I went to the
Baltimore Farmer's Market today. My co-workers have been telling me that it is very good, and I finally got around to going. There were many stands with a wide variety of heirloom tomatoes. I decided this was a great way to explore varieties I can grow next year. I bought chocolate cherry, pink brandywine, Mr. Stripey, purple cherokee, and moon glow tomatoes.
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| From top (clockwise) pink brandywine, Mr. Stripey, chocolate cherry, purple cherokee, moon glow |
I bought some purple cherokee from Whole foods last week and was completely unimpressed but I thought I'd give it another go. And I am glad I did.
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| Flavor aside, these tomatoes are beautiful! |
I liked Mr. Stripey and purple cherokee. The chocolate cherry tasted good when I was munching on them on my way home, but when tasting them side-by-side the flavor paled in comparison to Mr. Stripey and purple cherokee. There were so many other varieties @ the market, so I will have to go back again next week and test others. I think I will need to find a community garden for more space...my wish list keeps getting longer!
I was not aware of this farmer's market. I've only been to the one in Towson (every Thursday), for the few months I've lived here.
ReplyDeleteI totally feel your "pain", though. I regret only getting four plants this year, and I have no idea where/how I am going to grow the ones I want to do next year. So many varieties, so little space!
The part I love about buying tomatoes from a farmer's market is that I can save the seeds. Keeps me from having to double spend. I'm a bit of a cost cutter, that way.
If I can make a suggestion, check out some Roma tomatoes, especially if you want to make some homemade sauce. :)
If you can find them, try Black Cherry. It's one of my favorites, and I've heard it's way better than Chocolate Cherry. I think I even have some seeds I could send you if you like them.....not sure though, as I have all my tomato seeds sealed and stored for the year. Black Cherry gets really big, so would need a large container and an 8-10' pole to tie it to. If you like being surprised, I have a packet of mixed cherry tomato seeds I can share with you. I have no idea what you'd get! I ended up with two (large grape/small roma) plants, and the tomatoes are really good. I do have a lot of Cherokee Purple, so let me know if you need some.
ReplyDeleteBen - thanks for the suggestion, I will look for Roma tomatoes - I haven't been to the one in Towson...I will have to check it out one day. I would highly recommend the baltimore one, the only problem I see if parking but it looked like there was a little parking lot next to the market. I didn't know you can save seeds - I thought they had to be ripe to a point of being almost rotten? That's a great thing to know, thanks!
ReplyDeleteAnnie, you are too generous! I"m definitely going back to the market. My next thing to do is to contact some people to see if I can get a plot somewhere. I was just amazed by Mr. Stripey and the purple cherokee. I will look for the black cherry and report back:) And I might ask for some seeds:)
it's so fun to do tomato taste tests. The Cherokee purple usually wins here!
ReplyDeleteWendy - yeah, I"m glad I tried again. The purple cherokee I bought @ whole foods was not so good...
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