The evolution of a very tough drag racing tomato


May 25


Here it began. May 25 2008. Tony and Lotta came over with a gift - a new greenhouse tomato on the
market - the Bolero. The first fruit was harvested after a four month adventure around Sweden and
Finland and its seeds will give us the next generation - The Bolero X.



We brought along Bolero on our Norrland Tour because I didn't to miss its blooming.
We put it in our caravan and went away for three weeks and a 3500 km drive (2200 miles)
More about that tomato hardening adventure in this place ASAP.




August 6

Bolero's very well!



Many have asked about "Bolero the Tomato" which we took with us
on our Norrland Tour. And he's bigger and stronger than ever before
and has even passed his friends on our glassed veranda! Here he's
outside flirting with some of our
Alcea rosea to get some nice sex
with the bumble bees to get the fruits going, even if he doesn't need
that because he's a Hermaphrodite. Sex just 4 fun, that's him.



August 10


Bolero X is born!



We saw it today! The first fruit on our Bolero tomato! Now it will be
very interesting to see how many they will be and how they taste!
Thore Rooth, my father in law, a tomato grower and expert, has
already booked a fruit from us to get the seeds to plant more
of the Bolero X - because he thinks "this one will be tough"
True, just think of what he's been through:

Bolero X roots
* Bolero was given to us from Tony & Lotta 15.00 PM May 25 2008
* Has travelled 3551 KM in a Solifer T1 Caravan, World's Quickest!
* Has been far north of the Arctic Circle.
* Has seen the Midnight Sun
* Has seen 7 reindeers on the loose.
* Has visited the Icehotel in Jukkasjärvi.
* Has been fighting thousands of mosquitos.
* Has been standing outside in several heavy rains.
*
Has been in Finland.
* Has outgrown one pot and got a large one from IKEA Haparanda.
* Got new soil in Jävre in north of Västerbotten State.
* Has been on service at Vårdinge.
* Has been to three dragraces in three weeks and knows what loud
sounds, rubber smoke and nitromethane feel like.
* Has been watered by Funny Car pilot Leif Helander at Mantorp.
* Has been sleeping outside all over Sweden several cold nights,
maybe even some frosty nights?
* Understands both Swedish and English and Finish.
* Flirts with Alcea rosea (August 6)
...and more. Yes, this will be a unique tomato - Bolero X



August 18


Psst!



Bolero X No 2.



August 22

Bolero X reproduction


He has certainly grown a giant this summer, even though he's been
around everywhere (scroll down to August 10 for details). He needs
three different sticks to lean on! And he's reproducing at full speed!



Seven Bolero X tomatoes and counting =)
And they will be black and red! Like the Impala SS colors!



September 9

Come on! You can do it!


This is also a very exciting business - to grow tomatoes! I'm getting
a bit worried whether Bolero will deliver the eight spotted fruits before
its life is over, or not? Since it's getting colder each day I've put the
whole thing inside our house from the veranda and put a daylight
lamp on top of it so it will have a better chance. First thing I do every
day when coming home is to check the fruits. Lamp is out at 9 pm
every night. Put on 8 AM every morning.
Fingers crossed.




September 13

Checked by the Pro's


Agneta's parents Thore and Sonia were interested in my first tomato
plant. And they thought it looked good but also said it's late. Maybe
too late for it to deliver? They grow hundreds of tomatoes every
year, but have never had the Bolero plant.




September 17

Bolero now in Color!


It was green three days ago. Yesterday yellow. Today orange.
When will we see it in the promised red/black Impala SS colors



September 19

Bolero now Red!


And now what? No 1 of a total of 11 fruits are ripe in a couple of days
and will be harvested!




September 25

Ouch!


After 2 - 3 days in red the tomato is ripe, you can feel it getting softer in your fingers each day. If you
wait too long it will rip open. It was time September 25. Snap! Then directly to surgery. Ritch! Ouch!
Unlike the rumour it didn't get red/black, only red, but that's OK. This was the No 1 of the fruits
on the wine, hopefully most of the remaining 10 fruits will also ripe?


Searching and saving the important Bolero X seeds. After that we could have our long awaited taste
and we were so happy for the taste! Axel in the bath said: -Sweet!



Bolero X seeds for you to enjoy! Now the seeds will dry until April and then distributed to other drag
racers who have booked a couple of seeds each to grow their own Bolero X tomatoes in 2009!
They will also get certificates.


Drying without lid.


October 17

Time to harvest the group


How can there be people who really dislake tomatoes? Like the stubborn Jonas Mr Al Holt!? "I hate it!"
And Hawkeye!? "Bläähh!" And Tommy Aga!? "Stop it!" They won't exit their wardrobes just yet...
But your interest is making up for it!
These are the brave 7 who made it, besides No 1 who came already in September 25 (above). It was
time to harvest them before they turned too soft. Now they can lay in this bowl for a week to ripe.
Then it's high time to eat them while they still are fresh.



October 25

Chopping!


Yep, Tony and Lotta will come tomorrow! Time to chop the 7 into quarters and save the seeds!


To the left the 5 dudes who didn't make it. Sorry guys, well done anyway. To the right the seeds meat
which I will take care of very thoroughly, pick every seed and dry them for future and other drag racers.
In the bowl, 28 quarter pieces to devour tomorrow...



October 26

Bolero Gourmet Evening



Thank God for Agneta! And Tony and Lotta! And Italy. Tonight we had the tomato sallad gourmet evening
which we planned already in May when Tony and Lotta gave me the small Bolero plant, they said that
they would really like to come back for a taste if I managed to grow them. I did! But Agneta and Axel
were at the cottage on Axel's school leave, so I had to call her for tips on the ingredients which you
see in this picture. But I was even smarter than that...


...I didn't make a ready-to-eat sallad. I let the guests make their own sallad of all the ingredients so they
could get it the way they wanted - and - be able to taste the Bolero tomato clean, without anything.
That didn't reveal that I never had made any tomato sallad before.
The point being made here is that a simple tomato plant can make people come together and have fun.
And we all agreed to that it's fascinating to care about a plant every day, to see something grow,
especially in times like these when everything seems to dive or fall apart.
You need it. The small joy of something going right. And is good! Do I need to tell you that both Tony
and Lotta JUST LOVED the Bolero tomatoes?! Tony added: "This damn tomatoe has been in places I
haven't been, above the Arctic Circle and in Finland, and has also been watered by Leif Helander..."

=)


And now they came with another challange...
we got a bag'o "Hungarian Paprika" as a gift! Tony, being
an Hungarian, inherited some dryed out shells when he last visited his family in Hungary, took the poor
seeds into dirt and every seed grew! This paprika is more like pepper, but still not. Then Lotta noticed
the dryed out Jalapeno (??) pepper shells which I bought in El Paso, Texas, USA some 10 year ago
as a decoration for our kitchen. "But here are seeds" Lotta said...so now another circus is on!
Yes, when I was in El Paso I was indeed at Lucchese Boot Company and bought a pair of boots!



More as it happens.