Best Flavored Tomato?

[mistygardener]

Hi, I was wanting suggestion on what ya all think is the best flavored tomato. Any suggestions are greatly appreciated!

[opabinia51]

Interestingly enough that question isn't as easily answered as you might think. Tomatoe flavour is definately due to variety I agree with you there but, also; the flavour of a tomatoe has to do with the way in which it was grown.

Take for instance those flavourless things you find in the supermarket which are most likely grown hydroponically recieving only their base mineral needs for growth.

However, if a tomatoe is grown in nutrient rich and nutrient varied soil the flavours that it will exude are wondrous.

Anyway, in response to you question (which also isn't easily answered) I really like black tomatoes with a slightly smokey flavour to them. Russian Prince is really nice but, black plum tomatoes are good as well. I also really like Lemonboy because you can eat it like a plum. Really nice and sweet. Currant tomatoes are absolutely divine; literally the size of currants but, when you bite into them the flavour just explodes in your mouth. It is like a party opened up and the entire town is invited. Just amazing.

[mistygardener]

So many to choose from, they all sound just yummy! Thanks!

[Shaggy]

I absolutly agree with you Opa... My son and I grew cuttings from the same tomatoe plant in soil buckets and passive Hydro buckets indoors just this past winter... The Hydro tomatoes grew larger and faster but the soil ones were FAR superior in taste

[mistygardener]

I am wanting to grow ours in the green house, so are there recommendations for what type of soil I should use? I also want to do bell peppers because I just hate paying a buck for one green one, and two bucks for the red. Again, thanks for all your help!

[atascosa_tx]

I primarily grow in the ground that has dark clay amended with composted manure and gypsum. Tomatoes like soil that drains well and hate being water logged. For greenhouse growing it varies from greenhouse to greenhouse.
Ventilation, temperature control, size, and types of covering (polycarbonate, uv glass, 6 mm. plastic sheathing) all affect on how well the plants produce
I went across the street to my neighbors house and asked him what he uses
for his greenhouse (12'w x 18' long) polycarbonate panels with a 10' ceiling
and powered roof ventilators. He swears by Jungle Growth..it's a potting mix sold locally here, resembles Miracle grow, and says that it's the best thing since sliced bread. He adds his own fertilizer made up of compost tea and mycorr fungi...
HE did'nt grow any bell peppers but has grown hot chile peppers...I reckin a pepper is a pepper...but here is a link for growing bell peppers in a green house..I see your in MO. but this is in FL. same techniques maybe..
https://www.ars.usda.gov/is/np/mba/jun05/pepper.htm

Happy Gardening

[mistygardener]

You all are just full of helpful information! We are in the process of redoing my green house and it will have 6mm and will have sun from morning till late afternoon/evening. I am a newbie gardener and have little experience, but sure wanna give it a all a try. We are "do it yourselfers" in the way of building, but without a lot of money we can't build the green house the way I would like. I figure at least I have one, though! Thanks so much for all your help and advice, it is greatly appreciated!

[GhostShadow147]

I also have to agree opa, choose the best sounding one, mostly a sweet Tomatoe. People, don't make fun of my reply.

[mistygardener]

I may have to try each one, but then I'd be over run with maters! Plenty of neighbors to share with, though, so maybe not such a bad idea.

[opabinia51]

I'd say grow as many as you can fit in your garden. Try some paste tomatoes as well like Amish Paste which, are good when you are making tomatoe sauce.

You can do the Currant Tomatoes in hanging baskets which, I highly recommend. Works great. Just use good potting soil, compost and some manure. I like to use mushroom manure in the case but, it doesn't really matter.

Also, zebra tomatoes are somewhat of a conversation piece with their stripes.

[mistygardener]

Oh I love the idea of a hanging basket! I had thought about doing the upside down hangy basket thingy, but have only seen one once that was already dead, so not sure if I can manage that or not. Can anyone tell me how difficult it will be to keep them growing year round in the green house? I have to save room for my tropicals of course, but would love to keep veggies going in there year round as well.

[opabinia51]

Well tomatoes are an annual so, I don't think that you would be able to maintain a plant year after year.

[mistygardener]

Oh ok, thanks. I just thought that since I can keep many other annual plants/flowers alive in there I might be able to do that with veggies as well. Guess I best buy a bigger freezer!

[opabinia51]

No sense in not trying. But, realize that you won't obtain any fruit in the winter without a pollinator.

Also, each fall I make pot after pot of tomatoe sauce. I just finished my lat jar from last year the other week.

I put roasted garlic, roasted peppers and roasted onions with my tomatoe sauce.

[mistygardener]

I hadn't thought about the pollination aspect of it, thanks. I actually met up with an old friend of mine today and she has a HUGE garden and offered to let me come 'play' in hers, so no better way to learn than that!
On the sauce, do I need a special cooker or anything in the way of tools for something like that? Thanks for all the help!

[opabinia51]

Just a big pot! I got my main pot at a church rumage sale, it's huge. I'm looking for another one of the same or better quality.

Don't need any special tools except with regard to the canning, you should really get a canning pot, they come with wire apparati that you place the jars onto while they are being boiled. Usually 15 minutes suffices. And use Mason jars, other jars may shatter. I had that happen tome last year when I mistook a non mason jar for a mason jar. HUGE MESS, not good.

Anyway, in your other big pot just cut up all your tomatoes (use and get a lot) and place them in the pot with some good oil, add some salt, pepper and whatever other spices you like. I always add garlic and have been roasting it the past few years and last year I added some pepper that I roated and cut up as well.

I use my tomatoes and I buy field tomatoes from one local farm and soft tomatoes from another local farm to add as well.

Even though this is a bit of a separate topic, a also do the same with Apples. There are apple trees that anyone can pick from at my local university so, I get bags of apples from them, I also get some from My grandmothers, and I buy them from local farms. I found a really nice heirloom variety from 1860 at a local farm near my house when I lived in Qualicum last year. It was nice and tarte and was really good in the apple sauce.

I gave some sauce to some friends, their baby loves it, I eat it on a regular basis, put it in my porridge, eat it on it's own, have it with pork, put it in breads and cakes and pastries. Never ending use for apple sauce.

[mistygardener]

I might have just the pot to make it! And my friend just called and wanted me to come help her garden tomorrow, and as luck would have it, her mother LOVES to can! If I help her with her garden I can have anything I want, so ya can't beat that with a big stick. I remember my mother used to make some sort of bread that she put apple sauce and cinnamon in and oh my was it ever yummy! I guess I am gonna have to dig way back to child hood to see if I can drag anything from my memory! LOL

[opabinia51]

Well guess what, you're in luck, I bake breads and pastries as well so don't hesitate to ask any questions.

Have fune with the canning and the baking! Do you have any apple trees around you that you are able to harvest from?

We also have some local farms and farm markets around the area where they grow all sorts of different apples. One, Dan's Farm even has an annual apple tasting festival. Really nice.

[mistygardener]

Oh cool! I really would love to know how to do some type of bread with the applesauce and cinnamon. My family would LOVE it. No apple trees anywhere close that I am aware of, though. sigh I used to have a pear tree at an old house that produced so much that I had all the neighbors bring buckets to get them. Those things ruin lawn mower blades. My friend has planted a lot of trees, so will have to see if she has any, or if she is willing to have any!

[opabinia51]

By the sounds of things in may have been a baking powder based bread as apposed to a yeast based bread. So, did it have a consistency more like Banana Bread or more like a Sourdough bread. Incidentally, to make really great tasting bread, you should add sourdough starter to both types of bread.


So, to get you started in an old yogurt container (750 ml) place about a cup of warm water, sprinkle one package (about a tablespoon) of active yeast and add a tablespoon of sugar. Allow the yeast to sit in the covered container in a cupboard for 10 minutes and then sprinkle about a tablespoon of flour. Feed with flour about once a week or more often.

The older it is, the more flavour. My grandmother has been growing hers since 1965.

Anyway, just add a tablespoon to any bread or muffin that you make.

[mistygardener]

I believe it was more of a sour dough type bread from the way you describe it. And I LOVE the sour dough mix! I just never knew how to make it. Now the mix that you describe needs to go in the fridge once made, correct? Does it last indefinitely, or need to be thrown out every so often? Sorry to have so many questions! Oh how my family is gonna love me once I get all this started! Thanks for so much help, you are awesome!!!

[native]

The best tomatoes that I ever grown are the old standby , beefsteak, bring on the BLTs. can you put tomatoes in bread?
Planted some yellow pear tomatoes today, my first on this kind.

[mistygardener]

My friend has fruit trees, YIPPPPPPEEEE! And strawberries and blackberries, you name it. I don't much difference in tomatoes, but she is growing the pink ones because she says they have less of an acid content to them. I think I have A LOT to learn in a short amount of time! LOL

[atascosa_tx]

In a green house you can get winter fruit without natures pollination..
usually the wind helps tomatoes pollinate. Each plant hold male and female blossoms.. you have to be the wind. I don't have a green house...but my neighbor taps the stalks to shake the plant to stimulate wind and has had great success ..granted though that this is a second crop (last year)..and not the same one grown through the summer..as Opa said earlier ..toms are annual plants.

Happy Gardening.

[opabinia51]

With regards to the sourdough:

Leave it in a cool place ie) a cupboard. The fridge will be to cold for the yeast to grow and reproduce.

Okay, well this is a recipe that takes a long time to make but, is worth it in the end.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup warm water
1 package active yeast (I don't use packages anymore and eyeball some out of the jar)
1 tbsp sugar
3/4 cup milk (I use 2%)
A couple of glops of sourdough

2 pureed apples with lime juice added
1 cup of AP flour
3-4 cups Whole wheat flour
(You can substitute other flowers as well such as spelt, kamut, quinoa and so on.)
3-4 apples choppped (I chop mine fairly fine but, you can do what you wish)
Cinnamon
Nutmeg
Ground Allspice
Brown Sugar

1) Proof the yeast for ten minutes by sprinkiling it over the water and milk in a large ceramic bowl and then sprinkling with sugar and letting it sit for about ten minutes. Add the sourdough.

2) Stir in the pureed apples and sprinle with cinnamon

3) Add 1 cup of the AP flour and stir until you form a loose batter. Add 1 cup of the whole wheat flour and stir. Then add the reamainder of the AP flour. Sprinkle batter with cinnamon as you go.

4) Once dough has thickened, Discard your spoon, cover your hands with some flour and knead remaining flour into the dough until it stops sticking to your fingers. Period sprinkle with cinnamon.

5) Once dough stops sticking to your fingers, take out of bowl and place on a cutting board or wax paper and wash the bowl, drying it when you are done. Place the dough in the dough making a well on one side. Place the welled side down and cover with a damp tea towel and let rise for 1 hour.

Punch the dough down after rising and let rise again for another hour.

Punch the dough down and knead it for five minutes and let it rise again.

Punch the dough down and roll out on a well floured surface, dusting the counter again after rolling the dough out. (Very important step of dough will stick to counter)

Chop the apples up and sprinle with mixture of allspice, nutmeg (about a pinch) and cinnamon. Sprinkle the apples over the dough and cover with a tea towel and let rise for one hour.

In a bowl combine some of the cinnamon and brown sugar. Once the dough has risen, sprinkle this mixture over the dough and then roll it up into a log, cover with a tea towel and let rise for another hour. (I told you this would take some time but, it's so worth it in the end.)

Cut buns from the log and lay on a parchment paper line cookie sheet and let rise for another hour covered by a damp tea towel. (always use a damp tea towel.


If you wish you can sprinkle more cinnamon and sugar over the buns.


Bake at 350 for about half an hour. Check to see if done.


You can decrease the time needed to make these by cutting out some of the initial rises but, I find the bread nicer when I include them.

[mistygardener]

Thanks so much for the recipe! I have saved it in a document so I am sure to be able to find it again. Do you mind if I share your recipe with friends?
Thanks so much again!

[opabinia51]

Sure go ahead! It's now here for a lot of people to see.


Milk adds a really nice texture to doughs and so do eggs so try adding a couple of eggs to the dough as well.

Also, try making a baking powder bread with apple sauce. There are some nice recipes for spiced apple muffins on the web as well.


Wow, we've really hijacked this thread, oh well.

[mistygardener]

LOL I never mind hijacking on my threads! I think it was my fault for getting off topic anyhow.

[opabinia51]

I'm going to copy the recipe into the recipes thread in the vegetable forum. I had intended the thread to be recipes on things that we grow but, no matter.

[Trentt]

I've got two favorites for taste, both heirloom tomatoes: cuore de toro (bull's heart) and orange strawberry.

Cuore de toro has what (to me) is the quintessential tomato flavor, robust, deep, sweet, and tangy. Problem is, it's not a very good keeper at all and the plants I've grown are prolific producers of very large fruits so when they start coming I go on a tomato diet. I grew orange strawberry tomatoes for the first time last year and my family and I were surprised at the meaty texture and sweet taste of the fruit - very fruity, not a typical tomato taste at all, mild and sweet, almost like a melon. You could have it for dessert.

[opabinia51]

I haven't heard of those heirlooms before, I'll keep my eye out for them.

[damethod]

I've only tried about 10 varieties...but, if I had to pick one it would be Plum tomatoes simply because they are the most versitile of the grocery store varieties. You can use them in salads and sandwiches as you could all of the other grocery types, but it is generally the preferred choice for making tomato sauce. I base that on the numerous cooking shows I have watched and the recipes I've printed for tomato sauce.

Of course, with hundreds of different types of tomatoes...it's very hard to pick just one.

[damethod]

oh and opa...if it's not too much to ask...I would looove to try a sundried tomato bread recipe.

I would also need tips on drying the tomato though..

[TheLorax]

Sat Trentt, where did you purchase your Say Trentt, where did you purchase your orange strawberry tomatoes please? Your description of them makes me want them! Thanks for mentioning that variety.

[wurzelgummidge]

one of my favourite tomatoes is money makers which you can grow in a greenhouse and out in the garden and in pots.
and for flavour I find cherry tomatoes excelant
ps I wish I could find a spell checker that spelt better than me
I use google english british

[TheLorax]

Any English is fine. I doubt seriously if anyone here truly cares about misspellings. Scientific names can always be cut and pasted into documents so that's easy enough. There are spell checkers out there for free that we can use but I think if we download them we get toolbars and other garbage bundled into our freebie. Not worth it to me to download free programs. I think I'll just type away and if I make a mistake, somebody else can correct me if they even want to bother.

I've had cherry tomatoes before and like them but I've never had a Money Maker. I'll have to go check into that one.

[Linny]

Trentt,

I read about heirloom tomatoes in a "MotherEarth News" Magazine and decided to give them a shot. I decided on a variety called Brandywine. All I know about them is they take a long time to mature, and they are supposed to taste great! I have three growing in an earth box and have at last count, about twenty tomatoes. It should be another couple of months or so before the first mature tomato. My question is, the plants are very bushy and tall, and the leaf's are huge. I was wondering if I should cut off any of the non-bearing stems, or otherwise prune them in anyway. I have them staked up, and can keep staking them as they grow taller and fuller. I pinched off the growth between the stalk and stem, but there still seems to be so much foliage there! Should I remove anything or just leave them alone?

I sure would appreciate any advice from you or anyone else that has any for me

[eshenry]

MMMMM Brandywine, Cherokee black, golden pear........ Burpee hybrids.....they are all good. I prefer the more acid ones.

[petalfuzz]

Sat Trentt, where did you purchase your Say Trentt, where did you purchase your orange strawberry tomatoes please? Your description of them makes me want them! Thanks for mentioning that variety.

I don't know where Trent bought his seeds, but this site sells them. If the link doesn't work, search for strawberry in the description field.

[url]https://www.tomatogrowers.com/orange.htm[/url] Scroll about halfway down to find the right one. They also have orange banana. It's a neat site.

[TheLorax]

I found one here-
https://store.tomatofest.com/German_Red_Strawberry_p/tf-0189.htm

Your Orange Strawberry tomato looks better than the one I found. I like the oddball shaped tomatoes as well as the ones that come in funky colors.

Check out this Green Zebra tomato-
https://www.reimerseeds.com/images/products/Tomato/Green_Zebra_Tomato_Seeds.jpg

Now check out Mr. Stripey-
https://www.flickr.com/photos/farlane/1350823014/

This Yellow Pear is pretty wild looking-
https://www.flickr.com/photos/ulteriorepicure/202893424/