We have picked over 100 Early Girl tomatoes so far from the extra-early planted tomatoes, but finally we had another variety ripen!
Black Krim, one of my new heirlooms is the winner for the earliest main season tomato.
I am growing over 20 different types of tomatoes this year, and a number of them, like Black Krim, are heirlooms.
So what are my observations about Black Krim so far? It IS a darker tomato, but it was difficult for me to tell when it was ripe.
I had two ripen at the same time and I think I may have left them on the vine longer than I had to. The shoulders were still pretty green though.
The plant is still fairly small, but seems healthy. After slicing the Black Krims, I noticed that they are pretty meaty and the outside ring is almost black.
As for the taste, they were pretty good. Far less acid than the Early Girls we have gotten used to (have become almost sick of). The flavor reminded me of the Amish Brandywine. I wish I had a Brandywine right now to do a side by side comparison. We ate both Black Krims in our taste test and all four of us in my family wanted more. I say that is the sign of a good tomato!
I will report more at the end of the season about yield and comparison with the other varieties. I wonder what variety will ripen next?
Those are the coolest looking tomatoes! There is a big debate in our house right now about which tomatoes we want to plant - heirloom (which I hear are more prone to disease) or hybrid.
I am on the heirloom wagon and just looking at your Black Krim makes me want to get going NOW! LOL. Alas, it will be a few more months here in florida before I can have stationary tomatoes that don't wither and die in the blazing heat...
Posted by: July 26, 2007 at 10:58 PM
Emma,
Thanks for the kind words. The heirloom versus hybrid tomato debate is a good one. You are right that heirlooms do not have much disease resistance, but the flavors are soooo good compared to hybrids. I wrote a post detailing the pros and cons of heirloom tomatoes that you may enjoy reading.
At our house we couldn't decide between one kind or the other so we are growing hybrids and heirlooms.
Posted by: July 26, 2007 at 11:20 PM
That looks really good! I looked at some unusual tomatoes in a catalogue this Spring. There seem to be all sorts of early, unusual tomatoes coming out of Eastern Europe. This looks similar to some of the Black Russian tomatoes. I might try some next year.
Posted by: July 27, 2007 at 03:52 PM
Black tomatoes are just the tastiest, IMP. :)
The green in a black tomato does throw you off a bit. The reason black tomatoes are black is actually because they don't let go of their green chlorophyll like other tomatoes do. When the lycopene and carotene start to come in, the colors mix together. And, if you remember from kndergarten art class, red and green mixed together make dark brown or black. :)
So, black tomatoes always look a little green because technically they still are.
Anyhoo, those just look yummy. I am jealous.
Posted by: July 27, 2007 at 04:00 PM
"...over 100 Early Tomatoes so far..." Wow, I really hate you! :)
All of my Early Girls are still green. At my house, we're trying to get buy with only cherry tomatoes and the farmer's market but it's tough with dozens of green tomatoes sitting there in the garden. :(
And it looks like my Black Krim's are also going to be one of the first to turn ripe this year. I love the taste but only got a few last year. This year I already have more unripened on the vine than I got all of last year.
My take on the Heirloom vs. Hybrid debate, go with both. Enjoy the rich flavors of the heirloom while harvesting a huge supply of the hybrids. Best of both worlds.
Enjoy your tomatoes Marc!
Posted by: July 27, 2007 at 04:12 PM
Marc: Never, ever say that you're almost sick of garden tomatoes! One must eat fresh vegetables in the summer until one can't take it anymore, because those are the memories you live off during the winter!
Posted by: TracyJuly 27, 2007 at 07:06 PM
That is a gorgeous tomato! I don't eat fresh tomatoes because I don't like the taste, but I do eat cooked ones.
We're growing 'Mr. Stripey' in our garden this year, just because it's unique in appearance.
My husband is the tomato eater and he likes them all, so we try a different variety each year, except for 'Sungold' for our cherry tomatoes. He likes that one better than others.
Posted by: July 29, 2007 at 09:46 AM
very interesting tomatoes. I wondered if they were really black on the inside and they are. May be adding these to my Tomato list next year.
Posted by: July 30, 2007 at 02:35 AM
Ooo, delicious looking. I grew Black Prince last year and it was delicious.
Posted by: July 30, 2007 at 04:57 AM
Marc, what I'd really like to know is does the dark color hold if they're cooked? I'm thinking Black Krim/Chipotle salsa.
Posted by: July 31, 2007 at 04:31 AM