Normally right around this time I’m excited to see the first green fruits forming on my tomato plants. Never have I actually harvested this early in the summer. Then I planted ‘Ailsa Craig.’
“Our earliest tomato,” said the guy I bought the seeds from (Two Wings Farm at a Seedy Saturday), and he wasn’t kidding. Ailsa Craig is a keener, producing perfectly round, red globes on an indeterminate plant. The flavour is supposed to be outstanding – can’t wait to try one!
I’m also growing Purple Calabash and Tumbler this year. And while my Tumblers are loaded with fruit even while stuffed into teeny hanging baskets, Purple Calabash isn’t doing much. Its flowers don’t set fruit, instead browning and falling off. All the possible reasons for this – temperature, overfertilization, shallow watering – don’t really explain it, since it’s growing in the same bed as Ailsa Craig. Just another one of gardening’s great mysteries, I suppose!
Oh how beautiful! I’m starting to see the tiniest bit of color change on our Jaunne Flammes- but not enough to convince me I’m not imagining it. Please let us know how they taste.
Funny you should mention the Purple Calabash…mine are doing the same thing. I have a *few* pea-sized fruits, some flowers, and mostly nothing. My other tomaters in the same bed are just fine if not excellent.
I think he’s going on the No Grow list for next year, unless he really starts to turn things around.
[I'm in Seattle, BTW.]
My tomatoes are green still. Have no idea what kind they are, as I’m a novice and someone else planted them for me. But I harvested my first snow peas today! So excited.
Beautiful!
All my toms are still green, but I *am* on the other side of the pond, so not sure if that makes a difference…
beautiful!
my tomatoes surprised me this year, especially since i’ve never grown these two; the supposed ‘early’ one called oregon spring has been preceded by black krim, which is big, productive and ‘suppose’ to be late. i even have a couple of these plants together in same pot. hmmmm…strange beasts, both topped out at 4 feet and bloom at same time.
Awesome :-) This year seems to be a good season for tomatoes. Mine are four to five feet tall and heavy with fruit and the cherry toms are ripening one by one! Husband and I ate a few straight off the vine these last few days. But that’s what heat waves plus some rainshowers will do for you in BC.
I just ate my first ‘gold nugget’!
YUM! It’s tomato time! Yours look fantastic – I can’t wait to hear what they taste like. I’ve been having wonderful luck with ‘Stupice’ – it started ripening about 3 weeks ago and what few tomatoes I can save from the rampaging hordes of veg-eating varmints are delicious!
‘Juliet’ is another one of my favorite early tomatoes – I’m a sucker for medium sized, cluster tomatoes. And She keeps pumping out the yummy fruits well into the fall! Of course, that’s here in LA. I guess Vancouver is bound to be a bit different, right?
have you planned how you are going to eat them? Tomato sandwich? Caprese salad? Right off the vine with some salt? Mmmmmm… any way – delicious!
XOXO!
The tomatoes are rolling in early for me too… I can’t keep up!
Oh, RED tomatoes! Mine are still tiny and green. Tiny as in I only know they are there because I do some kind of yoga twist to see up under the little cap. But it’s been rainy upon rainy here in Maine, and I am happy to see any color tomato at this point.
What/Where are seedy saturdays? Love the name & the idea!
I’ve got a stunted wierdo tomato plant next to a lush healthy fruit-producing one as well. Who knows. I’m growing an hierloom beefsteak, purple cherokee and hillbilly – our new fave. Not sure which is which, colors should be developing in the next week or two. Your blog is gorgeous. You didn’t reveal your big news though, did you? I have a guess…
Sigh. No longer have garden space so getting mine from the market.