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IrishAyes

(6,151 posts)
Wed Oct 23, 2013, 01:20 PM Oct 2013

Since my first thread is growing a bit worn by now, a new one to post info:

Those famous Ruskin tomatoes that I searched for so desperately:

As I might've said before, they're not a specific variety in and of themselves. However, at long last the Ruskin festival folks answered - oh, how shamelessly I begged! - and they tell me the preferred variety that makes Ruskin so famous is the Tasti-Lee tomato. Bejo Seed holds exclusive rights to sell it.

Of course how you choose to cultivate TL's will still make a considerable difference. Basically you'll want a sandy loam top over a heavier layer of rich soil. I don't think Ruskin's hard pan at the bottom will be missed so long as you water enough. It simply helps in-ground tomatoes fare better on their own in a drought. I know from other websites that TL's sell like hotcakes in the supermarkets.

Have fun!

3 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Since my first thread is growing a bit worn by now, a new one to post info: (Original Post) IrishAyes Oct 2013 OP
Guess what? lamp_shade Oct 2013 #1
Happy for you! Now I feel much better too, knowing which variety to buy where. IrishAyes Oct 2013 #3
I just read the book Tomatoland Curmudgeoness Oct 2013 #2

lamp_shade

(15,092 posts)
1. Guess what?
Wed Oct 23, 2013, 03:37 PM
Oct 2013

I live in Ruskin and I'm almost completely surrounded by acres and acres of tomato fields.
Believe it or not, you probably have better luck finding them than I do. Most are harvested and shipped out of town or out of state. The local grocery stores carry very few of them, so I get them at road side stands. They are delish. I will eat freshly harvested tomato and mayo sandwiches until my mouth hurts and my lips are chapped.

IrishAyes

(6,151 posts)
3. Happy for you! Now I feel much better too, knowing which variety to buy where.
Wed Oct 23, 2013, 06:15 PM
Oct 2013

Personally, I think anyone who can't grow tomatoes oughta hang up their sun hat or something. They'll grow when nothing else does. Just reading about your sandwiches makes me hungry again, and I just finished dinner!

Know how tomatoes taste their very best? If you pick them early to mid afternoon when they're warm from the sun. I always keep 2 big pots for cherry tomatoes, and half the time when I go to pick some, they see the inside of me but not the inside of my house. Nothing sweeter in the world. I've actually eaten so many straight off the bush that when dinner time rolled around I was no longer hungry.

Curmudgeoness

(18,219 posts)
2. I just read the book Tomatoland
Wed Oct 23, 2013, 05:49 PM
Oct 2013

and I remember reading about the Tasti-lee tomato. The guy who developed it is one of the few good guys in the tomato industry in Florida. And that is supposed to be one of the varieties that really is tasty.

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