Wednesday is Farmer's Market day in Arlington. I've been going every week since it opened. I love it. I wish there was a big stand with organic produce with a wide selection. Last year there were two small organic stands with a limited selection. I took to buying mostly from Kimbell's Farm which has a very good selection and is an IPM farm.
One of my favorite things to buy from Kimball's Farm is early tomatoes. They sell a large selection of heirlooms later in the season too. Their earliest tomatoes this year were a mix of mostly cherries, but I did see some Orange Blossom tomatoes in there (I'm guessing that is the one, since it it a very early tomato that grows well here). Last week they had Black Prince tomatoes, which is the first of the labeled varieties that were out. So I got some.
Lord they are so good. They are a small black tomato maybe two and a half to three ounces each. They are quite beautiful and their taste is just out of this world. Or at least it seems that way to my tomato starved taste buds. Yum. I looked them up on the web and they are from Irkutsk, so good for my climate. I'm saving seeds for next year. You have to love tomatoes where you can try them out and save the seed all at the same time.
I'm looking for an heirloom variety to replace Early Girl. What exactly does this one taste like? I like lots of tomato flavor with some sweetness. The size and shape of these look very similar Early Girl even if the color does not.
ReplyDeleteThey look absolutely delish!
ReplyDeletewell, they sure are pretty! I'm with sylvana - we wannna know what it tasted like. Anything remotely similar to CP?
ReplyDeleteTo be honest I don't like raw tomatoes. There's just something about them that doesn't sit right with me. That said, my husband L-O-V-E-S them and I really like them cooked in stuff, so we grow a LOT of tomatoes (24 plants this year). Last weekend I bought Amy Goldman's new Heirloom Tomato book. It goes over what each tomato is good for, history of that variety, flavor, where to get it and much more!
ReplyDeleteSounds like a winner, and I can't believe it's so early in your zone! Did I recently mention I didn't want to try any more tomato varieties? Maybe I lied ;-)
ReplyDeleteSylvana and EG, they taste like the classic black tomato. I've never tasted Cherokee Purple. This is the first year I've grown it so I can't compare the two. They do taste a bit like Chocolate Cherry and Black Cherry. And they taste nothing like red tomatoes. They are full of flavor with some sweetness, but not terribly sweet.
ReplyDeleteToni, they are
Rachel, my husband won't eat raw tomatoes either, but he love sauce.
Granny, you can never give up trying new varieties. It is just too much fun. I would like to find a few standards and then just a couple new ones each year. Someday. Maybe.
I didn't even know there were black tomatoes. I wonder if I can find them anywhere around here. You can save seeds from tomatoes?? There's just no end to new things I learn about vegetable gardening every day! Right now, I am happy to just grow tomatoes, any tomatoes! Ahh, the simple life of a newbie gardener. :)
ReplyDeleteDaphne, I don't think I've ever seen dark tomtoes like these. I love fresh tomatoes!!
ReplyDeleteHow beautiful!
ReplyDeletethyme2garden, if you have never had a black tomato you have to try one. It tastes like a tomato, but very different from the red varieties. Their flavor is a lot more complex than your average tomato. And as you can see in the photo they aren't really black even though they are called black. They are red and green together which makes for a very dark tomato.
ReplyDeleteKimberly, I love them too and since I have no early tomatoes of my own these are great substitutes.
Ribbit, They do look stunning.
I do that from farmer's markets too... saving seed from various things with the hope that they will be well adapted. The farmer's markets around here are growing quickly I am happy to say with an increasing selection.
ReplyDeleteI am just dying for a good tomato....
ReplyDeleteThey look like keeps! Nice find.
ReplyDeleteSuch a beautiful color to them! I bet they would grow well here too. May have to find a spot for a plant of these next year.
ReplyDeleteI like Black Krim.
ReplyDeleteStupice is my fav early tomato. It's about 3 times the size of a cherry tomato, extremely prolific, but tastes like a real tomato not a cherry tomato.
Ottawa Gardener, I do love my farmers markets. Last year I kept kicking myself for not saving seed of a tomato that I loved. This year I want to be better about it.
ReplyDeletehenbogle, I was surprised about finding such a good one so early in the season. Usually the good ones don't come out until July, but our weather has been fabulous.
Dan. thanks
kitsapFG, I'm sure they would grow well there. You have such similar weather even if you are a lot warmer in the winter.
Karen Ann, I still haven't tried Stupice. I know a lot use it as their early tomato, but so far I haven't gotten around to it.
Very interesting looking tomato. Since they grow these in Siberia, I bet they would do well in our area.
ReplyDeleteThose are gorgeous, they look like plums. This great weather has been so fabulous for gardening. I wish we could special order it every year.
ReplyDeleteThose tomatos look awesome!
ReplyDeleteEarly black tomatoes! I have to look for this variety since all the black tomatoes I know are 85 days ones. Thanks for the review!
ReplyDeleteThose look delicious!!! My tastebuds have also been tomato starved for a while. I'm (im)patiently waiting on my tomatoes. It seems like forever!! In the meantime I'll live vicariously through you! =0)
ReplyDeleteGrafixMuse, I'm hoping they do.
ReplyDeleteThe Mom, I do wish the spring would be a bit more spring like though. My greens just didn't do as well this year. I had my last harvest of lettuce I think last week. Usually it holds longer.
meemsnyc, and they taste as good as they look.
Angela, I'm growing Cherokee Purple this year. I love the taste, but usually such long maturing ones don't produce well at all. I'm hoping this one will next year.
Holly, I'm just thankful for the farmer's market since I can buy early tomatoes there. Some year I'll have to do the early ones myself, but this year it just didn't happen.
Sounds like a good tomato. The farmers market in my new town hasn't had anything ahead of my own garden so I haven't been going. Maybe I need to try one in another town to see if I can get some early tomatoes :)
ReplyDeleteThose look delish! What does IPM mean?
ReplyDeleteJackie, IPM stands for integrated pest management. Most conventional growers just throw pesticides on their crops at given times. IPM farms monitor the damage and determine how to deal with the issue with the least toxic response. For instance with strawberries Kimballs Farm will spray the strawberries before the bloom cycle starts, but won't after. This keeps the pesticides off of the strawberries I'm eating. Since strawberries are one of the dirty dozen, I'd much rather eat these than at the other farm stands (the only organic one wasn't selling strawberries or heirloom tomatoes).
ReplyDelete