Blind taste test on first crop

[cythaenopsis]

^ Wow, 80's during the day and 60's at night... ah! Superb for tomatoes. I'm in northern NJ and we've not gone below about 72 at night for almost a month now. Although we've had generally hot weather, we've been lucky not to have more than a couple of above 90's days strung together. I erected some shade to help abate the heat a little and it seemed to help--I didn't have as much blossom drop as I was expecting. Still, when a couple of flowers get fertilized on one part of a truss, the all of the blossoms and buds on the rest of the truss end up dying off (probably an intentional abort by the plant to divert resources to fruit growing). I'm probably needing to up the fertilizer levels.

As for optimal tomato regions, Eastern Long Island has some terrific spots too. I've eaten a few terrifically delicious beefsteak tomatoes out there.