Hot House Tomatoes
Hoop House with tomatoes all planted!
I never really thought about the meaning of ‘Hot House’ Tomatoes until I planted my beloved veggies, well technically tomatoes are fruit. After two disastrous attempts at growing
tomatoes I’m pleased to report that my third attempt was a success and I’ve planted all seven varieties in our hoop house! Because the space is only 10 ft x 16 ft, I couldn’t plant all the tomatoes inside. As an experiment, I decided to plant the remaining seven outside the green house so I could compare how they did in the two different locations. It will be interesting to see the outcome.
I have the total of 34 tomato plants in the greenhouse. There are seven varieties, and they include:
· Six Black Krim
· Six Orange Accordion
· Six Costoluto Genovese
· Six White Current
· Four Black Beauty
· Four Spoon
· Two Black Strawberries
All came from heirloom seeds and are distinctly different visually! I’ve not grown any of these before, so the following descriptions come from the seed packets which I purchased last spring from Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co. I’ve included their contact information at the end of this blog post.
The Black Strawberry is described as a one oz. fruit, marbled blue, scarlet and gold in color. The flavor is decadent and indulgent with a perfect balance of sweet and tart flavor.
The Spoon Tomato is a micro mini fruit and maybe the world’s tiniest tomato. I received this one free as a thank you for my order. It is fire engine red, tangy in flavor and is said to pop when you bite into it. On the cover of the seed packet, it shows nine tiny tomatoes sitting in a tablespoon to give you an idea of the scale.
I first heard about the Black Beauty tomato on Gardeners World, my favorite gardening show hosted by the world-famous gardener, Monty Don. This tomato is described as the world’s darkest tomato, so dark that some tomatoes turn solid blue-black on the skin. Given that I am an artist, I had to try it!
The White Currant is a cherry tomato, approximately one inch in diameter, is super sweet and varies between a creamy white to pale yellow in color.
In contrast, the Costoluto Genovese is larger! It is an old Italian favorite, or so I’ve been told, and has been around since the early 19th century (that speaks to the Art Historian in me.) It is ‘intensely’ flavorful, flat and attractively ribbed. It can be eaten fresh or preserved. This might make for a good sauce tomato!
The Orange Accordion tomato is even bigger than the Costoluto! The packet states it can easily reach 20 oz. and makes for a perfect stuffing tomato. Ruffled in shape it is a high-voltage orange color, sweet and fruity in flavor. It has few seeds, is both juicy and meaty in flesh and is good for both sauces and slicing. From the description, it is a super versatile tomato!
The last of the varieties is the Black Krim tomato. It is a tasty Russian heirloom. Dark red-purple fruit that is rich in sweet flavor. It is likened to a juicy beefsteak tomato in size.
Overall, it is an interesting mix of tomatoes! Although I was thinking I’d grow them in raised beds in the hoop house, I opted to plant them in the ground instead. To maximize the growing space, I had Andy run garden twine length wise along the metal beams that construct the house. From there we have strong running from the top of the hoop house down to the individual tomato plants. I loosely tied the strong around the base of the plant and then gently wrapped the stem around the string. This will support the tomato as it grows and keep it growing vertically. I learned this strategy from Monty Don! I’ve not grown tomatoes this way so I’m excited to see how this experiment turns out, fingers crossed… it worked for Monty Don, hopefully it will work for me too! Once the plants were in the ground, Andy came through and attached the drip lines, so each tomato has its own water source.
I’ve not seen any of these tomatoes at the various farm stores or farmers market thus far so hopefully my selection will prove both unique visually as well as flavorful to the taste! If so, then these will be a welcomed stable to my Market Garden produce. I will give an update once harvest season starts!
Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Co.
2287 Baker Creek Road
Mansfield, MO 65704
417-924-8917
www.rareseeds.com
