Spotlight on ........ Red and Black tomato (AKA Indigo Apple)

Review

This is one of the "black" tomatoes that are selling everywhere. The black is really a gorgeous deep aubergine colour. This one has the grandiose name of Red and Black here in Australia but apparently known as Indigo Apple in the USA (a much nicer name I think).

It is a salad size tomato about the size of a golf ball. It got early blight for me but that might have been due to my underfeeding at first.

It is a good producer without being prolific. You need to be really really patient with this tomato as it takes about 18 weeks from transplant to harvest. It is slow to ripen and it is really important to keep it on the bush for longer - at least a few days after you think you can pick it. The bottom needs to be bright red before you pick it. It is also important to pick it before watering. Both of these will have an impact on the taste and it can be quite bland unless you pick it at the right time. I have red reviews on a lot of "black" tomatoes and this seems to be a common factor.

The black comes out with exposure to the sun. The more sun the tomato gets the "blacker" it becomes. Below you can see a tomato that has been exposed to our really really hot days recently and did not even have the shade of leaves from the bush. It is not ready to pic as you can see green on the bottom.

Cutting

When totally ripe the skin is a little thin and the tomato is juicy and holds together well. It does have a lot of seeds.

Taste

As stated above you must pick this tomato under the right conditions to get the best taste. It has a nice balance of sweet and tang and I rate the taste 8 out of 10.

Will I grow it again?

I think I will put it in next year. It is a pretty little tomato with a nice taste.


Seeds: The Digger's Club

Spotlight on ......... Cucamelons

Review

Also known as Mouse Melons, Mexican Sour Gherkin or Sanditta. I planted these as a novelty and something else to put into my salads.

Again, I made the mistake of thinking small fruit - small pot - and hence put a few in hanging pots (2 in 1 pot and 1 in another pot). After seeing other people's photos of a massive vine I thought I would have problems but they seem to be going well.

They take a long time to produce but suddenly you will have a whole lot of tiny little melons. They are very small and can easily fit into a teaspoon.

Like most fruit / vegetables the cucamelon is packed with goodness.

Lypocene, a carotenoid found in large quantity in melon, improves cardiac functions.

Beta carotene, known for its remarkable antioxidant and anti-aging properties, also keeps you young at heart and prevents age-related cardiac problems.

The roughage in melon and its very low energy, along with help from vitamin-C, carotenoids and potassium helps to reduce cholesterol and keep your heart safe from a variety of dangerous conditions.

Melons also contain phytonutrients which have very good effects on the health and proper functioning of internal organs, eyes, and the secretion system.

                               Source: https://berryfruit.info/cucamelon-fruits-health-benefits

Here are a couple picked and ready to eat. I have shown them below next to a cherry tomato for size.

Cute aren't they?

 

Shown next to a Black cherry tomato to show relative size. They are very small.

Taste.

These are supposed to taste like cucumbers with a hint of lemon or lime. I somewhat agree but would add very watered down. The flavour is not strong at all. The first time I tasted one I didn't quite get a flavour. I was expecting the flavour to hit me in the face - especially as they are known as Mexican Sour Gherkin. The next time I concentrated and could taste the cucumber and lemon.

Will I plant them next year?

Yes - they are fun and I will plant them hanging again and they won't take up much space. There is only 2 of us here at Chez BeaJay so we don't need a massive crop. They are very cute and I am enjoying munching on them in salads and straight off the vine.

Seeds: The Digger's Club

Spotlight on ...... Black Cherry Tomato

Review 

This is a great large cherry sized tomato bursting with flavour and goodness. It is a strong bush and very prolific with lots of tomatoes on sprays of about 6 - 8..

Black Cherry is an unusual tomato and will be remembered for its purple/brown colour.... almost what you would call puce. The colour took me a little by surprise - I guess the brown look of it. I am used to red / yellow / orange and even blackish (being really dark purple) but this definitely has a brown look.

I found the bush to be quite resistant to disease - when all of my other bushes had early blight, Black Cherry was green and lush.

It takes about 9 weeks to harvest from transplant.

Taste

It is a sweet and tangy tomato that has a deep flavour. I am very pleased with the taste of this tomato and it has become a favourite.

Will I grow it again?

You betcha I will. If you buy grocery store cherry tomatoes, do yourself a favour and grow this instead. It will save you money and give you the satisfaction of biting into a delicious globe bursting with yumminess (is that a word?) instead of the hard bland cherry tomatoes you buy.


Seeds: The Digger's Club

Spotlight on ......... Tigerella Tomato

I LOVE this tomato. It was the first tomato that ripened for me to taste in my new vege garden. It is a stunning salad sized tomato and it a vibrant red with orange stripes. The skin is rather thin when completely ripe and it is a very juicy tomato.

This looks great in a salad and also tastes fab sliced on cracker and served with cheese.

This is a prolific bush and I do believe that it's producing season is long. It is a little prone to splitting so make sure you pick them early - don't leave them on the bush for too long.

It took about 10 weeks from transplant to harvest.

I purchased these as seedlings from the Digger's club and loved them so much I purchased the seeds too.

Today's crop

Cutting

Cuts well and holds together.

Taste

It has a sweet flavour with enough tang to make it taste good. It is not zingy like some of the more acidic tomatoes but has flavour and is nice to eat. It doesn't has as much depth as the darker / black tomatoes but it is a good clean taste.

Will I grow it again?

Absolutely - hence buying seeds after purchasing the seedlings. I will also save some from the plant. Children would love this unusual stripey tomato.

Seeds and Seedlings: The Digger's Club.

Spotlight on ...... Wapsipinicon Peach Tomato

Review

This is an unusual tomato as it has a slight fuzz on it - hence the Peach in the name. The fuzz isn't as pronounced as on a peach and you don't notice it when you eat it.

My bush is doing well and like most of my others, suffered from early blight due to improper feeding causing weak bushes. This was fixed with Dynamic Lifter.

Other than that the bush has been healthy. It produces well and takes about 10 weeks from transplant to harvest. Mine seemed to take a little longer than that, more like 14 weeks.

Cutting

I can only describe the skin as soft and "fleshy" to touch. Not thick or thin but a different feel to normal. Probably because of the slight fuzz. It cuts well and is juicy. The skin seems to mark easily as it is soft skinned - not thin but soft. It doesn't have the shine of a usual tomato skin.

Taste

Very low acid in this tomato. Great for people who can't tolerate the acidity of tomatoes. It has been described elsewhere as so sweet it could be a desert fruit..... To me it lacks that tang I am looking for.

Will I grow them again.

A big no for me as they don't really taste like a tomato to me and I miss that zing. This is just my opinion. I have read many great reviews for the taste..... I just like more acidity. Great for kids and people with low acid tolerance.

I am glad I grew them and tried it out as it is unusual.

Seeds: The Diggers Club.

Spotlight on....... Jaune Flamme

Review

Jaune Flamme is a bright orange salad tomato the size of a golf ball. My bush seems to be going well. It had some early blight but that could have been due to being underfed at first. It is very striking and almost luminous or fluorescent. The skin is shiny and smooth and they really stand out in the bush.

It is quite a prolific producer and one they start ripening you will get quite a few coming through.

The below show them on the bush but not yet ripe enough to pick - I made the mistake of picking the first one when yellow and unripe. The name is misleading as Jaune is yellow in French - leading me to believe yellow means ready to pick. The name should be D'orange Flamme however I guess that doesn't sound as good. The flamme part is right as it does almost glow.

The second picture shows them ripe and orange.

Here is a ripe one ready to taste.

Cutting

The skin is not thick or thin so it cuts well. I would use it in salads as it is not quite big enough for a slicing tomato unless you are putting it on Cruskits / crackers etc.

A couple of small blemishes on the bottom that I cut off before tasting. BTW - this is not the above tomato. I am saving that for a salad :-)  This one had a little split in it so I cut that one.

Taste

It has a quite nice taste to it. Enough zing to satisfy the tomato lover and a lingering flavour on the tongue.

Will I grow this next year.

The jury is still out.. It is a lovely tomato, tasty, quite striking in the salad bowl and a great producer. There are however many more tomatoes to try and this one is not a blow your socks off in my mind. I have just eaten my first one so after a few salads I will know better.

Seeds: The Diggers Club.

Spotlight on - Wild Sweetie Tomato

Review

This is a very very tiny tomato. It is currant sized and really would be great for children (although could be a chocking hazard for the very young. They are bright red and very sweet and would be really fun for littlies to find and pick and eat in the garden.

They are so small that they would get lost in a salad and really are just for munching off the plant.

This is another one that I thought - small tomato - small bush - and planted in a hanging basket...... I have read that they can get quite big as a bush but mine is confined to the small limits of a basket.

It is quite a cute little tomato but I have decided it is not for me and I am giving it away. The reason being that I have so many others that I am picking and eating that this one gets lost and ignored so I am giving it a home with young children (hopefully) and appreciated more.

It has spray of about 8 tiny tomatoes and has produced a good crop considering it's small container.

It has been a healthy bush so far, especially as it is so confined.

In summary - I would only recommend this for young children to learn how to garden as I think they would get a real buzz out of picking the tiny gems.

I won't grow it again because of the size of the tomato. A great experiment.

Seeds: The Diggers Club.

Spotlight on..... Broad Ripple Yellow Tomato.

Review

The Broad Ripple Yellow Tomato has become my favourite eat off the bush tomato. It is an unusual bush with hundreds of little buds that keep on giving.

You can see the old small cage in there (see previous post)

It has a really cute little leaf on it and will sprawl if not supported properly. The tomatoes come on trusses of 8 to 10 tomatoes and they are golden yellow when ripe. They have a hard crunchy skin but not like the hard tasteless skin of store brought tomatoes. More of a crunch than "I can't get my teeth through this!!". They explode in your mouth as you crunch them with your teeth and give you a nice zingy taste that lingers in your mouth.

They are a large currant size and really would get lost in a salad I think. These are my "sit on the deck and eat straight off the bush" tomato and they rarely make it into the house. They really are delicious and I highly recommend these tomatoes as a pick and eat.

They experienced a bit of early blight but I think that could of been my lack of feeding (see last post). We had a few days of heavy rain and the ripe ones split. This can be fixed by picking ripe or ripening tomatoes before the rain or when it first starts.

This tomato is a prolific producer - if you squint you may be able to see all of the buds on this bush. I have circled them but it didn't come out very well. Believe me there are hundreds all over the bush.

A spray of unripe tomatoes.

Peeking through the branches you can spot a couple of ripe tomatoes and the golden colour. Note to self. Take some pictures before picking and eating ..... 😊😁

These will definitely be planted again next year.

Seeds: The Diggers Club.

Garden Update

Well it has been a few months now since I planted my first seeds and seedlings and what a remarkable journey it has been. I have learnt so much and will do better next year.

This is my initial thoughts on my plants.

Tomatoes:

• Tommy Toe - a great performer - especially since I planted it in a hanging basket.

• Wild Sweetie - another that I planted in the hanging basket. Very tiny currant sized bright red tomato. Has done well considering.

• Blueberry - a very cute bush with tasty crimson with purple topped cherry tomatoes.

• Black Cherry - a good strong bush with a good strong flavoured tomato.

• Ananas Noir - a beefstake with a large tomato and a very thick stemmed bush. The first crop suffered from blossom end rot and the next blooms are now ripening so I haven't been able to taste yet.

• Wapsipinicon Peach - a yellow tomato with a very slight fuzz. Not as fuzzy as a peach and you can't taste the fuzz. This has been reviewed as so sweet it could be a desert tomato. I am not that fussed with it as it is missing the acidic tomato zing completely. Great for people who can't eat acidic food or maybe for young kids. Also very soft.

• Jaune Flammee - The first crop was taken by blossom end rot and grubs. The next bloom is ripening so I haven't been able to taste yet.

• Yellow Ripple - a currant sized tomato with a nice zing and a great crunch to it. Becoming a favourite.

• Red and Black (otherwise known as Indigo Apple).  A lovely tasting soft skinned tomato with a bright red bottom and black / dark purple shoulders. Salad sized.

• Tigerella - a great performer with an abundance of salad sized tomatoes. A gorgeous orange with golden stripes.

• Beefsteak (mixed selection). Still growing. I planted 2 different types (apart from the Ananas Noir) but won't know what they are until they ripen as they come from a "rainbow mixed" packet.

• Tiny Tim - a "patio" variety which was late planted and still growing.

• Unknown. I have an unknown tomato that came in the packet of blueberry tomatoes. It is growing nicely and is a salad sized pink tomato with green shoulders.

The sunrise bumblebee and Pink Bumblebee seedlings died in the heat we had - my fault. I will try them next year.

I was also lucky enough to have a great packet of unknown tomato seeds gifted to me from Connie who I "met" through a Facebook gardening group. I shall plant out and see how these go.

I have decided to do a spotlight post in more depth on each tomato on a weekly / fortnightly basis.

Chilies

• Jalapeno
• Thai Demon
• Trinidad Scorpion
• Habanero
• Yellow 7 Pot

The habaneros, jalaenos and Thai Demon are going great guns. The others did not take.

Lettuce

• Crispmint - not really impressed with this. There are much nicer lettuces out there.

• Mignonette - very nice.

• Celtuce - won't grow this again. I grew it in my vegepod and the soil wasn't the greatest and they didn't produce a nice stalk to use and the novelty has worn off.

• Baby Cos - doing great.

• Red Flame - a beautiful looking soft leaf lettuce. Very nice.

As well as carrots, radish, Baby Broccoli, Mini Muncher cucumbers, sugar snap peas, capsicum, strawberries, parsnips and cucamelons. I have also planted a finger lime tree.

Things I have learnt:

1. As I said in my previous post - you need to have a good sized pot if you are not planting in the ground.

2. Feeding is vital. When I planted my tomatoes I read about adding this and that to prevent this and that. Well I thought that I didn't need to add things as I wasn't planting in tired old garden soil but in premium potting mix with everything already added including slow release fertilizer that feeds for 3 months!!!! I did use seasol and liquid fertilizer but worried that I was over feeding as the plants started to go yellow and get diseases. So I cut back on the liquid fertilizer. Ha - you live and learn. 

The first lot I planted out (Tommy Toe, Tigerella and Red and Black) were thin and yellow. I was picking off dead branches and the bushes looked like they were dying. I said to myself that I shouldn't expect a long haul when planting in pots. My larger tomatoes were also getting blossom end rot. 

When I was cleaning up the shed I found some old dynamic lifter. I thought it couldn't hurt the dying plants so I just put a handful in each pot. Within a week it had all turned around. Within 2 weeks the bushes were lush with new growth and heaps of tomato flowers. Go Dynamic Lifter!!!

I also added some old blood and bone I found in the shed for the blossom end rot and it seems to have worked. It must have been over 10 years old..... I purchased some Dolomite Lime and will mix that up and add too.

3.Tomato cages need to be solid. I purchased some great 27 litre (7 gallon) tomato pots. They were labelled as tomato pots and came with a tomato cage that you put together. Hmmmmm.... as you can see the tomato cage was no match for the thick stem and heavy tomatoes of Ananas Noir.

Here it is staked up and supported with a better bigger cage.

Enjoy your garden. My next post will be a spotlight on Broad Ripple Yellow Tomato.