Wow have I been busy lately! I'm sorry that I haven't had enough time to post regularly. Its certainly not because I don't have anything to write about. The garden this year has done wonderfully! August has been the month of the tomato, and September promises to be as well.
We are now harvesting all of our tomato varieties. Many of them are heirlooms and they come in all different colors. My favorites continue to be Black Krim, Aunt Ruby's German Green, Brandywine Red and/or Pink and Kellogg's Breakfast Orange. I plan to post individually about each of these and about my new white varieties, Great White and White Tomesol.
Today's post is to introduce another orange tomato variety - Kentucky Beefsteak.
It is an heirloom that originates from the hills of Eastern Kentucky and it produces pretty big fruit. This one matches my big Brandywine at 1.8 pounds.
The reason I want to share Kentucky Beefsteak with you is because it is the most unique tasting tomato I have ever tried. I like it but it doesn't really taste like a tomato. This sounds strange but it almost tastes like a watermelon or cantaloupe. Even with its odd taste, it does pass my BLT test. You can't even see the bread under that giant tomato slice!
I guess It resembles a melon because it has an incredible water content. The meat part of the tomato is by far the juiciest I've seen. You can see the water content glistening in this closeup of the tomato slices:
It sure looks pretty but I'm not sure if it will make the cut next year. Each plant only produced a couple fruits and my family isn't eating them. I like them and I do live in Kentucky, so maybe they will make next year's team. We'll just have to see. Has anyone else grown or eaten these heirloom Kentucky Beefsteak tomatoes? If so, I'd love to know what you thought of them.
More talk of odd tomatoes to come soon!
Wow Marc, you grow tomatoes in Junes, you grow tomatoes that taste like melons. You're a tomato guru. :)
Nice harvest, looks really good.
Posted by: Anthony | September 04, 2008 at 05:10 PM
That's really fantastic. I've got a friend that doesn't really like tomatoes much and I'm trying to convert him.
Looks like I may have to try some Kentucky Beefsteak on him.
Know of any other "tomatoes for people that don't like tomatoes"?
Posted by: September 05, 2008 at 09:09 PM
I'm with Anthony... a guru for sure! I'm intrigued by your 'Kentucky Beefsteak' review, enough to look for some seeds for these next spring. Maybe I could get my boyfriend to try these since they don't actually taste like tomatoes. (Ok, yeah, I'm just curious to try them, myself!) :)
By the way, I'm a fellow 'Black Krim' lover. Interestingly, I planted one Krim right next to two 'Cherokee Purple' tomato plants, thinking that I could easily tell the difference between the three. I can't! In looks, size, yield and taste they're just so similar that I'll have to go back and look at my planting notes to figure it out. Weird.
Posted by: September 05, 2008 at 09:46 PM
That looks amazing. I grew a yellow 'Golden Jubilee' this year, the flavour of the yellows is amazing, so sweet! Unfortunately most of my plants have suffered with blight, we've had such a wet Summer here.
Posted by: September 05, 2008 at 11:20 PM
Wow! That is quite a harvest.
Posted by: September 06, 2008 at 08:25 PM
Marc - that thing is huge! Lovely work!
ps i'm still waiting on the white ones.
Posted by: September 09, 2008 at 02:03 PM
Just starting to get into tomato season here at Lucky's Duck Farm.... Your photos just blew me away..:D
I so hope I do even half as good as your harvest:D
Posted by: September 12, 2008 at 12:46 PM