green zebra and sungold!
For the first time in a long time I grew normal-sized tomatoes this year, thanks to a the lovely gift of two potted heirloom plants from friends. As a Florida gardener, I have learned over the years how much better cherry tomatoes do in our climate and have fallen in love with the super-sweet "sungold" variety. But I have to say the Green Zebras held their own in both taste and productivity. Both sweet and tangy, they remind me of the beefsteak tomatoes my father used to grow around a tomato ring when I was a child - except for their surprising color - inside (green) and out (green and yellow stripes).
We got quite a few medium-sized fruit from our one potted plant (19 so far), and although the vines are looking a little shabby and no longer flowering, the remaining tomatoes are healthy and still growing. Not so with the "Arkansas Traveler," the other gift heirloom, whose vine became diseased early on and only gave us four tomatoes. The border of Sungolds planted along the front of the house are a tangled mess of out-of-control, way-to-leggy vines but still flowering and producing fruit like the good cherry tomato they are.
The smell of the vines and the taste of their warm, fresh-picked fruit is such a summer pleasure. I love making tabouli out of them. But I've also really enjoyed having normal-sized tomatoes to slice up or sandwiches this spring! Those warm, green slices with a little lemon pepper, next to some good swiss cheese, served up on Uppercrust pain au céréale . . . oo la la!
Besides the issue with disease in our climate, an additional trick is getting the tomatoes started early enough that they'll have enough time to fruit before the heat overtakes them. Most regular-sized varieties produce flowers when temperatures are between 70 and 85 degrees (the cherry-sized ones produce longer in the heat). So the tomato days of May and June are especially precious. Enjoy while you can!
I bet those are great! I'm just down the road from you in Ocala and I agree, cherry tomatoes turn out much better. The heirloom is a beauty!
Posted by: Wicked Gardener | June 13, 2010 at 10:14 PM