O.K. where's the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, a touch of chopped basil, some baby mozzarella cheese and a loaf of crusty bread? A bottle of slightly chilled white wine would go very nicely with this little feast. :o)

Annette

Looks like good ol' tomato sandwiches to me!

Our Romas (and others) are coming in fast now. I spent yesterday afternoon putting up tomatoes for sauce this winter.

Drool, drool, drool...

I do have baby green tomatoes - patience, patience!

I still can't get over how well my tiny little grocery store 3-pack tomato plants have done, actually. This is in my brand new lasagna veggie bed (a first for me), so I'm thinking they are quite happy with all of that. Dh is having fun staking them, and plotting how often he'll have to tie them up! I think this may be the most excited I've ever seen him in the garden!

BTW, I do know how to spell ripe. It was sooooo good.

What kind of tomato is that? It LOOKS delicious!

Our first was also very large, called Tennessee Britches. It was delicious and an unknown heirloom. Since then we've had some Matt's Wild Cherry and Sweet Million.

I LOVE tomato season!

GGG

Oh that looks delicious Kathy. I bet is was sooo tasty! I have several that are almost to full size but still very green I'm afraid. I did manage to get my garden in a full two weeks earlier than last year so I'm hoping to get a bigger crop this year.

Question for you tomato growers... Mine get so full and bushy and it seems to take longer to ripen than most peoples. Do any of you clip off branches that aren't producing buds to stress them into ripening faster? Or to let more sun get to them? I planted all determinate tomatoes this year to see if I'd get better ripening.

MeMo

GGG, it is early girl, determinate. But it is already hanging over the cages by a couple feet. I am wonering if it was labeled wrong.

Normally we are slowing down because of the heat. Most tomatoes won't set blooms at 90 or above. We have had only 3 or 4 days that high so far. We usually have to get plants with short # of maturity days due to the heat.

I don't prune leaves because of sun blistering.

We put our tomatoes in part shade here in our SC garden. They get a bit of direct sun in late morning. It is just too hot for them in direct sun here. We have found that our yield is just as high (or more) and no blistering or splitting. We have steady production all summer this way. And I have an idea that the plants are not so stressed and so don't fall prey to insects as easily.

Gee Kathy, that doesn't look like an Early Girl to me. That looks like one of the larger heirlooms. By whatever name, it sure looks tasty! I'm sitting here drumming my fingers waiting for mine to ripen. I've got plenty of huge green ones. I'm thinking about whipping up a batch of fried green tomatoes this weekend (I can't wait much longer). Some people take off the suckers that grow in the crotches MeMo, but I don't believe this practice speeds up ripening. Hang in there, we're not far behind.

Steven

Steven, you are correct. I went out and crawled around. That plant had grown through the early girl. I found a tag that is Rose De Berne. I will take cuttings for fall. I also fed the skeeters while out there.

Here is a link that might be useful: Rose de Berne