Is that a blush of red I see?

Well, isn't red an exciting colour! Though I have been keeping an eye on my tomatoes, daily, this morning they still caught me by surprise. My 'Alaska' tomatoes are ripening rapidly, and their relatives across the path, the 'Beaver Lodge Slicers' are starting to colour up, too. And it's happening fast now. Yippee!

These are the two most advanced Alaska fruits, but as the plants are big, sprawling bushes covered in developing fruits, these will hopefully be the first of many.

This is what I mean by big sprawling bush. Most of the greenery in the centre foreground of this shot are two Alaska tomato plants, gone berserk while on holidays Down Under in sunny Sydney. They have swamped my parsley border and even monstered my potted mint, which is quite an achievement, and they're giving my sage bush cause to worry, too. The herbs are not amused!

On the other side of the pathway the 'Beaver Lodge Slicer' tomatoes are smaller and better behaved plants overall (but the fruits are bigger than the Alaskas), and they're just starting to colour up, too. Of course the all-important taste test is a few (several?) days away, but I am just hoping that a few Alaskas will be OK to eat by next Saturday, when we have a bunch of friends coming around for lunch.

Finally, I was given a link (by a US tomato grower by the name of Smope - thank you Smope) to a cool blog entry that photographically shows the progress of a tomato from flower bud to ripe fruit, and then beyond, to rotten fruit. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

I give you, the progress of a tomato fruit, from bud to fruit (and beyond).