The Most Interesting Tomato Plant of the Month! August 2023

Weekend Haul (Partial)

I don't always grow tomato plants. Wait, that's a lie. I've been growing tomato plants every summer for 25-years straight. So, I guess my message to you should be: Grow Tomatoes, My Friends.

The photo to your immediate right? That represents my big weekend activity for the month of August. I'm either collecting ripe tomatoes to make gobs upon gobs of canned tomato sauce (with the bite of Jalapeño peppers I might add), OR I'm throwing them into bags and BEGGING my neighbors to take them.

This is the moment in August where heirloom tomato production is positively off the hook. It's not over yet. There are three times as many green tomatoes on the plants that I harvested from today than those that show the color of absolute peak heirloom ripeness. This means another month, or even two, of heirloom tomato harvests. This is, of course, provided the weather holds out.

Cold nights can screw up an heirloom tomato harvest. The tomatoes still turn a pleasing color of red, pink, yellow, orange or whatever variety you are choosing to grow. But sustained cool temperatures at night can play havoc with that heirloom taste.

Tomato of the Month

The nights, unfortunately, have been getting a bit cooler recently. It's not cold yet. But it's near the end of August, which means cold weather isn't very far off. It hasn't affected the taste yet. Today's serving of the giant pink monsters known as Marianna's Peace (MP) were positively off the hook. But, I do worry.

Although I could easily give the August title to MP, or any one of a number of other heirloom producers, I've saved this singular honor for a new variety that popped up in my garden this year. It's called Bread and Salt. It has been an absolute pleasure to grow and the production has been rather outstanding.

This is not a new variety. Not by any stretch of the imagination. It is somewhat new to the United States. But, in the heart of Mother Russia, this variety is well known. I can only tell you that the seeds for this variety did, in fact, come from Russia. I'm not sure exactly where, since this variety is apparently grown all over the Eastern European continent. I'm not at all surprised.

Bread and Salt

Bread and Salt is what tomato growers call an "oxheart" variety. It is a very large oxheart variety. How big? As big as my big, fat hand. Perhaps even bigger. I was blessed with two Bread and Salt starter plants this year. I gave one away and planted the other. I didn't give it much thought beyond that. I didn't know what to expect out of this variety because it's not one I had been expecting to receive as a starter plant.

This heirloom tomato variety may be called Bread and Salt. But it doesn't taste like that. The name, however, is symbolic. It is a Russian custom to provide gifts of bread and salt, which acts as a symbol of good health and fortune. A Bread and Salt variety grown in any fresh tomato garden is certainly going to bring those very good benefits. This is one good tomato. It's meaty. It's tasty. That zing of tartness is in every bite.

This plant doesn't get very large. Maybe four feet tall? That's the size of many standard determinate varieties. There's nothing wrong with determinate varieties. Any vine-ripened tomato is good eating. But most determinate varieties aren't worth writing home about in my opinion. Bread and Salt is different. My plant started producing in mid July and hasn't stopped. New tomatoes continue to form with every passing week, which means this plant won't play out until Mother Nature puts a stop to all summer garden production with one of her patented cold snaps.

Bread and Salt Tomato

I made sure to include a few ripened Bread and Salt whoppers in my canned tomato sauce creations this year. Bread and Salt tomatoes have found their way into more garden salads than I can count. I give as much of them away as I possibly can, without wearing out my welcome as a "good" neighbor. It's just one of those reliable heirloom varieties that you can count upon in any summer vegetable garden.

I can't make any promises, but it may show up in another future garden at some point. It certainly deserves another chance or two after the show this variety put on this year. I just thought you should know about it. It is, without a doubt, the most interesting tomato plant of the month!

This Ain't No Ripple!

Ripple!

It is just like a fine wine. And I can't stop drinking it. It's smooth. It's tasty. It goes down the gullet just right. This ain't no Ripple! This is a Château Lafite Rothschild or something similar. I have no idea what a Château Lafite Rothschild tastes like. But Google tells me this is a fine wine. It ain't no Ripple!

I am, of course, being a tad facetious. I don't drink anymore and even when I did drink, my first choice was not wine. And it certainly wasn't Ripple! That was my mother's wine of choice. Ripple was big in the 1970's. It was produced by E&J Gallo in Modesto, which just happens to be my home town. It is described as a "low end fortified wine." That means CHEAP. Which means it always had a prime spot in my mother's refrigerator.

It didn't last long. Mom loved her Ripple. She wasn't alone. So did a lot of people. This list includes Fred Sanford (Redd Fox) of "Sanford and Son" fame. Fred could never get enough Ripple. He was famous with combining E&J Gallo's favorite concoction with champagne. It was a creation he dubbed "Champipple."

Ripple!

I bring this admission to you because, I will admit, that I have been enjoying the table grape alternative to Ripple wine. These table grapes have been on sale at my local supermarket. They are priced at 98-cents per pound. That's my kinda price. I love table grapes. I love cheap table grapes even more. So, every four to five days I find a reason to visit my store of choice to pick up another 4-5 pounds of cheap red or green, Ripple type, table grapes.

Are they great table grapes? Of course not! They are kinda sweet and kinda crunchy. They're also cheap! Good enough for me. But, I had forgotten about the "fine wine" of table grapes that I planted and grew long ago. It's just been so long that I had forgotten about that signature taste. Not anymore. I am extremely fortunate.

Thanks to an extraordinarily nice lady who is a member of the Sacramento Chapter of the California Rare Fruit Growers (CRFG), I am once again enjoying the "fine wine" of CA table grape production.

Diamond Muscat Grapes

You will not find these grapes in your local store. You  probably will not find them at a farmer's market. You will find these types of special grapes growing in selected California backyards, and I am one of those fortunate few who will get to enjoy and savor that special taste again.

I had forgotten about these signature table grape tastes. Oh my!

The first selection I would be gifted with is a variety that I grew at one time, but also had to leave behind (divorce). I've never forgotten about the Diamond Muscat. I even wrote about this variety once, singing its praises. This was another "impulse purchase" on my part. It would turn out to be the greatest table grape that I would ever plant, harvest from and eat.

Diamond Muscat Vine

The Diamond Muscat is one excellent table grape. It has been a decade since I last tasted one. Thanks to a wonderful gift that came out of the blue, I get to sample seven pounds of them. Seven pounds of Diamond Muscat grapes may seem like a lot to some people. It probably is to most. But for someone as table-grape-obsessed as I am, seven pounds of Diamond Muscat grapes is a "snack."

If the gift from this lady had ended with a full box of Diamond Muscat grapes, I would be so very grateful. But, it didn't end there. Oh yes, there's more! This is a table grape that I did not have previous experience with. Yet, I can tell you, without a doubt, this one is also very, very good.

It is called Summer Royal. It is known as a Thomcord type of table grape. Introduced by the USDA Agricultural Research Station in Fresno in 1999, this is one fine grape variety to snack on. I had never tasted it before. Yet, if I ever get the chance to plant another vineyard again in my lifetime, the Summer Royal will be part of that list.

Summer Royal Thomcord

So, which table grape variety is better? Diamond Muscat or Summer Royal? I can't make that decision. I can only tell you that I am enjoying both of them. What a nice gift for a fresh fruit afficianado to enjoy. Thank you kindly, my very special friend.

So, there you have it. No more Ripple-type table grapes for me! At least for a short while, I get to snack on a bit of home-grown heaven.