It's as big as his head!
First came the extraction. Funny thing: before hubby left, he gave me this tool and said "here, you might want this for your garden stuff"... what the heck is that LOL? I figured he just didn't want to put it away. Sure came in handy!
While I was doing the extraction, I decided to look over the plant. It is VERY healthy, over 6 ft tall now, and loaded with fruit as you can see below. Here's the thing... look at the fruit at the bottom of the plant (above pic) and then look at the fruit now forming at the top of the plant. See the difference? RuralRose, are you looking and laughing? It appears we may indeed have an identification of the UFO Heirloom: "Oxheart"...! I'll keep my eyes on the fruit development but that shape is pretty unmistakeable. I have grown them before, but never ended up with the regular Mortgage Lifter shaped fruit I got at the bottom of the plant. I wonder if seeds were crossed or what the seed's history really is! I will probably never know, but it is fun nonetheless!
It's as big as Sprocket's head too!
Now on to the details:
Tomato fell way short on taste - oh, no! Maybe it's because of my anticipation... I was starting to dream about driving around with it strapped to the hood of my car like a redneck hunter with his prized whitetail, or maybe finding a veggie taxidermist to mount it for me!
It could also be the weather, it rained (thankfully, we needed it!) all day long, heavily. I went out and got it tonight since I was afraid it would split badly by morning with all the rain. It had split this evening but only a little. Maybe it was too swollen with water, but I found the taste to be quite bland, of course way better than store bought, but yet nowhere near the taste of a Brandywine. We'll keep on tasting, though... hopefully the next will be better. This would make a fabulous thick slicing tomato on a burger it is so meaty. Also interesting is that the bottom tomatoes set so much earlier than the ones on top and are so much bigger and slower developing... I will remain hopeful for the next harvest! They better get good because it looks like these two plants will provide the majority of my canning this year, each has over 20 tomatoes on it!
I have had some inquiries for the seed next season, I will definitely be waiting for the best ones to save from, this one wasn't it, sadly!
I'll leave you with a video of one of my favorite summer visitors:
I obviously had hornworms somewhere in the garden, I just love it when I don't find them until they have turned into this stunning moth!
Ahhh, you too have a berry stealing canine on your hands, lol.
ReplyDeleteThat moth was neat, never seen one (to my knowledge anyway)- just the ruby throats here in MA for the most part.
Funny how those tomatoes are changing. I have lots of heart shaped tomatoes out there in the garden, I didn't realize it was usually a variety trait...thought it might be weather related.
Do you prune those gigantic tomato "trees" you grow? Did you weigh the monster you harvested tonight?
ReplyDeleteI laughed at the image of the tomato on your car hood. But I would be tempted too! After all the work we put into our gardens, we want to show off our successes to the world! The world who, in general, thinks we are nuts for gardening so frantically in the first place!
ReplyDeleteThat is one large tomato!
ReplyDeleteOMGosh! ROFL! Driving around with a tomato strapped to your hood... Oh, oh, thank you for the belly laughs! That tomato is stinkin HUGE!
ReplyDeleteI love the, "What are you eating?" followed by the "Go to Hell" dismissal from the dog. Perfect!
ReplyDeleteThat tomato is a beast!! I'm surprised you didn't find small children in there.
That's one hellofa big tomato. Sorry you were disappointed by the taste.
ReplyDeleteBy the time you get finished harvesting from that tomato plant, the cage is going to resemble swiss cheese!
Why are the first tomatoes of the season always so bland tasting? We get so excited over them, and they're always a let down for me. Luckily, it doesn't usually take long for them to begin bearing juice, tasty fruits. At least your bland tomato had size to brag about. Mine was a little yellow cherry.
ReplyDeleteYou have the coolest dogs.
Bummer! Hopefully the next ones you harvest will be divine.
ReplyDeleteWoah! You just blew my mind! Every year, I love watching those delightful hummingbird moths on my tall flocks beside the front door. I hover near and delight in how the mouth part unfurls to feed on the center of each little flowerlet.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea that they were the adult phase of the tomato hornworm! That's the one critter in the garden that I have trouble dealing with. They just give me the willies, and I can't stand to touch them. I have to use tongs or pliers to pull them off the tomatoes, but then gleefully stomp them into a green squish.
Wow--you can't have the magical hummingbird moths without the nasty green hornworms! Nature has yet another trick to teach me. I'm just blown away. Thanks for sharing.
It's an emergency tomato c-section...I love it!
ReplyDeleteNo giggles, just so happy to be part of the conversation. I too find the biggest ones not the best in tomatoes. It is a weird tomato plant you have there for sure, can't wait to see how it finishes. Mine are under 1 foot tall and just starting to bloom. I had never seen this moth before, am totally fascinated. My dog eats raspberries off the bush too. Love this blog! Peace
ReplyDeleteI've see hummingbird moths before. I have a hard time remembering that they're responsible for the hornworms, though. As for the tomato. Even if it is only so-so taste. I'm still jealous. It LOOKS fabulous!
ReplyDeleteJudy
EG, C-section...LOL! No, I don't prune my tomatoes at all, other than pinching off the lower sections so they don't touch the soil. I have tried pruning before but with indeterminate heirlooms it's a battle not worth fighting, and the only upside I can see is purely aesthetic, since most of my heirlooms taste great whether there's 2 or 20 on the vine. Trailshome, the other cool version of the big nasty caterpillars is the Hawk Moth. I have only seen 2 before in my yard, both times resting underneath my gazebo during the day, but they were monsters, body about 5 inches long it looked like with a massive wingspan! I always think of that when I see hornworms, they are so darn cool as a moth! Luckily they camoflauge so well in the tomatoes and potatoes as caterpillars I am not often confronted with the "what to do" decision! Rose, it will be interesting, that's for sure - can't wait til one of the "upper level" tomatoes color up so I can taste that one and see the difference!
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