Tomato tasting Part 1
Later than I would like, the first tomatoes are starting to ripen. The first ripe fruits have been on ‘Sungold’, ‘Candy Tots’ and the three below.
First up – ‘Purple Bumblebee’. This is a stocky, sturdy plant with large, dense leaves. It is a large cherry fruit and the main selling point is the colour of the fruits which are metallic green and purple. Inside they are pinkish with green gel around the seeds. They have a good, rich tomato taste and are not overly sweet.
‘Purple Bumblebee’
‘Purple Bumblebee’
‘Chocolate Pear’ has been another good grower and easy to manage. The fruits are abundant and in good trusses and have set well. The tomatoes are not as ‘pear-shaped’ as I expected and are not as ‘chocolate’ coloured either. But they seem to be a good cropper. The fruits are dense and juicy with not too many seeds but the flavour is not the best – well not for me. They are not bad, just now ‘wow’. But with some salt or balsamic they will be fine. They do snap off nicely at the ‘knuckle’ so are easy to pick.
‘Chocolate Pear’
‘Malakhitovaya Shkatulka’ has grown well, has irregular trusses of large fruits and, surprisingly, has ripened a few fruits early. When ripe, the skin changes from green to olive green with a golden flush. When cut open the flesh inside is bright green. It doesn’t seem possible that they will taste like a ripe tomato but they do – a really good tomato. I will grow this again. Just a shame about the name.
‘Malakhitovaya Shkatulka’
‘Malakhitovaya Shkatulka’
The Biking Gardener 
lots of lovely tomato sarnies on the menu and maybe a few jars of chutney
Excellent …my favourites this year are ‘Yellow Sante’ and ‘Black Russian’… B/R for slicing in oil and balsamic with fresh herbs and Y/sante just like eating sweets….I like the look of the one with the long name …… 🙂
I guess yellow sante is a mini plum? I think mini plums are my second favourite – after the big ones. I grew BR last year and it is great – just as you say 🙂