Mortgage Lifter

[Boron Elgar]

So I planted some Mortgage Lifter tomatoes this year. The plants grew very well, were most prolific in flowering, setting and ripening of fruit.

The only problem is that the tomatoes are not wonderful. They look fabulous. They would make ideal magazine shots or state fair entries, but they are, at least to me, underweight for their size and have no depth of flavor whatsoever.

I have only two full size varieties growing this year (many cherry, pear, patios, etc, as they bear and ripen earlier here), the MLs and some identified only as "heirloom tomato" on the labeling, that latter having been bought as a lark from a reduced rack at the local grocery store.

I wish I knew what the "heirloom tomato" really was as it has produced fruit that is everything that exemplifies a home grown tomato with indescribably delicious complexity of taste.

It's fun gardening.

Boron

[Boron Elgar]

Northern NJ.

[songbird]

aw!

thanks for saying. we've always been happy with the beefsteaks. the past few years we added the sweet 100s cherry tomatoes and they are very good. two plants take up about 60sq ft and keep producing so many we have plenty to give away. i'd rather give away a half a pint of cherry tomatoes instead of a three pound beefsteak.

the seeds should be reusable.

:) sure is, i have been working on thinning out the strawberries and planting the runners in a spare spot. five gallon bucket packed full. i have another two sides to finish yet. they will go in another place to fill in that garden. :)

songbird

[Steve Peek]

Mortgage Lifter was bred to be pretty and not bruise easily anything else was of no consequence. I grew some Rutgers this year because of a childhood memory. They were comparable to your experience with the ML. If your heirloom was really good save the seeds. I have several that I save each year. Their flavor is far superior to "modern" tomatoes, unfortunately their disease resistance is not.

[The Cook]

For the last several years I have been trying lots of different tomatoes and I have decided that next year I am only going to plant Viva Italia, Better Boy, Early Girl and Jelly Bean. I am also going to plant a second crop of Viva Italia and Better Boy since I seem to have so much trouble with various and sundry blights and bugs.

A couple of days ago I found out what was eating my cantaloupe -- a turtle.

[Boron Elgar]

I cannot say that I have any consistency from year to year. The weather seems to have such a great affect of what thrives and doesn't

- at least with the veggies, that I find some of it a crap shoot.

Oh, that doesn't stop me, of course, nothing will, but I would love to find a tomato that gives me what I want year after year. I have a chance at it with the volunteers that start growing in mid August in a shady patch of impatiens each year. I just let'em do their thing - which must be good as I have 7 plants growing there right now. I should try to save some seed from them and put them in the sun next year as they are like the Molly Brown of tomatoes (cherries).

Oh, now THAT is a great garden story.

Boron

[Billy]

Did you reduce watering when the fruit started to set? Over watering can reduce flavor.

[David Hare-Scott]

Really? You must have that Harry Potter wand and magic word that turns plants back into seeds .... "Reverso tomaticus!"

D

[Martin Riddle]

I planted Burpee Early (Don?t think they are Early girls) anyway, they finally ripened and they are very good. A nice tomato punch to the taste. I'm still waiting for the Better Boys to Ripen, some of those suffered blossom end rot.

The cherry 100's are plenty as usual.

Cheers

[Marcella Peek]

I think maybe "resuable" wasn't quite the word. But if the plant really is an heirloom tomato then the seeds can be planted and the fruit should be true to the parent plant.

That's the beauty of heirloom produce, you can save the seeds and plant them instead of buying seeds.

marcella

[Boron Elgar]

I have been growing tomatoes for over a quarter of a century and have the methodology down pat. On the contrary...these fruits were underweight for their size. Were this reduction in flavor true to form, of course, I'd notice a comparable reduction in all varieties that I grew.

I surely cannot control the weather, but I've other tomatoes in the same bed as the ML and they are fine. Last year all the tomatoes in that bed were sweeter, but alas, they were all volunteers from the compost. They were my clue indicating that particular flower bed should be converted to a tomato patch.

Boron

[Boron Elgar]

I like the sweet 100s. Their only flaw is a tendancy to split after a heavy rain...much more so than any of the other cherries or small tomatoes I have going this year.

Yes...the cherries get given away, but those perfect full size tomatoes are guarded like treasure.

And some have been saved. They are drying on paper towel.

I grow strawberries for show, I swear...with what the critters leave me, it is an exercise in futility.

Boron

[Boron Elgar]

I like that. There is money to be made with that wand.

Boron

[songbird]

David Hare-Scott wrote: ...

very funny, but you know what i mean jellybean.

songbird

[songbird]

The Cook wrote: ...

a second crop in a different location or?

haha! the race goes to the turtle. did you catch it in the act?

songbird

[David Hare-Scott]

I do

D

[FarmI]

LOL. I was thinking simialr thoughts at the use of 'reusable'.

Have you planted any toms yet or do you need to wait a while longer?

[FarmI]

Couse we know, but it still didn't stop me thinking of the stories from my youth of teens who reused condoms after carefully washing them out......

[David Hare-Scott]

Nah gladwrap, you can get a big roll for a few dollars .....

D

[David Hare-Scott]

My summer stuff is still in trays. The volunteers are coming up already but there is still time for a frost before summer despite having budburst on the stone fruits. So I will wait another 3 weeks to be safe.

D