We pulled the first large tomatoes off the vine yesterday. The Nebraska Weddings look great…
But something is clearly wrong the Beefsteak tomatoes. There were three or four more that I just tossed without bringing in because they were so badly mauled. Is it insects? Disease? Bry thinks squirrels are eating them, but we haven’t seen this in action. This is so disappointing!
Any suggestions?
Smith Family Weblog 
Posted by karyl on August 16, 2008 at 1:13 pm
We are having the same issues – maybe raccoons. Perhaps bring them in before they are fully ripe, and ripen them on the counter.
Posted by Jack on August 18, 2008 at 7:17 pm
Multiple problems. Definitely critter knawing, but also something else. What about the bottom side, any markings there? Could be blossum rot. The curvy lines are interesting, looks like some sort of insect problem….rotate your crops and strike beafsteaks off your list. Tomatoes don’t like moisture variance which is very difficult to control. We have lots of squirrels and have never seen them eat tomatoes.
Posted by Nicky McElfresh on August 19, 2008 at 10:14 am
When I grew heirloom tomatoes last year, I had to toss most of my Brandywines since they cracked when they were fully ripe, and mice got at them. At least the cracks and blemishes don’t hurt the flavor. I agree with Karyl, bring them in early and ripen on a windowsill or something.
Posted by Rebecca on August 19, 2008 at 10:18 am
Nicky, they are Brandwines. I completely forgot until I said to Bry, “Why aren’t these red like beefsteaks?” Yeah, that’s why!
We’ve brought in several unblemished tomatoes with just a hint of green–they do seem to ripen just fine inside.
Thanks, everyone!
Posted by wayne on August 21, 2008 at 3:48 am
just eat the good part