|
Post by paulf on Oct 27, 2017 20:13:18 GMT -5
For the umpteenth year, maybe fifteen, this is the year-end wrap-up of the tomato season, this one for 2017. Several categories will be discussed to give an idea of the growing season as compared to past years. Most of this is for my own benefit so this whole thread can be skipped. I still will publish.
Most productive variety by weight: Marianna’s Peace 51lbs 2 ounces 2. Russian Bogytar 47lbs 12 ounces 3. Kellogg’s Breakfast 43 lbs 13 ounces 4. Big Cheef 43 lbs 10 ounces
Most tomatoes by number:
1. Big Cheef 133 2. Russian Bogytar 128 3. Marianna’s Peace 115
largest average size:
Heatherington Pink, Cowlick’s Brandywine, Kellogg’s Breakfast all about 11 ounces
Yearly production of all varieties: 565 pounds by 26 plants=21.7 lbs per plant. This is about the same as last year and in the top 5 years in the past 15 years.
Now the most important…flavor ratings. This year’s winner as judged by my wife and me is Daniel Burson, scoring 9.5 of 10.
These varieties all were in the 9/10 range, the most considered nines in many years in no particular order: Rebel Yell, Heatherington Pink, Ernesto, Cowlick’s Brandywine and Ludmilla’s Pink.
To indicate the flavor quality of this year these were considered 8/10: Big Cheef, Brad’s Black Heart, Orange Russian 117, Kellogg’s Breakfast, Blue Ridge Mountain, Earl’s Faux, Joe’s Portuguese and Wes.
To recap, this was a fun year with no real catastrophes but with a fairly average production year. September production was off the scale high with almost 50% of the ripe fruit happening after September and well into October. All plants were pulled before the first hard freeze (tonight, 10-27 will be 27 degrees) because the plants just wore out.
Next year will be all blacks with a heart or two and a yellow or orange tossed in.
Paul
|
|
|
Post by pepperhead212 on Oct 27, 2017 21:31:14 GMT -5
Thanks for sharring paulf. Glad you had such a great year! A question for you - how was your summer, as far as high temps go? And are any of those varieties normally fairly heat resistant, in your experience? I had a mild summer - only one heat wave in which 4 days got into the mid 90's - 94º, 95º, 97º, and 93º. All the rest of the heat waves were barely making the 90s. So none of my tomatoes stopped from heat (usually a few days in a row in mid to high 90s does them in) - the thing that gives me a great tomato season.
|
|
|
Post by september on Oct 28, 2017 9:28:32 GMT -5
Really impressive production and record keeping! Very interesting to see you are planning on mostly blacks for next year. I've been growing a good mix of blacks, pinks, oranges and reds (I tend to skip yellows), but I have found myself wanting to go back to growing more reds, with a just few others sprinkled in for variety. I think I am craving the more "old fashioned" acidity that I think I detect in some reds I like. But I still have seeds stockpiled for many varieties I have not tried yet, so who knows what I'll end up with next year.
|
|
|
Post by paulf on Oct 28, 2017 11:56:47 GMT -5
Thanks for sharring paulf. Glad you had such a great year! A question for you - how was your summer, as far as high temps go? And are any of those varieties normally fairly heat resistant, in your experience? I had a mild summer - only one heat wave in which 4 days got into the mid 90's - 94º, 95º, 97º, and 93º. All the rest of the heat waves were barely making the 90s. So none of my tomatoes stopped from heat (usually a few days in a row in mid to high 90s does them in) - the thing that gives me a great tomato season. We had similar weather this summer. No really hot spells and nothing too cool. That is an excellent observation and may be why the flavor was so good and the extended growing season. Thanks. Paul
|
|