's biggest fans.  This is a medium-heavy producer of very large green tomatoes.  These tomatoes fill the palm of your hand.  They are very meaty and striking to look at.  I love how the top stays dark green and the bottom lightens to a gorgeous lime color.  


WEIGHT:  Heavy
SIZE: Large
ACIDITY: Low, Very sweet
FLAVOR: Very fruity, a little citrus
PRODUCTION: Prolific, Medium to heavy producer
GENERAL IMPRESSION:  I like this tomato.  It is a good slicer, firm and heavy inside with a good smooth texture and very flavorful.  I will be planting this again!


GOLD MEDAL - This is one of those old standards that fill the nurseries.  I have never grown it, so I thought I would add it to the kitchen garden this year.  This is a great slicer.  Yellow-green skin slices to a green thick almost beefsteak-like tomato.  It is sweet, but not overwhelming.  A good overall tomato.  


WEIGHT: Heavy
SIZE: Very Large
ACIDITY: Low, Sweet
FLAVOR: A little acidic with a grassy finish.  Decently good.
PRODUCTION: Prolific, Produces a lot of very large fruit.
GENERAL IMPRESSION:  Good tomato for all-purpose use.  Not my favorite, but it definitely has it's place in the garden.   


OPALKA - If there ever was a perfect roma, this would be it!  I am in love with this beauty.  The plant itself is larger than me, and it was planted in an area that doesn't boast the best soil.  It has great flavor.  There is very little liquid in this tomato, and it would make a very thick, robust, and flavorful sauce.  This roma boasts a little acidity, but not overwhelming.  My only complaint is that the plant could be a bit more prolific.  I will have to plant several of these next year.  


WEIGHT: Heavy
SIZE: Very Large Fruit (longer than the width of my palm), plant is also extremely large
ACIDITY: Medium 
FLAVOR: Packs a punch.  This is a loaded tomato when it comes to flavor.  Very traditional red tomato flavor.  
PRODUCTION: Medium
GENERAL IMPRESSION:  I will plant this is large quantities next year.  This is a wonderful sauce tomato.  I am smitten with it's flavor, size, and gorgeous fruit.  My new go-to sauce tomato!


ORANGE BLACK TRIFLE - This is an interesting find.  I was tickled when I saw the description of this fruit at Traces in SLC.  I stuck one in my trial pile and carried it off into the sunset.  However, I am a little disappointed with the flavor of this tomato, I was hoping it was more intense.  It has beautiful fruit.  Large pear-shaped drops hang from the vines.  They are an intense orange color and streaked with black when you cut into them.  They are beautiful for a tomato salad.  


WEIGHT: Medium to heavy
SIZE: Medium to large fruit
ACIDITY: Low to Medium-Low
FLAVOR: Sweet, with a little tang.  Less intense orange tomato flavor. 
PRODUCTION: Medium to low
GENERAL IMPRESSION: I am not likely to plant this at the farm again.  I may plant one or two in the kitchen garden so I have the color of this tomato to add to my salads.  For the low production, I am not sure it is worth investing the soil space in.  I love it's shape, it brings a lot to the garden in terms of visual appeal.


Comments

  1. Awesome reviews! Loved this post.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm jealous! I'm jealous that your tomatoes are ripening at all while mine are just green as can be when they should be a luscious red.

    ReplyDelete

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