Maskotka's final moments

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My views concerning the Tomato variety “Maskotka” are well known. It is without a doubt my favourite. The fruits are “large cherry” size, red when ripe, thin-skinned, and very, very tasty, with just the right balance of sweetness and acidity. This is a “determinate” type – in other words it grows as a low bush. I found the following explanation on the website GardenWeb:

“Determinate varieties of tomatoes, also called “bush” tomatoes, are varieties that are bred to grow to a compact height (approx. 4 feet).
They stop growing when fruit sets on the terminal or top bud, ripen all their crop at or near the same time (usually over a 2 week period), and then die.
They may require a limited amount of caging and/or staking for support, should NOT be pruned or “suckered” as it severely reduces the crop, and will perform relatively well in a container.”

I should add that Maskotka is without a doubt one of the most untidy tomato varieties ever! I believe it was bred for growing in hanging baskets, so understandably it trails and sprawls all over the place. I usually support mine with some short canes and some string.

But it’s also very prolific, and produces loads of fruit.

This year I have grown three plants of this variety, and they have done really well, but all good things come to an end some time, and last weekend I decided that Maskotka’s time was up. The plants looked really tired and worn out.

There were still some fruit on the plants, but many of them were on low-hanging branches, touching the ground.

Touching the ground is not good, because it makes the fruit very vulnerable to these horrible creatures:

Well, all the remaining foliage went into the compost bin, but I still managed to gather all these:

Of course many of them are still green, although just beginning to turn, so I think they will ripen eventually, kept indoors in the warmth.

So it’s “Au Revoir”, to Maskotka, rather than “Goodbye”, because I’m sure I will be growing this tomato again next year.

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