The Heirloom Tomato

Just Has More Flavor

Have you ever tasted an heirloom tomato? You’ve probably even skipped right past them if you’ve seen them at a market. They may have looked like nothing you've seen before; a little misshapen, and discolored...or are they? One bite will make you a convert to these ‘old fashioned’ flavor treats. They are absolutely swoon worthy.

With over four hundred seed varieties (enough choice even for a garden gnome) to choose from, heirlooms are becoming more and more popular. With names like the Cherokee Purple, Green Zebra, German Red Strawberry and the Mortgage Lifter; you’ll not only enjoy the flavor, but a chuckle.

When you head into your market today you're probably bombarded with a slew of produce that's been imported from overseas, or at least from the other side of the country. Fruits and vegetables that are glaring under blinding lights situated to make the items more appealing than they are. Genetically modified produce that someone has pawed over for hours, washing, dying and waxing so that it looks enticing enough for you to pay that extra dollar for.

The hybrid varieties you see on shelves today are grown for productivity, and not flavor. Companies are not looking to put a delicious fruit in your cart that can add flavor to salads, or soups, they are looking to make money, and as long as consumers demand produce, they will.

Tomatoes these days are made with these things in mind: can they withstand being shipped long distances? Can massive amounts of them be grown in a short period of time? Will they last for weeks, even if they are loosing flavor in the process? The answer is these hybrids CAN, and we buy them despite their lack-luster flavor.

Heirloom Tomato?

The very best tomato plants have been hand picked by farmers and their heirloom tomato seeds were passed down for many generations, so you can bet on a berry twig these are going to be top notch. Any piece of produce that has been hybridized or genetically modified is not an heirloom.

So how do you get these time tested favorites? Once in awhile you can find a vendor at the farmers market that grows a few. Some better garden centers offer a few heirloom seedling varieties, like Brandywine, Ace, Oxheart or Marglobe. But if you want to really enjoy the best varieties from the age when taste was the only measure, you’ll have to hit the seed catalogs and grow your own starts.

We buy all our seed from mail order catalogs or online, because it causes too much commotion when a garden gnome wanders into the garden center. Here are some links to online catalogs with good heirloom seed selections. Both offer you up a $20 discount on your first order.

Gurney's Seed and Nursery

Henry Fields Seed and Nursery

Since heirloom varieties are open pollinated (non-hybrid), you can save your own seed from year to year. Saving your own vegetable seed takes vegetable gardening to a whole new level of gardening bliss. Here is more info on heirloom tomato seed saving .

Although the tomatoes may not be the bright red variety you're used to, don't judge a book by its cover! These are some of the tastiest pieces of produce around. Because of their large size they are able to funnel more delicious sugar, natural juices, and flavor into a single piece of fruit. You'll find more flavor in one single heirloom tomato than in an entire case that's been shipped in from distant places.

Happy gardening,

Geefrank

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