It is early days yet but the tomato competition is heating up as fruits ripen early in the greenhouse. The same varieties planted outdoors are no where near ready but that’s why I built the greenhouse. Okay if you get technical my husband built it – but why be so picky? The early birds come from the greenhouse, not from the sunny, south facing back yard right up against the house.

Results are from  tomatoes harvested from my greenhouse and outdoors. Plants grown in the maxi-kap self-watering containers look poor compared to those in the ground in the greenhouse and everything in Qualicum Beach looks poor compared to those in Calgary (although none of the Calgary tomatoes are ripe yet). This is obviously soil related and next year I will try adding charcoal to the sandy soil in Qualicum Beach. Also known as bio-char, charcoal has been used since early farming efforts in the Amazon rain forest (over 5,000 years ago) and it is reported to help hold nutrients where soils are low in clay and can’t otherwise hold nutrients. In Calgary we have plenty of clay which does the job neatly so we don’t need charcoal.

Looking over tomatoes picked this year. As it turns out only Juliet graduated to the list from this year’s crop and it is still on the list in 2017. Photo by Patrick Proudlock

Here is the flavor summary so far this year:

(Note: Early August harvest of tomatoes this year (2013) only included one variety from outdoors (Matina). All the other plants are staked and pruned and fertilized with organic fertilizer inside the greenhouse.

1. Matina: Source – Qualicum Beach farmers market- seed from 2012. Plants are staked and individual fruits are only slightly larger than cherry tomatoes. Fruit is juicy, sweet (fragrant), veggie taste, tough skin, small dark red, unami. One fruit was ready outdoors by early August and the rest were from the greenhouse.
2. Grafted* Homestead: Source “Mighty Matos” from Plug Collection California. One nice looking mid-sized red tomato was ripe by early August in greenhouse. Fruit is meaty in a brandywine way. Juice around seeds is acidic. Not much sweetness, neutral flavor, nothing distinctive.

3 Legend: Source: Seedy Saturday Qualicum Beach , BC. Only 1 ripe fruit so far in greenhouse but is was very sweet; skin is tough and bitter. Very few seeds, mostly meat. Some mushiness to fruit.  Reminded my co-tester (Brennan) of BBQ, savory; sweet. Not ripe outdoors by early August.

4 Sweetie : Source William Dam seeds, Ontario. Small cherry red tomatoes. Meaty, acidic at back of throat, lacking texture. One reviewer thought they were cruchy with a firm, tough skin and yellow shoulders. Starting to ripen outdoors in early August.

5 Juliet: Source William Dam seeds, Ontario. Red, mini-paste tomatoes, very prolific. Acidic, meaty, light bodied, sweet skin and firm meat. Nice contrast in taste between pulp and meat of tomato. Skin tough but neutral in flavour. Many were ripening outdoors by early August.

6 Valencia; Source – Seeds from Qualicum Beach farmer’s market vendor. Fruits variable in size from 2 cm- 6 cm. Fruit orange throughout when ripe. Plant heavily diseased in greenhouse but okay so far outdoors. Savoury, cruchy exterior, mushy inside. Fruit not ready at all outdoors by early August. Similar in size and texture to Brandywine.

* this is my first year trialing grafted tomatoes and homestead is one of the three varieties sent for testing. It is an heirloom variety. The plants were nearly dead when they arrived in May but have come back and are planted in the greenhouse but by early August they are not as vigorous as other varieties planted in greenhouse.