Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Tomato Tuesday- Succulent and Scrumptious Super Sweet Slicers

I'll start this off by saying sorry about the title.

I was looking in the thesaurus for an alternative word for "delicious" that started with an "s".


Well...I liked them all, and they all certainly describe perfectly, the perfect slicing tomato. So, what the heck.  Betcha can't say it ten times fast!

Lots of people come to the farm asking for the best slicing tomato I grow.  One that will cover a slice of bread and make the world's best sandwich.

It's tough to pinpoint what the best is when there are just so many good ones. If you come to my sale on May 21-22 you may be able to find hundreds of great ones.  But if not, these varieties are perhaps worth your consideration.

I'll talk red first, because there still are legions of people who look for reds, and can't move beyond that.

Well, yes.  I do have Beefsteak, Bush Beefsteak, Watermelon Beefsteak, Lescana Beefsteak, Magnum Beefsteak, Coeur de Boeuf de Nice, and Buckbee's Beefsteak.  They all have that wonderful rich tomato flavor, with a bit of an acid tang. Really what a lot of people are looking for, and I generally sell out of all the beefsteak varieties.

In Niagara too,  there seems to be regional preferences, and I sell more beefsteaks, per capita to fellow Wainfleet township folk, (Fleeters) than I do to other parts of the region. Do tell.

 Other awesome red slicers to consider are, of course, Glamour, Bonnie Best, Break O' Day, Mrs Bott's Italian Giant, Mortgage Lifter, Large Red, Lumpy Red, Stump of the World ,Oxheart, Cosmonaut Volkov, German Red Strawberry, Russian 117 and Debbie.  Abraham Lincoln is a good one, Box Car Willie and of course Delicious, which is a producer of huge tomatoes, and holds the world's record for the largest tomato ever grown. Believe it or Not is a good one too - I mean grow it for the name alone!

And there are more....lots more.

I actually grow more reds than any other colour of tomato.  People like their red tomatoes, and I guess I do too.

Brandywine is also a variety many people look for.  There is a Red Brandywine and Landis Strain, the pink, which is the best known, a few different strains of the pink-Sudduth and  OTV .  But also Yellow Brandywine and the Platfoot strain of that, Purple Brandywine, Black Brandywine and White Brandywine. Why not try the whole family for a tasty colourful slicing session ?

I have found when growing the Brandywine, that "Big Purple" is by far the most productive. And I do like the pink varieties. Superb, of course.


But in terms of comparable flavour and greatly increased productivity, Earl's Faux is unparalleled More bang for your buck.

I understand some people like to stick by their reds.  But you may be surprised to try some of the other colours on your sandwich too.  And find out, yes, they still do taste like tomatoes.

Years ago my mom introduced me to Persimmon, and since then the oranges are some of my favourites.
Sweet and fruity, I find many of them to have a nice juicy but dense flesh.  They are truly memorable.
Last year I renewed my love affair with oranges when I grew Maylor Roths Orange Brandywine. What an incredible tomato.  Large sweet and productive, this tomato has it all. Also just so delicious are Orange Russian 117, KBX, Dawson's Russian Oxheart, Hawaiian Pineapple and Orange Bull's Heart. Orange tomatoes might surprise you-they really are something special.

Bicolours too.  There are so many good big ones.  Big Rainbow, Old German , Striped German, Copia. Big Orange Stripe, Beauty King and Beauty Queen, amongst others.  These super sweet tomatoes add taste to a sandwich, but also their stunning appearance adds pizzazz to any dish.  I find every year I grow more and more of them, because in my opinion they are the most interesting category of tomatoes.  Stripes, zigzags, colour combinations.  They are exciting tomatoes to grow, but most importantly to taste.

Black, greens, whites and yellows come in slicing size too.  Paul Robeson and Carbon are two of my most popular blacks and of course who could ignore a tomato called chocolate?  Aunt Ruby's German Green has your sandwich covered, as well as Cherokee Green and Green Giant.

I know the whites found some new fans last year as people are asking for them now.  Big White, Grande Blanche and White Brandywine have people coming back for more.

Huge Lemon Oxheart was a massive producer of mild flavoured white-yellow tomatoes last year, Chucks Yellow Beefsteak, Manyel and the various strains of Golden Queen are worth your while.




So many to try, and such a short season.  Try a rainbow of slicers this year.  Your sandwiches will thank you!




1 comment:

Jitendra said...

Wow!! It's really great Tomato Pics..

Thanks for sharing.
twin diamond | Strip-till Farming