tomatos

[brigeton]

I think it is pretty much agreed on that tomatoes from the grocery store don't have any flavor. What is the cause of this? Is it because they are picked so green? Or are they grown indoors? Or is it a commercially grown variety of tomatoes? Even the ones that are fairly red don't have any flavor.

 

[martybee]

I think it is pretty much agreed on that tomatoes from the grocery store don't have any flavor. What is the cause of this? Is it because they are picked so green? Or are they grown indoors? Or is it a commercially grown variety of tomatoes? Even the ones that are fairly red don't have any flavor.

All of the Above!

mb

 

[BigBoy99]

The tomatoes are picked when they are green and hard. That way they can stand the rough handling experienced during their shipping. Once they arrive, ethylene gas is used to turn them red. That is why I buy only locally grown tomatoes.

 

[Old TexMex]

Refrigerated after being picked green. It turns red, but it never gets ripe.

 

[brigeton]

I wondered because I sometimes bring in tomatoes that are a little green cause they fall off the vine and let them ripen indoors and they aren't too bad. I don't refrigerate though. I have some little green tomatoes about the size of golf balls now. I'm going camping the last half of this month. I hope I have something ripe when I get home.

 

[islamoradamark]

when there no more local my wife buys heirloom tomatoes she say s there the only one s at the store that are any good the others have no taste

 

[Old TexMex]

The wind, bugs, birds and heat have wreaked havoc on mine, ( so I pick them when first turning pink and ripen in the window) but a couple of the later harvest plant are okay still. Without pico de gallo, life is a little pale. And fresh homegrown tomatoes are what makes it.

1/2 soupbowl of chopped tomatoes, 1/4 soupbowl chopped brown onion, two tablespoons of fine chopped (seeded) jalapeño, 1/2 tsp salt, two tablespoons of chopped fresh celantro, juice of two limes. Mix and let it sit for 30 minutes (if you can wait that long).

 

[martybee]

We like Heirloom tomatoes like: Sheboygan tomatoes. We grow them in our garden.

mb

 

[brigeton]

when there no more local my wife buys heirloom tomatoes she say s there the only one s at the store that are any good the others have no taste

A guy at work told me there was a certain kind of fancy tomato, maybe heirloom, that wasn't bad from a certain store. I bought some. They were as flavorless as any other store tomato.

 

[doublesharp]

Hydroponic tomatoes usually have a good flavor but are pricey. I usually buy romas in the off season for salads and such. Aldi carries a 2 tomato tray pack slicer size and they taste pretty good. Fairly new is selling tomatoes still on the vine and they are decent too. My experience is medium size eat better than lg slicer size in grocery tomatoes.

Back in my fruit peddler days we (Paul's Fruit Markets and me) had a springtime operation in sw Florida where we'd run a mexican picker crew that picked tomatoes in the orange or breaker stage of ripeness. Once a tomato shows color on the blossom end it's called a star pink and if you pick them with a litte color they naturally ripen and have good flavor.

We packed in a single layer 10lb box and wrapped layer in bubble wrap then stacked carefully into a UPS container. Could get about 700 boxes in a container then air freight to Louisville and had them in our stores the next day. You couldn't ship tomatoes this ripe by truck because the bumps would bruise them into juice but they rode fine by plane although labor intensive. Was something that set us apart from the rest and you can build a business with tomatoes. Back then wholesale was around $1.00 per pound and we typically retailed for $1.99lb. Pretty pricey for the 1980s but they sold well and Florida tomatoes eat pretty good if allowed to ripen on the vine.

 

[Mike SC Hunter]

Pick maters out back......mater samichez....maters & sausage.....maters & rice.....maters with salt & pepper....mater pie.....dried maters.......I LOVE fresh maters!!!!!!!!
.........And mater juice too!!!!!!!!

 

[joeintexas]

We have roadside fruit and vegetable stands during the summer months that have really good produce. Hard to beat fresh garden grown tomatoes. I have no idea why the pic came out sideways, I haven't even hit the sauce tonight!

 

[jag312]

All fruit and vegetables taste better when they are fresh picked and eaten. The plant cells are still alive. By the time they get to a store, the plant cells are dead, and they have lost their flavor. That's why I'm planting fruit trees and planting various fruits and vegetables on my property.

 

[amazingflapjack]

the reason for tomatoes that are only fit for throwing...

I think it is pretty much agreed on that tomatoes from the grocery store don't have any flavor. What is the cause of this? Is it because they are picked so green? Or are they grown indoors? Or is it a commercially grown variety of tomatoes? Even the ones that are fairly red don't have any flavor.

unless they are home grown, is due to a particularly bad trade agreement...

 

[armadillo]

When I was a kid, my dad ran a tomato packing operation in deep south Texas where tomatoes were a winter crop. The pickers only took the green tomatoes for shipping. My mother would take us out to the fields after they were harvested and we would pick the "culls" that were already ripe. That is how a tomato is supposed to taste.

Otherwise the best tomatoes I have had are the "creole tomatoes" in New Orleans when they are in season. They are small, lumpy and not even red all over, but they have a great tomato taste.

 

[timn8er]

The only store bought tomatos I've had that are any good are the Campari's that Sam's sells. They are very tasty, but you have to use them up fast because they are pretty ripe when they sell them.

 

[coltle6920]

Never had a bad tomato...At least not one that a little mayo and some strips of bacon couldn't fix.

 

[rog8732]

Learned this tomato growing tip just today from a fellow who supplies the whole neighborhood.

He puts four Tums, under each new plant, and he puts a drinking straw right beside/against the new slip when he plants.
His tale, not mine.

The Tums (calcium) stop any of that black bottom you often see on a tomato, and the straw stops "cut-worms" from chewing through the young stems.

I grow all my veggies at Winn-Dixie. Beef cows and apple trees too; but the tomato expert says his trick works.

 

[susieqz]

i grow tomatoes in my kitchen in winter.
i take cuttings from outdoor plants n root them.
there is no soil, just potting mix.
they still taste homegrown.