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Is it tomato time?

Posted on July 19th, 2007 – 7:58 AM
By Robyn Dochterman

Do you have ripe tomatoes yet?

I don’t mean the cherry ones or those yellow pear-shaped ones you pop in your mouth while you’re weeding. I mean real, round, red tomatoes. Or black or purple. Or even pink tomatoes.

Since I live 45 minutes northeast of the ‘Cities, I’ve learned to say little when conversing with more southernly-situated gardeners, lest I blurt out a prideful “My peonies just busted into bloom!” when others’ finished blooming weeks ago.

So, if I mention that my tomatoes are turning, would you laugh at me or nod along?

And perhaps it’s a bit premature (at least for me, maybe not for you), but I’m on the hunt for a good salsa recipe. Anyone have one they really like? How about a recipe for pizza sauce? Some other favorite way to prepare your tomatoes?

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 19th, 2007 at 7:58 am and is filed under Tomatoes, Peppers + Eggplant. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

21 Responses to "Is it tomato time?"

Brenda says:

July 19th, 2007 at 8:29 am

I don’t have any ripe ones yet. Not even the little ones. My plants are growing like crazy so I will have some soon.

Amanda says:

July 19th, 2007 at 8:42 am

I was actually starting to worry that mine would never produce anything. This is my first attempt at tomatoes and really didn’t know what to expect. They are big and bushy and healthy but I hadn’t found any fruit. Finally, just last week, I found little bitty tomatoes starting to form on one of the plants. Now I am starting to see lots of flowers, so I am hoping that the fruit will follow.

Elsa says:

July 19th, 2007 at 9:28 am

Mine are still small and green. I’m hoping for a nice warm September, otherwise I’m worried they won’t have time to get ripe.

Tracy says:

July 19th, 2007 at 9:34 am

Not a single ripe tomato in West Bloomington, not even cherries or yellow pears. Some of the others (Pruden’s Purple, especially) have some good-sized fruit, but they are all still very resolutely green.

Peter Hoh says:

July 19th, 2007 at 9:42 am

One Sweet Tangerine is all that I have harvested aside from some cherry tomatoes.

Kathy W says:

July 19th, 2007 at 9:53 am

Would it help to start cutting back the new growth or is it still early?

Eden says:

July 19th, 2007 at 10:11 am

Yeah, our cherry and grape tomatoes are just beginning to change color and the big ones seem a long way off. I’m just happy that they survived. We’ll need to find a completely different location for them next year. I think that the two large maples in our back yard zap all the water.

Robyn Dochterman says:

July 19th, 2007 at 10:17 am

Wow. Thanks for the updates. Looks I might have jumped the gun a bit in thinking that I was so far behind.
Keep me posted, though, on when you get that first ripe one.

Jaime Chismar says:

July 19th, 2007 at 11:49 am

My pear tomatoes are green and HUGE, almost pornographic in fact. I thought my teeny tiny Sara’s Galapagos tomatoes would be the first. It is so petite and delicate that a good wind knocks off all the fruit. Grrr…

JHA says:

July 19th, 2007 at 12:02 pm

I have two giant, ripe Marmandes, and about 20 ripe San Marzanos. All of the other fruit is about 2 weeks away.

Seza says:

July 19th, 2007 at 12:31 pm

Yep, same thing near Lake Hiawatha. My cherry tomatoes are starting to change color, but my big boys and nebraska wedding heirlooms aren’t even close. Thank goodness for Jaime’s soaker hose tip or I wouldn’t have any due to bottom rot.

povertyrich says:

July 19th, 2007 at 3:07 pm

I have nothing near ripe yet here in Seattle. It hasn’t helped that it’s been a cold and gloomy summer so far. We finally had some sutained hot weather last weekend, and our tomatoes had a growth spurt, and the number of fruit more than doubled, but nothing ripened. Not even yellow pear tomatoes.

And, of course, now the weather has turned cold and gloomy again.

I miss hot and humid Minneapolis summers.

Jaime Chismar says:

July 19th, 2007 at 3:43 pm

Ha! Paul Douglas is forecasting highs in the 90’s all next week. What I wouldn’t give for a gray Seattle day! If I remember correctly, you were harvesting carrots in May. What’s in season now?

Judy says:

July 19th, 2007 at 3:51 pm

Well, in my yard in west central Minnesota, so far there have been a few ripe red cherry (Koralik), a couple of Sungold, and one black cherry tomato. Lots of green ones, big and small. So, we’re still waiting!

povertyrich says:

July 19th, 2007 at 6:21 pm

Other than those few cayenne peppers, broccoli is about all we can harvest at the moment. The second wave of carrots isn’t quite big enough to pull, and the eggplant and tomatillos are blooming, but no fruit yet. Plus, our peas are done for the year, and our lettuce bolted. Looking forward to some fall planting.

We do have lots of dahlias, cosmos, and sunflowers, and our pumpkin has spilled from its little bed and is spreading across the yard, though.

Nan says:

July 20th, 2007 at 10:09 am

LOL visualizing pornographic maters. Fun in the garden. Coon Rapids grape and cherry tomatoes are red already.

Annie says:

July 20th, 2007 at 10:35 am

I live near Lake Nokomis and my heirloom black krim plants are 6 ft tall, HUGE and plentiful–but still on the green side. My best guess is that these beauties will ripen within the next 2 weeks or so.

Amber says:

July 20th, 2007 at 1:22 pm

The best (and most varied) salsa recipes I’ve found are from Rick Bayless’ cookbook “Mexican Everyday”.

Barbara Glander says:

July 20th, 2007 at 1:48 pm

I have picked 3 ripe early girl tomatoes. I live in Southwest Minneapolis. BLT’s ahead!

Ell says:

July 24th, 2007 at 7:58 am

In my Eden Prairie garden, the WayAhead tomatoes are ripening. I’ve enjoyed 3 baseball size tomatoes.

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