I just finished 3 tomato sandwiches using a single Old German ... and I'm full ... and I'm happy. If I had only these tomatoes to eat every day the rest of my life, I'd stay happy. The world is diverse, and there are a lot of other very delicious varieties out there.
While I was eating those sandwiches, I noticed how the Old German starts with a great tomato flavor while biting through the bread texture and then the tomato gives up the stage letting the mayo and other ingredients come to the front. Really, a delightful mix.
But, there are other varieties out there, so find your favorite! Cherokee Purple gets so many good reviews ... and its understandable with the complexity of flavors, I picture holding a ribbon in hand and tasting the tomato as judging for its flavor when I bite into these. But, *for my taste buds*, I claim the German Johnson and Brandywine as the ones that make all the work in the garden completely worth it. When I bit into one of those, I know that I have to keep growing tomatoes ... because I have just found a treasure chest of yummy and that flavor cannot be found anywhere except right out of the garden.
For those having problems with fruit set, here in VA, the problem more often than not is too heavy on nitrogen leading into the blossoming. We get this question about every week at the plant clinic ... "My plants are huge and dark green, but the flowers keep falling off"
