Re: [tomato] Great Book
Doreen Howard (Tomato@GlobalGarden.com)
Thu, 1 Jul 1999 16:31:07 -0500
Catherine wrote:
She's included one of my personal favorite--Black from Tula. It's always my
>most productive (and best tasting) black, producing a good crop in both
>Atlanta and the Texas Hill Country. Some New England and Pacific Northwest
>growers are trialing it with me this year; I'm curious to see how it stacks
>up when grown under coolish summer conditions. It won't develop as much of
>the 'black' color; but it should be an interesting comparison.
My faves are Southern Night and Black Krim. I planted highly adapted seed
this spring--seed from 4 generations in So. Texas, 50 miles south of
Houston, where it's hot, hot and humid, humid and disease central. I was
quite anxious to see how this adapted seed would perform in Central Illinois
where I garden now. Boy, what a difference! The plants are bigger--now
hitting the 10 ft. mark and the fruit is larger. Black Krim is averaging a
pound, and so is Southern Night. In Texas, the biggest ones early in the
season would weigh about 12 oz. if conditions were good. The biggest fruit
on Black Krim is 20 oz., so far. The flavor is the same, but the color
isn't as intense. I was worried about flavor, because the Texas heat did
build good fruit sugars. But, we've had consistent daytime heat here--at
least during the period in which the tomatoes I've picked in the last 10
days have ripened. These are the first ones from plants put in the ground
on May 2. It's a joke about the Southern Night between Carolyn and I. She
thinks they are very ordinary, and I love them. Taste is subjective, after
all!
Good growing to all,
Doreen Howard
Zone 5b