Remember how I said that, barring some kind of disaster, this was a magical season? Ha ha. I suppose this is what I get for getting greedy and growing 10-foot top heavy vines. I was prepared for the cold, but not the wind. Or at least not prepared enough. I woke up this morning to see that two large towers of Paul Robesons and Kellogg's Breakfast had blown over. Fortunately (I guess), their fall was broken by our patio furniture, so I don't believe the plants were actually uprooted. Just very annoyed. So I don't know if you can see very well, but I stood the towers back up and ended up tying everything off to my fence. For reference, that's a 7-foot fence (below).
In better news, though, I did harvest my first ripe tomato this morning (below). There's something wonderful about that first tomato of the season. It's a Brandyboy, so I'm really looking forward to lunch--and not just because I'm hungry. Let's see how these Burpee hybrids stack up against the Brandywines they were bred to imitate. It doesn't have the same ribbed shoulders exactly, but it's a lovely fruit.
And just to make myself feel a bit better, I've posted a few pictures of tomates still on the vine (Brandyboys, Paul Robeson, first and second pictures below). The fruit is still mostly green, but the tomatoes are fist-sized now and starting to lighten up (the first stage in ripening). So assuming the cold isn't too bad tonight and nothing else blows over, I'm thinking the harvest will start in earnest in about two weeks.
But really? Did they have to blow over?
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Having same probs here in western lake worth, expected to hit high 20's tonight. All we can do is hope for the best. Please let us know how you did.
ReplyDeleteSo how did the Brandyboy taste? I'm starting to itch to buy seeds and get the varieties lined up. Even if I do still have about months before I should start them.
ReplyDeleteHey Mark! Sorry about the late response ... The Brandyboy is good tasting and a heavy producer. Much heavier than the Brandywine. But does it taste as good? Well, no, not quite. I like these a lot and they're a good beefsteak tomato, so it's probably worth having some around for high yields of large fruit. But if taste is your highest priority, then I'd stick with the original.
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