My Delicious Leads at 35 Ounces!

Another tomato weigh-in happened last Wednesday, Aug 14th at the courts.  It was time to bring my ripe Delicious tomato that I had been giving special attention to for the last two months.  Linda, Angeli and Syria made the official measurements of this beautiful tomato, and the measurements were recorded to be 16-1/2 inches in girth and weighed 35.0 ounces. 

This Delicious now leads the contest, beating the previous leader, Pam’s Brandywine by 4 ounces. 

 

This contest is by no means decided.  We have at least two more months of tomato growing season.  I have seen a winner come out as late as October (right Pam?).

Pam's Brandywine Humiliates My Big Zac

Pam showed up at the courts Wednesday morning with a red shopping bag containing two huge tomatoes she is entering in the tomato contest.  The official weigh-in put one of Pam’s Brandywine in the lead, weighing 31.0 ounces with a girth of 16-1/4 inches.  The other Brandy Wine still beat my Big Zac, weighing 24.0 ounces with a girth of 14-1/2 inches.

Kim holds the bag while Pam shows off her beautiful tomatoes

Syria made the official measurements in the presence of several observers (Kim, Bev and Donna).

Great looking tomatoes, Pam!

Pam’s Brandy Wine is pretty hard to beat at 31.0 ounces.  We have a few more months left this season.  I still have a Delicious on the vine that might have a chance..

My First Entry to This Year's Contest

I picked my Big Zac off the vine for weigh-in yesterday.  This is the first entry of the season.  Louise, Kim and Angeli did the official measurements.  It measured 15-3/4” in girth and weighed 21.6 ounces.

Kim measuring while Angeli is witnessing

Louise insuring accuracy..

Me, my Big Zac and My Lovely Tennis Friends

Tomatoes 2013

Our tomato contest this year is progressing along.  We are well into the growing season, and the competitors are eager to see fruits on their plants.  Many have reported little tomatoes in their garden but at this stage it is still impossible to predict which ones will emerge the biggest.

My Big Zac has been producing fruits already and I wean them leaving only one per cluster, hoping to get competition size tomatoes from the ones that are left on the vine.  Here's one fruit that's not so pretty but has winning potential:

John and Beverly O’Hara from Benicia are competing this year for the first time.  They have a beautiful garden with seven tomato plants.

Carl is quite proud of his Goliath.  His plants get a lot of sun being in Folsom where it is hotter.   He has location advantage over the rest of us living in the Bay Area.  Some of his eating (not competition) tomatoes are ready for picking already!

The above photo of Carl's garden is a month old.

Pam wins this year's contest

The 2012 tomato contest has come to an end and Pam took the tomato trophy, with her Kobe Beefsteak entry last August.  The tomato weighed 40.4 ounces with a girth of 19 1/4 inches. Nobody even came close to beating it.

Congratulations Pam!

Handgrenades and horseshoes

Well, it seems I spoke too soon, I picked my biggest Pineapple Beefsteak and put it on the scale, not good enough. 2 pounds 1.5 ounces, not good enough, rats. Good job Pam, you need to share your secrets ... bwah ha ha ha (evil laugh), no really, I've seen some photos of your garden (last year) and you've got it going on.

I'm planning on harvesting seeds from this tomato, since it was my biggest one, maybe I'll have a bigger one next year. Keep growing good food and big tomatoes.

Dave

Dave's garden pt. 2

Well, I finally got around to taking a short video on the garden, the focus is on the tomatoes. The Pineapple beefsteak is huge!!! Hope you enjoy!

https://vimeo.com/49486452

Pam’s Kobe Beefsteak Weighing 40.4 ounces Takes the Lead

Pam brought two giant tomatoes for weigh-in at the tennis courts on Friday, Aug 17. They were both Kobe Beefsteak grown from seeds that she ordered online.

 
Bill, Rich and Larry did the official measurements. The first tomato weighed 38.8 ounces with a girth of 18 7/8 inches, easily beating Terri's Delicious that weighed 26.9 ounces, the leading tomato before this weigh-in.

The second tomato looked huge and I could tell it would beat the first one before we even put it on the scale. It weighed 40.4 ounces, with a girth of 19 1/4 inches, and now leads the competition.

 
Pam's leading tomato ties the record (by weight) held by Dave's Aussie Beefsteak in 2005. This one also weighed 40.4 ounces, with a smaller girth of 18 3/4 inches.

After the weigh-in, Pam cut up a few slices to sample the taste and to me it tasted mildly sweet, perfect for sandwiches!

 

 

Pineapple Beefsteak

I think I may have the trophy this year, witness the wonder of the Pineapple Beefsteak! The first in the sequence is the monster (to the left above the tennis ball), I keep forgetting to borrow Tina's ribbon measure for the circumfrence. The other 2 will be at least 2lbs, this is a really tasty tomato, has really pronounced fruit flavors (mango, pineapple, yummy). I didn't expect to get anything like this (if I had, I would've thinned for a even bigger monster), can't wait to weight them when they ripen.

Look out, I'm gunning for the trophy!

Dave Davisson

First Entry of the Season

I brought in my Delicious tomato at the club last Saturday, 7/21, for weigh-in. This is the first entry of the season. The fruit measured 13-1/2 inches in girth and weighed 17.4 ounces. Carmel took the official measurements.

The competition is just beginning. I am sure more entries are coming. Meanwhile I will enjoy this one in my sandwiches.

Tomato Reject

By Terri Sweet

This is a Delicious that was rejected for being a runt.  It will make a good fried green tomato.

Carmel's Garden

By Carmel Engel

  

Stan has a variety of tomatoes.....He has Big Beef, Marianna's Peace, San Marzano, Champion Vent, Celebrity, German Johnson, Hillbilly, Ace, Big Boy, Sungold, Mortgage Lifter, and Ambassador.......They have been planted for 2 months and the tomatoes on the vine are still green....He has 18 tomato plants altogether!!!!

Finally a fruit appeared on my Big Zac. :)  This could ultimately by the trophy winner!

Kim's Heirloom Brandywine

Kim purchased this plant from Raley's with beautiful fruit on it already.

Dave's garden 2012

Well, it's about time I started posting some photo's of my garden, wait ... photo's?!!! We don't need no stinkin' photo's, we got video!!! So, here is a short video on my garden right now, the main focus is on the tomatoes, Big Beefsteak, Early Girl, San Francisco Fog, and Pineapple Beefsteak. I hope you enjoy and I will post again!

https://vimeo.com/44167476

Carl's Tomatoes

05/13/12 - These plants (Big Zac and Delicious)are ready for transplanting.










05/27/12 - They are now in half wine barrels at Carl's new house.

06/03/12 - Two nice looking fruits.













The mist watering helps cool down the plants in 95 deg weather.

Terri Sweet is competing

Terri has decided to join the competition.

April 3, 2012 -  The hard work is just beginning.

These are two beautiful heirloom tomatoes -- a Big Zac and a Delicious

At eight weeks, the plants have lots of blossoms and fruits should come out soon.

Tomato Contest 2012

The 2012 tomato contest is in high gear with a lot of enthusiasm from last year’s participants as well as from three tomato growers who are joining the competition for the first time. Welcome Mary Krenzke, Steve Bell and Carl Chavez to our contest.

Early reports from contestants about their plants are strongly positive – their plants are healthy and growing strong this early in the season some of their plants have fruit already. Last year, my competition tomatoes didn’t bear fruit until late July. The unusually hot weather this season must be the reason.

I am grooming four plants this year for competition: two Big Zac and two Delicious tomatoes which were grown from seeds out of my last year’s garden. As before, I am growing my competition tomatoes in half wine barrel containers with my special soil mix.


My garden as of June 3.

The 2011 Winner -- My Big Zac

It only took eight years of competing to win one. My second Big Zac entry this year took the title, officially weighing 35.0 ounces. I have now taken custody of the tomato trophy from Pam, the last year's winner.

My Big Zac No. 2 Leads!

The 2011 tomato contest is almost over. The last weigh-in was held on October 1st. The tomato was another Big Zac from my garden. This happened while I was out of town. I had asked Robert and the Mimaki girls to pick the tomato for the official weigh-in.

My Big Zac No. 2 was weighed at 35 ounces, with a girth of 17-3/8 inches, officially taking the lead.

This contest will end on Saturday, October 22nd. It doesn’t look like there will be anymore entries before then.. but we’ll have to wait and see.