Terrible tomatoes

Over the years I have I had amazing success with tomatoes, and some epic failures, but never like this year.  We have had strange weather, a lot more up and down then normal, I don't think this is my issue. The tomatoes are sour.  A few different varieties some I planted, and a couple of volunteers.  The lemon boy is good, not great like normal home grown tomatoes, but good enough to eat. The volunteer from last years money maker is ok. The rest are uneatable.
The tomatoes set lots of tomatoes nice and early, then they just staid green for the longest time.  I pruned them, and it did help, but the pretty red tomatoes didn't taste good.  So today I removed all of the tomatoes on all except for the two that are ok.  I'm going to make a compost tea, or something.   My hope is it will kick them into gear and they will set new fruit and ripen sweet.  I figure at this point I have nothing to lose. (The chickens thought they were wonderful, and don't know what I'm talking about.)
I'm not sure why this is happening, I have never heard of such a thing. I organic garden, have a lot of different veggies planted. I'm always trying to add organic matter, don't till or disturb the soil. It's just strange.  Everything else is growing well and taste great.
Has this ever happened to you?  Anyone know what I have done wrong, or haven't done that I should?  

Hi,

have you amended your soil with external outputs? Compost bags, manure, hay or anything else? It might be contaminated. Hopefully it's just one season.

I am sorry you did not have great tomatoes this year though maybe the tomatoes were still better than the ones from the grocery store that have no taste at all.

I found this that might offer some suggestions:

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/vegetables/tomato/tomato-sweetening-tips.htm

Also I read a tip about sprinkling baking soda at the base of the plant though that article says that doesn't help:

Then there are the unconventional methods for promoting sweetness. Some folks suggest adding baking soda or Epsom salt to the soil will promote sweetness. No, it doesn’t really work, not really, no. But baking soda mixed with vegetable oil and castile soap and then sprayed on the plants will help with fungal diseases. And, as for the Epsom salts, a mix of salts and water can discourage blossom end rot.

Were they varieties you've grown before? I've had that happen a couple times with new varieties. One was yellow pear from Baker creek, and the other was a red cherry, whose origin I don't remember.

Both were kinda sour and bland. I figured those varieties just didn't like something about my conditions and weren't good ones for me to grow.

I've also had varieties I know and like not taste as good when the weather is too cold. My mum grew some of my tomatoes from seed one year and they didn't taste very good from her garden. I think it was because she waters and I don't. Hers were mealy and bland.

Hi Jen,
I am not an expert, but I have been told that minerals in the vegetables will increase flavor, and that more leaves means more sugar to increase sweetness. Any chance the weird weather might have stunted their growth? Made it harder to uptake the minerals? or reduce the amount of leaves on the plant? Also, the longer they can stay on the vine, the sweeter they tend to get. Maybe since it took so long turning from green to red, that they needed more time on the vine even though they were red?

they might make good sour pickled tomatoes . if you still have some green ones

I read an article once that said to pick them at different times of the day but of course I don't remember if you were supposed to pick them early in the morning or in the evening. It would be pretty easy to pick some at different times of the day and see if the taste improves based on when they are picked.

Another thing I read is to pick them when they just start to change color and bring them inside to get sweet. The idea is that the seeds are fully mature before the fruit is fully sweet (the opposite of a cucumber). So the plant actually stops sending nutrients and sugars to the tomatoes once the seeds are ripe and you can bring them inside, out of extreme heat, the starches will continue to turn into sugars and the tomato will get sweeter. This doesn't happen with store tomatoes because they are often picked before the seeds are ripe and are turned red with ethylene gas. I've probably botched explaining the science of it. That's what I get for trying to retell a scientific article I read once four years ago. 😜 Anyway, try bringing in some green tomatoes that have barely started to change colors and let them sit on your counter until they turn red or orange or whatever color they are supposed to be. See if they taste sweeter. It worked for me in the past when the weather was weird and my tomatoes tasted blah or sour.