I am so excited
to be giving the final report on my first EMMA tomato harvest :-) This has got to be one of the finest (and definitely the largest!) tomatoes I've ever grown. For those of you who have followed my posts, I didn't think this one tomato was ever going to quit growing -- it just got larger and larger. Finally I saw just the hint of blush and quickly picked it and took it inside to finish up ripening. I waited until the last available minute to cut it because I wanted to make sure all the seeds had matured. When I saw that first dark spot this morning, well.... I knew that the day had arrived :-)
So, here's some tomato "eye candy"
for you... with a blow by blow description for each photo:
As you can see from the photo above, the tomato just about fills the entire plate! Like I said, it is the largest tomato I've ever harvested from my garden. As far as the weight -- 1 lb 3 oz. It's pretty "ruffled" (which I love). The top stem color is a little lighter... more dark yellowish. Then the color starts turning orange and a little into the reds as the you go toward the blossom end.
If you remember, I said that the blossom for this fruit initially looked almost like a double flower... this is evident in the blossom end of the fruit. I was somewhat concered at first that it might develop BER (I had some tomatoes have BER this year) but this one did not at all. It also gave me no problems with splitting like a couple other varieties did.
Here's a couple of closeup shots:
Now.... for the mystery REVEALED.... the inside of the tomato!!!!
Now.... guess what this pic is of -->>>>
Yep, after getting two gorgeous, thick slices off for dinner, you can see that I am going to ferment and save seeds!!!! I will be keeping a few for myself and sending the rest to Don :-) Don, I hope that you can continue growing this awesome tomato out! I would love for this one to have the EMMA name :-) I will also be growing it again in the garden and will keep you updated.
Now, guess what this pic is --->>>>
Nothing goes to waste LOL! The bowl of cut up tomato on the left (what I had from scooping out the seeds) was my breakfast on this gorgeous Saturday morning. The two thick slices in the plate on the right are going on the burgers we're having for dinner tonight....
Now, are you wondering what this tomato taste like? Well, I can give you first hand (taste) knowledge because I just finished my breakfast
This is not your typical "yellow" tomato. It is not bland at all. I guess that because it is a bi-color. It has a great "tomato-y" flavor. The meat part is not mushy or grainy at all. Nice and firm. As you can tell from the photos, there is a good meat to juice ratio :-) Not overly seedy either.
Wow, what an adventure! Don't you just love tomatoes??