Summer tomatoes.

[redback]

Yum. Just dip a tasting spoon into the reduced tomato sauce in photo 2 and you know why you trouble to grow your own.
It's a good year here in South Australia. The predicted hot, dry summer never happened. Instead, it's been cool and rainy. The tomatoes are growing on their own with the occasional pruning, tying up and a lot of picking. The 'Grosse Lisse', 'money maker', San Marzano, 'gardeners delight' and 'black Krim' are starring.
I pick them as soon as they color, leave them on the windowsill to ripen and then refrigerate. If they're not eaten after a week in the fridge, they get turned into passata. These first three lots will be turned into pasta and spaghetti sauces, Mexican tacos, Italian meatballs and eaten very soon.

 

[YumYum]

Is that a Black Krim in the bottom right quarter of the photo with the stem attached?

The reason I ask is I grew some last year and mine looked like yours and not at all what they show with any of the green/purple/black colors. It also had a thick skin which I didn't care for. I'm still wondering if that was the right variety or not.

 

[redback]

That one is not dark enough to be Black Krim and is probably Amish Paste. When I pick another Black Krim I will post it here.

 

[redback]

These are both Black Krim. The one on the right is ripe and I've sliced it diagonally because it had a bite taken out of it by an unknown culprit.
As far as I know it has none of the problems you mentioned and has a smoky taste which is desirable. Pesto is not complimentary to its smokey flavor so use the plainer tasting ones like Money Maker that really improve with cheese and pesto.

 

[YumYum]

Ok thank you. They didn't look like that but I have seen pictures where they aren't really green. I will say it was the wrong variety and will try them again from another seed supplier.

 

[Oliver Buckle]

Good to see you mentioning Moneymaker and Gardeners delight. I grow them because they are what I remember my father growing, and I know they are reliable, but I do wonder about other varieties. Tried RAF last year, a French offspring of Marmande, not bad, not terrific. I usually also grow one sort or another of bite size mini tomato, just to pick and pop straight in the mouth.

 

[redback]

This is more like the color. My camera plays with the light.
I grow about forty tomato plants each year and about eight varieties. The seed last for at least four years so I bought no new seed this year.
The cherries are always included because they often out produce the rest.

 

[redback]

Money maker and gardeners delight are 70% of the crop at present. The Romas are growing large in a space of their own and will all ripen at once.
The photo left shows a week's harvest, ripened and stored in the fridge. On the right - top row - 2 big Amish paste, 2 San Marzano. Bottom row - 2 Brandywine, 2 Money Makers, a Black Krim.
The Brandywines are an American breed that has low acidity. I will try them in a tomato and cheese toasted sandwich to test their sweetness.

 

[YumYum]

The Brandywines are an American breed that has low acidity.

I tried it for tomato juice and it had a nasty taste. I did like it as a slicer though.

 

[redback]

I just had it in a toasted cheese sandwich, and it definitely has lost its acidity. I'm not sure what to mix it with - maybe garlic bread or just pepper.

 

[redback]

February in Australia and the Mediterranee crew of toms, zucchini, eggplant and cucumbers are all coming to harvest time.

 

[redback]

You can see the eggplant, capsicum and cucumbers are just beginning to grow fruit big enough to pick. Those two tomatoes are Brandywine and the plants have the makings of a big harvest with large green fruit. Twenty meters away my other three tomato trellises have caught the wilt and I have stop watering those.
We call this silver beet and others might call it chard. There is a massive amount of very large leaves in a small section of the garden.

 

[redback]

Those eggs and carrots are on a single leaf of silver beet. The carrots are the same age as the beet leaf - I'm guessing the soil has a bit too much nitrogen in it.
The greenery in photo right is oregano, rocket and parsley. The oregano is flowering and needs pruning, the rocket goes to seed almost as soon as it grows leaves and the parsley is all from one plant that has been pruned back to new shoots.

 

[Meadowlark]

..
We call this silver beet and others might call it chard. There is a massive amount of very large leaves in a small section of the garden.

Yes, that is what we would call it here. I grow a lot of it. Like the carrots also. They grow here during the cooler months only and only if you can get good germination. What type of cucumber do you like?

 

[redback]

What type of cucumber do you like?

My wife eats twice as much salad as I do. She doesn't know what kind they are - probably continental. Someone might ID them from the second photo.
In my defense I easily outeat her at vegetables. The spinach triangles (spanakopita) are from the spinach yesterday for a birthday party tonight. The zucchinis will be made into Spanish tapas. Eat them while they're fresh!