Harvest Monday - 14 August 2023

Welcome to another Harvest Monday report from Eight Gate Farm! A number of tomatoes, all indeterminates,  made their first appearance this week, including some that are new to me.

A new one is "BlushingStar." This is a good sized "slicer" with a strong disease resistance package (more on that later). This first example had a significant amount of "catfacing" on the bottom, so it couldn't be sliced, but rather, carved. I was really impressed with its flavor.

BlushingStar (hybr)

Another new one is "Purple Zebra." It sure is pretty, and reminds me of another I grow called "Pink Berkeley Tie-Dye," which has not ripened yet. Purple Zebra is beautiful on the inside too. However, I found its taste something less than I was expecting. Maybe I didn't let them ripen enough yet. I'll keep trying.

Purple Zebra (hybr)

A favorite from last year was grown again. This is "DarkStar." I don't know for sure, but suspect it's from the same breeder as BlushingStar. It has a very rich taste described as somewhat smoky. I didn't notice that last year, but this year I did get a certain note of smokiness. Very enjoyable.

DarkStar (hybr)

I grew another one I first tried last year, and really liked. This is "Genuwine," from the "Heirloom Marriage" series developed by a breeder. It's a union of Brandywine and Costoluto Genovese. These examples also had catfacing, and needed to be carved rather than sliced. Regardless they tasted excellent again this year. Catfacing is said to result from fluctuating temperatures early in the growing season, and usually affects only the first fruits.

Genuwine (hybr)

An old favorite is "Gardener's Delight." It's a reliable producer of tasty golf ball-sized fruits.

Gardener's Delight (OP)

I've grown the sauce tomato "Granadero" for several years, and had good luck with it last year. The thing about sauce tomatoes is I only get drips and drabs at the beginning of the harvest season, not enough to efficiently make and can sauce. So they have to be used fresh. As such, they better taste pretty good, and Granadero fortunately does. Same thing with the "Verona" I talked about last week; it's fine, but not significantly better than "Juliet."

Granadero

I dug the entire crop of Yukon Gold potatoes. I love this variety, and it's one of the early types (planted May 11). 

Yukon Gold

I think I got a pretty good harvest, considering that wild turkeys decided the row was a great place to take repeated dirt baths. They didn't eat the tubers, just kept dislodging them with their flutterings. 

If I'd known the kinds of junk I have to put up with as a gardener, I might have reconsidered this hobby and maybe taken up golf instead!

Now on to some sample "general harvest" pictures. This was Monday's.

Monday general harvest

This was Wednesday's, an unintentional funny face.

Wednesday general harvest.

And this was Thursday's

Thursday general harvest

Here's a sample from the community garden plot worked by The Kitchen Goddess and her mother.

Community garden harvest

Do your tomato plants look like this? I certainly hope not! The disease pressure is stronger than ever, even the so-called "disease-resistant" varieties. I have to keep pruning off the leaves as the fungus marches up the plants. They look like bizarre little palm trees now. I'm beginning to worry we won't have a very good crop this year.

Sad state of indeterminate tomato vines

That's all for this week. Thanks for reading, and special thanks to Dave at HappyAcres.blog for hosting Harvest Monday.