by Alexandra Marquez.
In late May, when I first started as an intern at Washington
Gardener, I planted eight varieties of tomatoes that Kathy had been sent to
trial in her community garden plot. It’s safe to say that in the last two
months, I’ve eaten a lot of tomatoes.
The varieties we tested were ‘Sun Sugar’, ‘Sun Gold’,
‘White Tomato’, ‘Rutgers’, ‘Red Torch’, ‘White Currant’, ‘Firefly’, and
‘Celebrity’. We watered them regularly, if it didn't rain enough that week. We also added
Espoma Tomato Tone, an organic vegetable fertilizer, once every two weeks
to help the tomatoes. In the same patch that the tomatoes were growing in, we
also planted three marigold species, because marigolds and tomatoes are good
companion plants.
The first variety to shoot up and start to flower were
definitely the ‘Sun Sugar’ and ‘Sun Gold’ plants, and we enjoyed some baby
tomatoes from them just a few weeks after planting. The ‘White Tomato’ and
'Firefly’ sprouted fruit quickly, but they’ve taken a long time to grow and
ripen, and we’re hoping to pick our first ‘Firefly’ this week. It’s hard to
know when the ‘White Tomato’ fruits are ready, because as ripe fruits, they are
a very similar color to their green unripened shade. Hopefully, we’ll be able
to enjoy some of those soon.
The ‘Torch’ tomatoes are definitely my favorite of the
ones we’re growing, because they’re not too big, but also not as small as the
‘Sun Sugar’ and ‘Sun Gold’ and they’re not too sweet, but also not too bitter.
They’re a perfect plum tomato shape, though a bit smaller than traditional plum
tomatoes. The flavor of these is also perfectly tomato-ey, and I really can’t
think of another way to describe their flavor.
The ‘Sun Sugar’, ‘Sun Gold’, and ‘White Currant’ tomatoes
are all cute, small, and easy to pop in your mouth straight off the vine, but
they are a bit too sweet for my liking.
Overall, I had a really fun time working with and growing
these tomatoes this summer. It was incredibly rewarding to water, fertilize, and
weed a plot that then yielded these delicious tomatoes that I enjoyed every
week.
About the Author:
Alexandra Marquez is a rising junior journalism and anthropology major at the University of Maryland. She is an editorial intern at Washington Gardener this summer.
About Fenton Friday: Every Friday during the growing season, I'll be giving you an update on my community garden plot at the Fenton Street Community Garden just across the street from my house in zone 7 Mid-Atlantic MD/DC border. I'm plot #16. It is a 10 ft x 20 ft space and this is our 8th year in the garden. (It opened in May 2011.) See past posts about our edible garden by putting "Fenton" into the Search box above.
