[cooperman]

New for this year with me is CUOR DI BUE - a big beef tom-  and it is BIG and very very tasty

piccy attached and yes thats a 50p piece!

[Gardeningguru]

Do you know I was complaining about these early in the season, I was leaving them on the plant for far too long.  They then tasted thick skinned, and far to soft fleshed.

However, when i started picking them as pictured, I suddenly found them to be amongst the tastiest Toms I have ever tried.  The ones I had left on for too long got turned into tomato pasta sauce.

Lovely Tomatoes, beautiful in a salad!

[savbo]

I noticed in Spain many tomatoes in the shops are part green but still delicious...

M

[cooperman]

yes Guru - they need to be picked and eaten as pictured - I went by the piccy on the seed packet which showed them as is!!  I have been picking these when they are just getting a hint of colour and they are delicious.  I did leave one on for longer to see how it developed and  it was only suitable for making a nice pasta sauce!!

I have also been cropping Cossack, Shirley and Monte Carlo ....

[polly nator]

What a beautiful looking tomato. Very photogenic.


My tastiest toms this year are as a result of siting four plants on top of what I call my living compost heap experiment. I built up a raised bed to about 3' high with wire netting and filled with a very deep layer of un/partly rotted horse manure. Topped up with soil and compost , put in the tomatoes and then continued chucking compostible things on top between the toms.
As a result I have some marmandes and sweet millions with huge, much tastier crops than usual - far surpassing the same varities I hav einside poly grow houses

[hamstergbert]

That sound really interesting, Polly. 

...continued chucking compostible things on top between the toms....

Do you limit the types of compostable or is it the whole lot - everything from peelings and tealeaves to grass cuttings?

Also how did you keep the pests away - my compost contains all sort of life forms, some of which have probably evolved quite a long way towards building cities etc...  Surely organic wouldn't cut it?

[polly nator]

I dont put everything on my "living compost heap"

There is a thick layer of fairly fresh horse manure, topped with some soil and compost. While the tomatoes have been growing on the heap I have thrown on things like teabags, carrot tops, apple peel,  some dead flowers, dead foliage from things like annuals and herbs, some weeds once I am sure they arent going to sprout into life, bits of seaweed, coffee..
I dont put everything onto the pile  but its quite a good mix of stuff.

This experiment has produced one or two great comedy tomatoes also!