The First Ripe Tomato of 2010
On Wednesday evening I picked my first ripe tomato of 2010. Well at least the first official ripe tomato, I had a few that ripened earlier but they had blossom end rot, so they don’t count. Oddly enough these little tomatoes came from a volunteer plant that is growing in with some of my potatoes. I saw the plant sprout early and was wondering what kinds of tomatoes it would produce. They’re small, but not cherries, in between a cherry and a regular tomato. They grew well in the cool spring and didn’t freeze out with the frosts we had early in the season. If I like the flavor I may save some seeds and try planting in outside earlier than the others next spring. Perhaps this could be the ‘Chiot’s Run’ tomato.
Are you harvesting any ripe tomatoes yet?
I’m harvesting a few pear tomatoes, in ones and twos at the moment, they need a bit more fertiliser so I’m working the nettle tea and pea-pods on earnest at the moment. Hoping the hungarian hearts start to ripen up; they don’t produce a whole lot, but they’re huge.
to Rose's comment
You are about two days ahead of me! I had the same thing — last week, 2 ripe tomatoes but that had blossom end rot. Today or tomorrow I’ll have the first tomato. YAY Summer!
to Julia's comment
I will be picking and canning about a half bushel this weekend.. they seem to all be ripening at once. Our weird weather must have something to do with it.
Its officially “Mater Season” here!
to Teresia's comment
I have picked a few ‘Jaune Flamme’ tomatoes. The flavor lives up to everything I read about it. I also picked a huge, gorgeous ‘Pineapple’– it was beautiful! But the flavor was… boring. Just like sugar water.
I’m glad the tomato season is a little slow this year because I have cucumbers, beets, beans, carrots, and corn to can/freeze right now.
I let a few volunteer tomatoes grow throughout my garden too. I’m interested to see how they turn out! Let us know what yours tasted like.
to Corrie Carswell's comment
No
I’ve got about 50 tomatoes planted and nothing is even starting to turn.
to Andrea's comment
Yes, FINALLY. Thank you, Stupice!
to kristin @ going country's comment
Mercy! Harvest is in full swing. I’m looking forward to fall. Yesterday I discovered that tomatoes could be preserved by freezing them. What a time saver this will be.
to MAYBELLINE's comment
We picked our first Beaver Lodge Plum tomato on Tuesday evening this week. So good to have tomatoes again.
to Sense of Home's comment
I’ve got SEVEN volunteer tomato plants! I would have more but I kept pulling them up. They sprouted from where I had tossed rotted tomatoes, vines, etc. last year. The funny thing is, I only left that pile there for a few days before picking it up and carting it off. I guess that was long enough to drop a bunch of seeds.
Looks like I’ve got Cherry and Romas coming up. These Romas are bigger and better looking that last years!
to Rhonda's comment
I had several volunteers this spring and they produced just as much as the others that intentionally started.
I pulled my plants up yesterday, our season is over. Even though I had blossom end rot, too many stinkbugs to count, way too much rain at one time, I still had an ok harvest. Plenty for eating out of hand and 4 gallon ziplocs full of whole romas.
to Paula's comment
I’ve picked two siletz so far this year. It is a full size red tomato, 52 days to harvest. Looks like the rest are a ways off still though.
to Dan's comment
HA! The one thing we actually have been harvesting for about three weeks now. Delicious.
to Turling's comment
Congrats! I have three San Marzano’s that should be ready in a couple days. I’m pretty excited. I’m really hoping the canning tomato plants produce a lot at a time so I can get some jars stashed away in volume.
It’s hard to judge size from the photo (no reference item) but yours look an awful lot like “Early Girls” or similar. I grew those last year in my rather shaded container garden (quite by accident…I grabbed the wrong seedling off the shelf) and they did surprisingly well.
This year, I picked-up another single plant–as insurance against my other efforts, and put it in my sun-filled “picket fence garden.” It’s managed to overgrow the tomato cage and push it over (I had to stake it) and is loaded with fruit (though none red yet). According to the label, they’re one of the earlier varieties and seem to be very tolerant of early planting, container growing, crappy conditions, and low sun. They supposedly get as big as tennis balls but I haven’t seen any quite that big yet. Most are no bigger than a wintertime plum tomato (though perfectly round).
If anyone with a really experienced green thumb is reading this, I do need a bit of advice. I have a number of acorn squash and pickling cuke plants that are growing so well they’ve literally over-taken the garden. The leaves are huge and they flower daily but I’ve yet to see the signs of any fruit. They were planted a bit late but not terribly so. Should I be concerned or just be a little more patient?
to Justin's comment
They’re bigger than cherries but smaller than golf balls, some sort of mutt tomato I suppose, but maybe an ‘Early Girl’. I’ve never grown this type, I usually grow ‘Sub-Arctic’ as a cold early season tomato. At first I though they’d be cherries, but then they got a little too big. I can’t wait to eat them today!
I picked a ripe ‘San Marzano’ from my mom’s garden on Wed. Mine aren’t ready yet, my canner is waiting though.
I’d say perhaps your cukes/squash might have too much nitrogen. Usually lots of leaves and no fruit is a sign of this.
to Susy's comment
The nitrogen makes a lot of sense. That bed sat for at least a year and a half (while the house was vacant) with brush, packed leaves, etc. that probably composted. Once I cleaned it out, I tossed in some homemade compost to boot. Is this something that’ll probably work itself out or are there any corrective actions I can take?
Incidentally, the vines are so prolific they’re finding their way around other plants, climbing up other plants, climbing through the fence and outside the garden, and just about anywhere else they can go. It’s like jack and the beanstalk meets acorn squash and cukes. They’re rooting wherever they can. I tried trimming some back–mostly because they’re taking-over the lawn, which must be mowed soon. In the process I found one lonely cuke starting, outside the fence no less. :-)
If nothing else, it’s quite the adventure…
to Justin's comment
Yes, it should just correct itself after a while.
to Susy's comment
All done. I have one or two hardy plants that are still producing a cherry tomato or two. And three final ones on the vine waiting to ripen. They stopped setting fruit when the night time temperatures hit the 90s. I harvested about 30 lbs of slicers, 20 lbs of sauce tomatoes and just under 4 lbs of cherry tomatoes. This is my first year of tomato success! I actually had so many coming in at once I made up sauce to freeze.
I’ll be planting new tomato plants this weekend and if I’m lucky we’ll have a second crop for fall before things get too cold.
to Seren Dippity's comment
Beautiful! What a treat! We noticed one yesterday as well, we’re giving it one more day in the scorching 90 heat to red up. We’ll harvest it tomorrow.
to Kjirsti's comment
P.S. I’ve always read that you should pull out volunteer tomatoes, because they can carry disease? Now, I wish I would have let one grow!
to Kjirsti's comment
I only pull them up if they’re growing in an inconvenient location.
to Susy's comment
I’ve never had a problem with volunteers and their fruit. They’ve all done well, and I love when I get a volunteer that grows. In fact, they seem to be stronger and better producers than the ones I coddle and nurture along—-maybe they’re tougher plants since they made it through the winter and weather and hardships, and still managed through all that to sprout, grow, and fruit.
Nature is amazing!
to Tommy's comment
Enjoy the trickle before the flood! I’ve got over 40 pounds of them on my kitchen table and now they’re spilling over to all of the counters. We’ll be canning salsa tonight. I love tomato season!
to megan's comment
I picked a single Black Zebra tomato almost two weeks ago, which I sacrificed to the chickens. Been waiting since then. Today I noticed a handful each of Isis Cherry and Sungold ripening. There are plenty of tomatoes, just not much color yet.
to Chandelle's comment
nope, not yet. Although I do have some blooms on a few plants. If the deer would leave them alone I might get some fruit soon.
to Lisa's comment
None yet but I have some yellow pear tomatoes that I am just begging to change color, Just when I think they have finished sizing up them grow a little more. Torture I tell you!
to Jaspenelle's comment
Mine haven’t even set fruit! I planted 14 on June 7th, and with June being so cold and wet, I moved those to lesser spots and put new, bigger, healthier-looking seedlings in their places on July 7th. Well…no fruits on any! Even the newer ones don’t look like they’re doing much. I’ll live vicariously through your harvest, I think. :)
to Amy's comment
You can use wild grape leaves if you can find them, or I’ve read you can also use oak leaves.
to Susy's comment
Lots of fruit, all still green. Our summer has been abnormally cool this year in Southern Cal—just a week or two of really hot weather, but it’s back to abnormally cool now. I hope my tomatoes make it!
to Tommy's comment
Congrats on your first tomato of 2010. I’m still waiting! There are tons of green ones on the plants, but we’ve had such a cool spring/summer. Last year my first ripe one came on July 4, so we’re way behind schedule!
to Jackie's comment
I’m jealous! I’ve been staring at green tomatoes for weeks! No sign of red yet, but they’ve got to start ripening soon. It didn’t help that I planted a bunch that grow really large fruit. I suppose they probably take longer to mature.
to Kaytee's comment
All of our tomatoes (besides the cherries) are still green. Back in the spring, we thought we might be moving from our rental house- either buying or moving to a new apartment closer to my job. I delayed and delayed on planting anything in hopes that we would move, but alas- it was not to be. Finally, I bought some sorry looking and very leggy tomatoes from the grocery store’s greenhouse, added some compost from our worm bin, and we’ve been lucky that they are thriving. Hopefully we’ll have tomatoes in 2-3 weeks.
to Lisa's comment
I’ve had lots of grape tomatoes, several german johnsons and better boys and even a mortgage lifter.
blessings
~*~
to Laura's comment
Yes!!…..my paste, cherries, and Brandywines…….I am waiting on the Germans and some whites:) Now headed to the market for some bacon……For my first BLT of the season!!
I think the “Chiots Run” Tomato is pretty cool:)
to Amy's comment
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to Tweets that mention The First Ripe Tomato of 2010 and a Winner | Chiot’s Run — Topsy.com's comment
Our first dwarf ‘Minibel’ tomatoes are just turning. We should be picking them in a day or two, beating our greenhouse crops to the finish line. I can’t wait to try them! Amazing photo, by the way.
to hillwards's comment
Ours are coming in fast now — purple cherokees, black from tulas, german pink, green zebra, amish paste, and a few other varieties. And lots of golden globes that came up volunteer! I made a whole tray of caprese toothpicks (basil leaf, small mozzarella ball, cherry/grape tomato on a toothpick) for a party yesterday with my homegrown! And I also made some homegrown peach jam to go with the pulled pork sandwiches!
to Marlyn's comment
I can’t remember what day I picked my first ripe tomato of this year but today I picked enough red tomatoes that I will be able to get some canning done. Last year my tomatoes didn’t do near as good. I’m thankful to the Lord for a good harvest! :)
to gardenmis's comment
[…] Friday I picked my first official ripe tomato of 2010, right before we left for vacation. Of course I picked a few earlier that were from a volunteer, but these are labeled “official” since they were from plants that I […]
to First Official Ripe Tomato | Chiot’s Run's comment