Black Krim Wins For First Main Season Tomato!
We have picked over 100 Early Girl tomatoes so far from the extra-early planted tomatoes, but finally we had another variety ripen!
Black Krim, one of my new heirlooms is the winner for the earliest main season tomato.
I am growing over 20 different types of tomatoes this year, and a number of them, like Black Krim, are heirlooms.
So does Black Krim make the grade?
I'm not going to give it a exhaustive evaluation like Hanna at This Garden Is Illegal does with her Hanna's Tomato Tasting, but giving Black Krim a pass or fail grade, it passes!
I do have to report that Hanna's 2006 Tomato Tasting entries did inspire me to try more heirlooms this year.
So what are my observations about Black Krim so far? It IS a darker tomato, but it was difficult for me to tell when it was ripe.
I had two ripen at the same time and I think I may have left them on the vine longer than I had to. The shoulders were still pretty green though.
The plant is still fairly small, but seems healthy. After slicing the Black Krims, I noticed that they are pretty meaty and the outside ring is almost black.
As for the taste, they were pretty good. Far less acid than the Early Girls we have gotten used to (have become almost sick of). The flavor reminded me of the Amish Brandywine. I wish I had a Brandywine right now to do a side by side comparison. We ate both Black Krims in our taste test and all four of us in my family wanted more. I say that is the sign of a good tomato!
I will report more at the end of the season about yield and comparison with the other varieties. I wonder what variety will ripen next?
13 comments:
Those are the coolest looking tomatoes! There is a big debate in our house right now about which tomatoes we want to plant - heirloom (which I hear are more prone to disease) or hybrid.
I am on the heirloom wagon and just looking at your Black Krim makes me want to get going NOW! LOL. Alas, it will be a few more months here in florida before I can have stationary tomatoes that don't wither and die in the blazing heat...
Emma,
Thanks for the kind words. The heirloom versus hybrid tomato debate is a good one. You are right that heirlooms do not have much disease resistance, but the flavors are soooo good compared to hybrids. I wrote a post detailing the pros and cons of heirloom tomatoes that you may enjoy reading.
At our house we couldn't decide between one kind or the other so we are growing hybrids and heirlooms.
That looks really good! I looked at some unusual tomatoes in a catalogue this Spring. There seem to be all sorts of early, unusual tomatoes coming out of Eastern Europe. This looks similar to some of the Black Russian tomatoes. I might try some next year.
Black tomatoes are just the tastiest, IMP. :)
The green in a black tomato does throw you off a bit. The reason black tomatoes are black is actually because they don't let go of their green chlorophyll like other tomatoes do. When the lycopene and carotene start to come in, the colors mix together. And, if you remember from kndergarten art class, red and green mixed together make dark brown or black. :)
So, black tomatoes always look a little green because technically they still are.
Anyhoo, those just look yummy. I am jealous.
"...over 100 Early Tomatoes so far..." Wow, I really hate you! :)
All of my Early Girls are still green. At my house, we're trying to get buy with only cherry tomatoes and the farmer's market but it's tough with dozens of green tomatoes sitting there in the garden. :(
And it looks like my Black Krim's are also going to be one of the first to turn ripe this year. I love the taste but only got a few last year. This year I already have more unripened on the vine than I got all of last year.
My take on the Heirloom vs. Hybrid debate, go with both. Enjoy the rich flavors of the heirloom while harvesting a huge supply of the hybrids. Best of both worlds.
Enjoy your tomatoes Marc!
Marc: Never, ever say that you're almost sick of garden tomatoes! One must eat fresh vegetables in the summer until one can't take it anymore, because those are the memories you live off during the winter!
That is a gorgeous tomato! I don't eat fresh tomatoes because I don't like the taste, but I do eat cooked ones.
We're growing 'Mr. Stripey' in our garden this year, just because it's unique in appearance.
My husband is the tomato eater and he likes them all, so we try a different variety each year, except for 'Sungold' for our cherry tomatoes. He likes that one better than others.
very interesting tomatoes. I wondered if they were really black on the inside and they are. May be adding these to my Tomato list next year.
Ooo, delicious looking. I grew Black Prince last year and it was delicious.
Marc, what I'd really like to know is does the dark color hold if they're cooked? I'm thinking Black Krim/Chipotle salsa.
Marc,
I just wanted to let you know I blogged about you and those fantastic Black Krims - and also the great heirloom article you referred me to over on my blog at Garden Ideas. Thanks again for your awesome tomato advice!
Emma
I've been experimenting with many varieties myself over the past few years. Against all perceived logic, the heirloom varieties are more prolific croppers and are standing up better in this climate than the hybrid varieties. I've kept soil diseases out of my garden by only growing from seed, not from seedlings.
My first Black Russian for the season was picked today, the Grosse Lisse and San Marzano tomatoes are growing nicely, but the Black Krim has completely taken over everything! They are by far the fastest growing, and when combined with assisted pollination from an electric toothbrush, very heavy croppers.
The Black Krims are just doing so stunningly well here, and can't wait to taste them! It's Winter right now and in this climate that's the perfect time to grow them (Sunny and Dry, which is great to regulate watering to reduce splitting)
I grew what the greenhouse had labeled as a pineapple tomato. The plants are about 6 ft high. The tomatoes are like nothing I'd ever seen before and definitely were not pineapple tomatoes. I checked the net and I'm pretty sure that they are black krims - I will try eating one tomorrow. I sliced one the other day and thought it was rotten - I know better now. lol
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