Ate the first of these pink Berkeley tie dyes and it was good. Much more robust flavor than I recall from last year, presumably due to better growing conditions even if further from Berkeley. Rich, meaty, almost smoky.
A couple more are a few days out and I want to eat them
sugar rush peach plants have been the most vigorous and productive of my hot peppers, but all the plants have fruit with rotting spots. Blossom end rot? Super annoying.
looks like BER to me, the high heat might be makign it a challenge to keep it consistantly watered
Pumpkins on a stick have started to change color. These plants are prolific! Will be fun in the fall.
I’m also curious, several of my Jimmy Ns have those as well, some of the fruits died. That bed is known to have pill bug pressure
There is some sort of fruit borer that does that, a little brown wormy guy you can find in the fruit sometimes. But hornworms can also do that. Some of them only nibble, some of them completely eat the pepper.
woo sampled my first f3 of the blood sport, hot and fruity. liked it. im waiting to see what my other plants do before i decide which seeds to save.
I am leaning toward trying to keep the poblano shape for makign chile relleno
That is caused by a common fruit worm. They are generalists meaning they eat several different kinds of fruit including apples, pears, tomatoes, and peppers. Hornworm damage is more spread out. I’ve seen them eat the outer layer of a tomato leaving the core and seed alone.
Fortunately, I don’t think we get hornworms where I am at in WA.
Luckily my tomato plants get checked daily for hornworms. Unluckily for one of the Neve’s Azorean Red plants there was one huge caterpillar in the garden. In less than one day it had stripped the top one third of the one plant of all its leaves. The doggone thing was about six inches long almost hot dog sized. It got the pick up and stomp treatment. Keep a close eye out.
ate the first to be ripe. Japanese black trifele and Brazilian red. both from sandhill
the trifele is sweeter and the Brazilian has a good strong tomato savory flavor. these are the first to ripen and first from each vine so I’ll reserve full judgement still. they were smaller than the ones that are on there now.
I am very partial to blush and sungold, but do grow one or two others each year to see if anything can beat them. This year, I tried Sunrise, but put it in a bag since I cut down on in ground tomato space. They’re pretty, grows well, started ripening a week ago, don’t like the taste. Blush is 3x larger with similar patterning.
Have you tried Maglia Rosa and Brad’s Atomic Grape?
I grow those every year along with Sungold, Black Cherry and Dr. Carolyn for my cherries, usually adding a red, but I’ve never settled on a red that seems to check all the boxes for me. I have Favorita and Sakura this year and grew them last year as well. Good, but still not enough that I feel like I’ve found “the one” for my red cherry niche.
I’m taking submissions for that red cherry niche as well. I’m at almost 90 sungolds so far on the season and am basically required to grow them every year and am not mad at it
Speaking of Brad’s Atomic Grape, pink Berkeley tie dye is starting to push Tasmanian chocolate out of their spot around here, way more productive so far too. Though Tazzy C has way more on the vine. We’ll have to see the final tally
I’ve got ripe fruit on about 50 varieties now so it is easy to compare. Perennial favorites as usual lead the flavor parade.
I picked 20 Bloody Butcher today for seed. I ate 2 of them for supper. Flavor is very good, especially for an early maturing tomato. It is not a sweet tomato so if you are looking for sugar, look elsewhere. It is just barely in the balanced flavor group meaning there is a decent balance between intense tomato flavor, sweetness, and umami.
I grow Blush too and like it for a lighter flavored sweeter tomato. It has more tart undertones than many. If you like that tart flavor, give Jaune Flammee a try.
Meet Limbo, a variety I think deserves to be grown by more people. I’ve grown this variety on and off for years and usually miss it if it isn’t in the lineup. The plant is a relatively small determinate with paste-like tomatoes, but it is jucier and much more flavorful than a Roma, etc. The plant is about half the size of a Roma plant, has a ton of fruit for its size and is almost always the first to ripen of what I grow, usually a week before I get any cherries. Roma is probably 2 weeks behind, but the fruit are larger. I have 6 Limbo plants in a 3x3 space and they fit in just fine.
I usually pick them about half colored and let them finish ripening inside, since they do sometimes split when we get a sudden big rain. - picture shows a range of ripeness. I find this to be a great tomato for eating fresh in salads, etc. as well as for making a quick sauce or for use in things like ratatouille. I’ve never canned with it, but when I used to grow seedlings for local sale I had one customer who would come back for these every year saying they made the best sauce she ever had.
I have one plant throwing fatter fruit, like the one on the end, so I won’t save seeds from that one, although they basically taste the same.
Interesting, thanks. I actually was considering Bloody Butcher this year but passed figuring the name was all gimmick. Good to know I was wrong
I got literally 2 or 3 blush fruits last year so banned it forever. I had a pretty marginal situation, sounds like folks doing well with it so I guess I was wrong yet again
I have not. Should I? I had a great volunteer red last year that was clearly a black Cherry/Sungold cross that I should have saved seeds from. Otherwise, it’s been years since I tried reds because I found them mundane. I really love sungold for my little sweet pop and blush for my big tomato flavors in a gorgeous smaller tomato shape that makes great slices/holds together for whatever I’m cooking.
Good to know about limbo! I have been interested in some determinates to try in containers. I’ve never grown one. I’m really not that adventurous of a tomato grower.
Red cherries: Lorelei, Camp Joy, and Anait are pretty good.
If you want a red slicer, try Lynnwood. Bloody Butcher is a golf ball size red 55 day maturity with very good flavor.
Dr. Carolyn Pink cherry is superb.
