Top Tomatoes 2012

Thankfully, today is supposed to be the last of the intensely hot days of summer. We ended up not planting a mid-summer crop of tomatoes, which I'm now thankful for not having to water, but we had a bumper crop in early summer. We grow all of our tomatoes from seed as part of the ClubCorp Charity Classic Plant Sale, and keep an informal trial approach to what performs best. These were the heroes this year:

1. 'Red Star' tomato, from Penny's Tomatoes

These were fantastic! The vines were loaded from early May through July. The fruits were very flavorful and seemingly impervious to the heat. Definitely one we'll have each year.

2. 'Paul Robeson' from Penny's Tomatoes and Seeds of Change:

This is a fantastic, relatively hard-to-find old heirloom with outstanding rich flavor, strong growth, and consistent productivity. It produced large, gorgeous dark fruits that stood out from all of the others.

3. 'Carbon' from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds via North Haven Gardens:

As indicated by the photo, these were a bit more prone to cracking, but that was due more to drenching spring rains followed by bone-dry baking--and my failure to mitigate the steep decline in time. Still, these are gorgeous, rich fruits of a nice medium size, excellent for slicing, and very productive. Very heat tolerant.

4. 'Violet Jasper' from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds via North Haven Gardens:

These unusual little beauties are gorgeous AND flavorful. The one negative comment I heard was how thick-skinned the fruit is--they can be a bit tough, especially the later fruit produced in higher heat. Still, they are out-of-this-world productive, and look beautiful in salad. Definitely a keeper.

5. 'Pineapple' tomato from Penny's Tomatoes:

Again, one that was more prone to cracking, but see above as to why--I take the blame. These were productive, but fruit size was negatively correlated to temperature. The earlier fruit was large and plentiful, dropping off as the time went by. Still, I can't say enough about how delicious these are--it's the sweetest tomato I've ever tried, and I eat while I pick, straight off the vines.

Of the 38 varieties we grew at the farm this year, these were easily the top five, and each was a new treat. Oldies-but-goodies remain 'Yellow Pear'--one that we can't live without for it's astounding abundance of delicious, pear-shaped tiny fruits produced in pendulous clusters. 'Principe Borghese'was another great new addition this year; it's an heirloom Italian sauce tomato that produced very heavily.

On the other hand, the worst performers were 'San Marzano', 'Roma', 'Pink Brandywine', and 'Mortgage Lifter'. They're all great varieties, but for whatever reason, they didn't work for us this year. Granted, this is our first year on this land, and caring for soil organically yields long-term benefits that multiply as the years go by--so I expect we'll have varying results with next year's trials.

While we're on the topic of trials, even though they're not tomatoes: the best peppers were 'Greek Pepperoncini'--an ASTOUNDING producer of crisp, flavorful little delicacies that lend themselves perfectly to pickling; 'Pasilla Bajillo'--a Mexican Mole pepper that took all season to reach size and color, but look beautiful; and by all accounts the best of them all:

NuMex Joe E. Parker Chile Pepper, from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds, again via North Haven Gardens seed selection in their store: I can't say enough about them. They're delicious with a nice kick fresh off the bush, but these lush, giant chiles were astronomically enhanced by the grill-roast-and bag-steam method. We will have these every year as long as we grow.

In closing, here's a photo from early July, of a single morning's pickings: