It may seem weird to talk about tomatoes in December, but the time has come to say goodbye to my tomato plants from my first year growing them here in Sunnyvale.
Mr. Stripey is a heirloom variety that uniquely produces a red and yellow striped fruit. I harvested most of these in the summer, but there were a few still growing on the vine, and I found one more good one to close out 2006 a couple of weeks ago.
This one wasn’t as ripe as others, so the red looks a bit pink. Still, you can see the unique, mottled interior, and based on the fully sliced fruit, appreciate the size.
I noticed on most gardening sites Mr. Stripey doesn’t get very high ratings. True, the vine didn’t produce a lot of fruit (maybe 6-12 good tomatoes through the season), but I thought it was a lot of fun to have this multi-colored tomato. We found it very sweet & firm, and definitely colorful.
One of the comments from my last post on my 7 foot tomato plants was that I didn’t include a picture of Mr. Stripey. So here it is.
Anyway, the vines are coming down next weekend, even though they are still bearing fruit. I’m pretty sure these frosty mornings are going to kill them soon, and I’m not eager for the first serious rainstorm of the winter scattering tomatoes everywhere.
I feel lucky to live in Silicon Valley, though, where I can actually harvest my garden into December. Very lucky.
Psychohistory 
From one backyard gardener to another, I salute you! I haven’t grown Mr. Stripey yet, but I did grow some awesome pinkish heirlooms this past summer and we canned our own tomato sauce to deal with the veggie overload.
I came across your article from last year, while researching Mr. Stripey Tomatoes. Its my first time growing them, and I have to say, due to an unfortunate and delayed watering schedule, most of my crop of vegetables and tomatoes have performed horribly, except for Mr. Stripey. We have at least 5 fist size tomatoes turning, and 15 tomatoes that are yo-yo size or larger on there way. So far its the only plant to do well in varied waterings. It has out performed everything. I grew it just by chance, to add it as a novelty, not realizing it would do anything.
Can’t wait to eat them. West Sacramento, Ca
Hi George & John,
Very cool! I’m not growing Mr. Stripey this year, but it seems like a lot of people have an interest in this type of tomato! Great to hear you’ve done well with the variety.
Adam