Ciao Derek-
If you're getting ripe big tomatoes like German Red Strawberry, you're really ahead of the game for our climate. I set out my transplants on 24 May and as of yet, the only ripe ones I've gotten are the Whippersnappers and Micro-dwarfs (Tigerette Cherry, Red Robin, and Florida Petite). Even my early determinates aren't showing a sign of blush yet. That being said, I really can't complain as those patio tomatoes are providing enough cherries for garden fresh salads. I can wait for the big ones. I'm still getting 0.5-1 lb of edible-podded peas per day! That tells you what kind of weather we're having.
By the way, Derek, you're growing my still all-time favourite black tomato, Black From Tula. I'm looking forward to reading your honest appraisal.
I'm growing Zapotec Pleated for the second time. Some people have said it can be hollow and mealy, but when I grew it in 2007, it had a very dense flesh and was quite juicy and fantastic-tasting for a so-called 'novelty'. Be prepared for HUGE slices that will cover a slice of Italian Calabrese bread easily. I use them fresh to show off the pleats in open-faced bruschetta or bacon-nasturtium-tomato sandwiches.
BigT, tell you what..have a look at this website and you pick out some tomatoes that appeal to you.
http://mitglied.lycos.de/rkraft/Tomatenfotos/
I don't have seeds for ALL of Reinhardt's stuff, but if I don't, I have something very similar to what you're looking for.
I'm only growing 6 large slicing tomatoes. With all the others I grow, I can only keep up with that many for fresh eating. Most of what I grow is for sauce and other canning adventures like ketchup, paste, picante sauce, caponata, that sort of thing. Having said that, the ones I AM growing this year are Aunt Ruby's German Green, a luscious, almost spicy green-when-ripe beefsteak, Marianna's Peace, an absolutely huge potato-leafed pink beefsteak, Chocolate Stripes, growing for the first time, striped black beefsteak, Dr. Wyche's Yellow, growing for the first time, one of the best yellow beefsteaks according to many long-time growers, Lucky Cross, a late-harvest potato-leafed bicolour (yellow/orange/red streaked), which, for me anyway, has the best flavour of all of the bicolours I've grown, and finally, Neve's Azorean Red, grown for the first time finally, one of the best red beefsteaks according to long-time growers. My beefsteak row is the hardest row for me to settle on every year because the lion's share of the seeds I have in my collection are big slicers and I only grow 6.
If you're getting ripe big tomatoes like German Red Strawberry, you're really ahead of the game for our climate. I set out my transplants on 24 May and as of yet, the only ripe ones I've gotten are the Whippersnappers and Micro-dwarfs (Tigerette Cherry, Red Robin, and Florida Petite). Even my early determinates aren't showing a sign of blush yet. That being said, I really can't complain as those patio tomatoes are providing enough cherries for garden fresh salads. I can wait for the big ones. I'm still getting 0.5-1 lb of edible-podded peas per day! That tells you what kind of weather we're having.
By the way, Derek, you're growing my still all-time favourite black tomato, Black From Tula. I'm looking forward to reading your honest appraisal.
I'm growing Zapotec Pleated for the second time. Some people have said it can be hollow and mealy, but when I grew it in 2007, it had a very dense flesh and was quite juicy and fantastic-tasting for a so-called 'novelty'. Be prepared for HUGE slices that will cover a slice of Italian Calabrese bread easily. I use them fresh to show off the pleats in open-faced bruschetta or bacon-nasturtium-tomato sandwiches.BigT, tell you what..have a look at this website and you pick out some tomatoes that appeal to you.
http://mitglied.lycos.de/rkraft/Tomatenfotos/
I don't have seeds for ALL of Reinhardt's stuff, but if I don't, I have something very similar to what you're looking for.
I'm only growing 6 large slicing tomatoes. With all the others I grow, I can only keep up with that many for fresh eating. Most of what I grow is for sauce and other canning adventures like ketchup, paste, picante sauce, caponata, that sort of thing. Having said that, the ones I AM growing this year are Aunt Ruby's German Green, a luscious, almost spicy green-when-ripe beefsteak, Marianna's Peace, an absolutely huge potato-leafed pink beefsteak, Chocolate Stripes, growing for the first time, striped black beefsteak, Dr. Wyche's Yellow, growing for the first time, one of the best yellow beefsteaks according to many long-time growers, Lucky Cross, a late-harvest potato-leafed bicolour (yellow/orange/red streaked), which, for me anyway, has the best flavour of all of the bicolours I've grown, and finally, Neve's Azorean Red, grown for the first time finally, one of the best red beefsteaks according to long-time growers. My beefsteak row is the hardest row for me to settle on every year because the lion's share of the seeds I have in my collection are big slicers and I only grow 6.
