Unusual tomato varieties: tigerella, tumbling tiger, black cherry, black russian

A few prize examples of my more unusual varieties.  Ignore the little yellow, one, I hate yellow tomatoes

At the end of the day, all the matters about a tomato is how it tastes.  Ideally not thick skinned and fluffy like a potato in my opinion.  But, if a tomato can be tasty and unusual in appearance then I like it.  I managed to buy some plants that promised a little variety on the usual red round fruit.  Some are heritage, and some are just a bit different.  As long as they aren't yellow, different is good.

Two tigerella tomatoes.  Its difficult to see as the light was bright but they do have a subtle patchy stripe.  Taste just
like a normal tomato

I have two stripey varieties, both named after tigers.  Tigerella produces lovely medium red round tomatoes but with a nice stripey jacket, just like a tiger but in shades of red with a touch of yellow.  Tumbling tiger is a little more unusual.  A very small bush plant it certainly doesn't need a lot of space.  The fruits are really long and elongated, far more oval than round, and the brightest orange colour, but again with stripes.  The orange colour keeps throwing me because I don't think they are ripe, and they are.  I have found one or two on the ground because I ignored them too long.  The colour is the exact same shade as Heinz cream of tomato soup.  I don't remember the tomatoes tasting the same though which in my book is a shame.  Both are pretty productive and great additions.

Tumbling tigers.  To me that orange one is miles off, but it isn't actually far from being ripe, deceptive little devil.  Interesting one to watch with its very elongated fruits and very economical on space

I have also enjoyed growing black cherry.  Small cherry-like fruits similar in size and shape to supersweet, but with a darkened smokey red appearance, these are just a novelty.

These black cherries have a lovely smokey black tinge, the mother thought there was something wrong with them.  She doesn't appreciate style

Another 'black' tomato which isn't really black at all is black russian.  This has really big fruits, nearing beefstake size.  The fruits have changed colour in a lovely way, being mottled green to orange red all at once.  They are also of that more knobbly than perfectly spherical.  They are admittedly exceptionally fluffy in flavour.  Think of these as full of boiled potatoes masquerading as a red fruit.  The fruits are lovely and big, but this means that when we had some impressive storms the resulting deluge popped the skins open like a fat butt ripping open some tight jeans.

Now heres a rustic tomato.  This feels like it should make a bolognese or something.  But of a fluffy one unfortunately

I know a plain red tomato is more than fine, and everybody would rather a tasty one than a fluffy one, but I do enjoy growing the unusual ones.  I would definitely grow different ones again next year, ideally from seed if I can.  I have one more unusual tomato to share, but he, yes he, deserves a whole post all of his own.

And I had a severe case of split with this one

The season as a whole is still progressing well with my larder constantly stocked with home grown tomatoes.  Only this week have numbers slowed as the heavens have opened and temperatures plunged.  But I still have over 50 to ripen if the weather ever improves!

Growing tomatoes : early ripening and a good crop

A rare appearance by yours truly clutching my precious bounty of tomatoes.  Having this many makes me so proud

The time has come for an update on how my numerous tomato plants have been getting on so far this year.  Unlike some of my other vegetable crops (ie broad beans and peas) my tomatoes have done me proud.  They have ripened really early, producing a nice steady stream for the last few weeks that means I haven't eaten a shop bought one for quite a while.

Some lovely medium sized fruits ripening on the vine

I know they have ripened early because the mother's friend said she didn't have a single red tomato on her plants in the greenhouse when I had already started eating mine which had ripened outside on the patio.  I may not have a greenhouse, but my patio gets really nice and hot with the sun baking down, and therefore I don't do too badly with the tomatoes.  Last year was a different story, but that was because I had to shift them into a darkened corner of the patio while the roof was taken off.  This definitely affected the crop, even thought this year has probably been less warm and sunny overall.

I have about 15 plants of differing varieties, all different sizes and shapes and even colour.  Most are from Gardener's Kitchen, a good reliable source of tomato plant in my opinion. I am really enjoying growing heritage varieties and unusual coloured ones.  Somehow a stripey tomato such as tumbling tiger and tigerella are just a little more thrilling than a supersweet 100, however good supersweet may be.  I am a sucker for unusual-ness, and as you can't buy stripey tomatoes in shops, im sold.  Having taken a thousand pictures I will share the varieties I have particularly enjoyed growing in more detail in another post, otherwise this will get very picture heavy!

They may not be traditionally pretty but I find a patio full of tomatoes at various stages of ripening really attractive

Every year I think I will keep detailed notes about how many tomatoes each variety gives and the taste, and I never do.  I think all have pulled their weight, except one, which has decided to just grow one whopper that has kept the whole household fascinated.  The bigger fruited tomatoes obviously produce less quantity but I get a kick out of watching them grow huge, so I don't mind.  Two great big ones I have been watching and waiting for like a hawk split right round the centres just as they ripened because the heavens opened and we had an absolute downpour, saturating them.  Unfortunate, but still edible in my eyes.  Thats tomorrow's lunch!

This shows off some of the different varieties, including a sneaky yellow one, not something I approve of in tomatoes 

Currently I have a whole pot full of tomatoes waiting to be eaten in the kitchen, so things are good at the moment,  However there are not that many new flowers coming on the plants so I am concerned that I will get my crop early and they will be over quick.  The mother says this is a good thing because it means they will have all ripened, but I like getting some green tomatoes at the end.  What will I make my green tomato chutney with if I don't have any?

Perfection

You've got to love it when a tomato plant surprises you.  The other day I was watering one of my pots of sweet peas, a job I do every day, when I spotted some leaves amongst the stems which did not look sweet pea-esque.  There is only a two foot high tomato plant growing up amongst them.  I have never spotted it before, I don't know how, and I literally have no clue as to how it got there.  Clearly I did manage to grow one tomato from seed this year, just not quite in the way I had planned!  I have got to stop throwing seed compost in too pots im potting up, not that I thought I did on this occasion, because then you have a tomato in your peas!

So part one of the tomato season has been a resounding success, hopefully part two will continue in the same vein.

Tomato varieties - heritage, novelty and red ones

Some of my many tomato plants, there are many more being kept elsewhere.  And just watered hence the dampness.
I wish my plants looked a bit more orderly and attractive

As I said previously tomato plants are up there amongst my favourites.  Maybe its that tangy aroma, maybe its the devilish yellow stain they adorn the fingers with on close contact, maybe its the constant production of a salad addition, but whatever it is, the purchasing is a highlight of my year.

I always go back to the same garden centre which keeps all the vegetable plants in a proper little greenhouse, it adds to the buying experience.  Last year I bought quite a few varieties, but weirdly despite going back to the same place, they had completely different varieties this year, lots of heritage and novelty ones, which always appeal to me so I was happy.  I bought far more plants than last year, I always think you can't ever have too many tomatoes, and I aways want one of each variety so I went all out.  So much so that the guy on the till felt the need to tell me I would have a lot of tomatoes.

I ummed and ahhed about when to go and get them, but chose to go a couple of weeks ago as I was worried it was getting late in the day.  Glad I did, because I went back the very next weekend to pick up some cheeky extra beans and the greenhouse was virtually bare.  The locusts had literally been through, admittedly I was one, but some serious buying went on in that week!

The plants aren't doing anything of particular note at the second, but you may be interested in what kinds of tomatoes I can expect to be chowing down on over the summer, so here's a quick run through. All information is what I have gleamed from the label.

The first red alert tomatoes forming, clearly these are going to be an
interesting shape

Red Alert : This produces small tomatoes on an outdoor bush.  They should have superb flavour.

Black Russian:  This is a heritage variety.  I am a sucker for anything that claims to be old and proper traditional.  This will produce medium-sized mahogany brown fruits, with an acidic and sweet flavour.

Black cherry: You may notice a theme here.  I bought anything that had black in the name, I don't know why, the thought of a black tomato is not exactly an appealing one!  Anyway this has purpley dark fruits, I did not take note of any flavour.

Shirley F1: Old shirley is a favourite of mine, I have grown her many times and from memory she is a good doer.  This is a heavy cropper with 'excellent' flavour, their words not mine.

Patio tomato: Im not sure this is exactly a variety so much as a location, you wouldn't name one 'grows great in sunny spot' would you? But maybe this is.  I find this a bizarre creature, a bushy dwarf, so short with lots of side shoots, so two things I have not come to expect from tomatoes.  It does however have high yields.

Tigerella: Another heritage variety with a fabulous name! This should be in a bond film rather than the garden.  This should be a heavy early cropper and the real thrill is the fruit should be stripey, hence the tiger reference in the name.  I am always wary when flavour is described as 'pleasing', especially when coupled with a 'firm texture'.  Nobody wants a firm texture.  But we shall see, im more than happy to be surprised.

Mountain Pride: This is a beefstake with excellent flavour.  I have never managed to ripen a beefstake, so the flavour may be completely irrelevant.

These beauties are tumbling tigers, I have hopes they will be delicious

Tumbling Tiger: I have two of these because the mother wanted one for herself.  Why she couldn't just amuse herself looking after my plant I don't know.  This is a novelty variety, a brand new bush with improved flavour.  Seeing as this is also called tiger i suspect they are talking an improved flavour from tigerella.

Harbinger: This is a heritage variety that is really, really, seriously old.  1910 kind of old.  One would hope that after all that time in existence, it was a good one.

Moneymaker: One of the few on this list I have grown before.  The mother describes this variety as one you wouldn't grow yourself.  I knew that, but still managed to put it in the basket.  At least it will help bolster the stocks.

Supersweet 100: Again grew it last year.  Think this one pretty much does what it says on the tin, sweet.

Ambrosia: A sneaky last minute addition when I went back for beans the next weekend, the name appealed more than anything.  This produces fruits which are distinctive, sweet and flavourful.

Tomato plants Ildi and supersweet 100

Clearly these are not from this, otherwise my tomato plants would be seriously overachieving, but this is what I am hoping to emulate again 

It may sound surprising considering the wealth of beautifully flowering plants there are in the world, but tomatoes are one of my favourite plants.  They completely take me back to my childhood when my granddad had a whole greenhouse exclusively for the growing of tomatoes.  Oh those were the days.  He even had a deckchair in there to read the paper in the glorious warmth.

My tomatoes are not so lucky, instead slumming it on the patio, which to be fair, is pretty sheltered and toasty and we do alright by them.  Can't say we were inundated last year but then I had to put them in a shady corner for a good month of the year because of the roof requiring work which no doubt had an impact on production.

Buying my tomato plants is one of the big moments of my gardening year.  I love it.  I always seem to go back to the same place to get my plants, part of the tradition I guess, but this year a few extra cheeky plants have snuck in to the mix from other sources.

The mother plays a lot of badminton, and at one of these sporting gatherings that she goes to one of the men turned up with a whole host of tomato plants.  The mother knows I am not overly fond of yellow tomatoes, it just seems wrong, tomatoes should be red.  This man seemed to have an exclusively yellow  ones, as you do.  However the mother shares my 'what the hell' attitude as they were only cheap and bought two to spice up our tomato lives.

I can't wait to have a constant steady supply of these all summer

And of course once she had broken that tomato plant seal she couldn't help but pick up another she spied outside a local greengrocers the same week.  I have had all three plants for just over a month now, quite early in my eyes, but I have potted them up and they are romping away.

The last tomatoes to come from an unexpected source appeared via the father.  Evidently word has got round that I am in the market for tomatoes as everybody is bringing them home!  A lady turned up at his work with teeny tiny tomato seedlings which she was hoping people would have as she had too many.  How it is possible to have too many I don't know.  So we took a couple of pots off her hands.  They were far far too tiny to go outside so these are currently residing in the garage.  A couple have died as seedlings tend to do, but I should get a few out of it.  Only problem is I don't know the variety again.  Oh tomato surprises.

My first three plants all potted up and raring to go! Two Ildi and one Supersweet 100

And finally to the ones I have grown myself.  i have never attempted to grow tomatoes from seed.  The great man that was my grandfather always bought plants and I figure he knew best.  From the results of my first attempt I now have evidence to prove that he did.  I won a packet of losetto tomato seed from the UK gardening programme Gardener's World which was giving them away so that viewers could join the presenter Monty in 'growing together' tomatoes apparently resistant to blight.  They were also apparently resistant to growing because not one seed germinated. I always think that if not even one seed was willing than you have dodgy seed.  I haven't entirely given up on them, but I think `i probably should.

So there we have it, three plants and potentially more to come and I haven't even started on my garden centre purchases, and there are an awful lot of them!  But I will leave that for another time.

Growing Tomatoes: A roundup

I need to learn not to put up pictures of sunny days, in October, its faintly depressing

Now who wouldn't have spotted that this had a double head?  Me, not until I
looked back at the picture and there it was clear as mud.  It was swiftly rectified
but the plant was left forever lopsided.

I had grand plans for my tomatoes, I was going to keep track of how many each variety produced, size, shape, regularity, that kind of thing.  It all got away from me Im afraid and I truly haven't a clue.  Im pretty sure I had a steady constant flow from plants to sandwiches, but as they went straight into lunch rather than accumulating a pile I will never be sure.  I bought all of them from Gardener's Kitchen, except my beef tomato.
It all started so well; I potted them on into bigger pots, snipped out side shoots, checked on them regularly and generally was attentive.  Then when I photographed them at the beginning of the summer on a beautiful day I discovered the little rotters had been growing double heads right before my eyes.  And the best of it is, I only noticed when I looked back at the photos, why I can't spot them in the flesh I don't know.  That's not to say I am that useless that I let all of them grow double heads, but a couple tucked in the back were sneaky.

Tumbler, looking faintly drunk and in dire need of a little support in life

They started flowering and making little tomatoes; so good so far.  Then life got in the way and that blasted roof caused problems again.  As previously mentioned, scaffolding right through my potted vegetable patch.  The tomatoes were holed up cramped in a dark corner of the patio (its large, we have quite the patio) for almost a month.  I couldn't really get at them and neither could the sun, by the time they were back in position the best of the summer was gone and the plants were doing their own things.

So instead of doing a huge in depth analysis I am just going to share the few notes I took down during the summer.

• My beef tomato 'Big Boy' was a complete and utter waste of compost.  It grew, it flowered, but it didn't produce even one measley tomato, not one.  Possibly I should have cut the top out of it at some point, but even still: rubbish.
• Tumbler F1 was the first plant to have red tomatoes on it.  Not a great one for height, looked like a small man who had been at a party far too long and was gently sagging into its pot.  I finally got round to staking it, just as a man came to inspect the roof, great.  Fruits were sizeable and oval shaped, would definitely grow again.
• Shirley had huge tomatoes.  No idea how they tasted.  Kept producing quite late into the season as I noted it had 'six big ones' still on it when I took stock at the beginning of October.
• Sweet Millions were little but numerous I believe and extremely tasty.  A definite grow for next year.
• Supersweet 100 had thicker fleshier skins than some of the others such as Sweet Millions.  Slightly less tasty, fairly tough little skins.  Probably a good candidate for popping under tooth and squirting all down your top, little whatsits.
• Moneymaker was a huge plant.  Fruits smelled amazing but had quite pithy centres, slightly floury and fluffy texture and were quite tasteless.  The mother informed me (after the purchase which is always helpful) that this variety is known for quantity rather than quality.  Probably would rather give the pot space to a better tasting one, but good for bulking out the stocks.
• As for Alicante and Gardener's Delight?  Well I didn't write anything down but I do remember when I was made to pick the green ones and chuck the plants last weekend that Alicante were big and Im pretty sure I said 'Gardener's Delight are indeed delightful' at some point over the summer.

What a big and juicy looking green tomato, mm mmmmm

So in conclusion, I don't think it was too bad considering.  In fact looking back through all the photos I took I had some real beauties.  Many I would grow again (not big boy) and while I won't get any more this year there is a small colander of green ones currently sitting in my kitchen waiting for chutney time.

Shirley or Alicante, but I do like the non-spherical shape, they somehow look more rugged and home grown