Heirloom Tomatoes
Continuing with my vegetable garden fantasy from yesterday, I thought I’d focus on tomatoes. I’ve mentioned before that as a kid I hated tomatoes, despite the fact that my family planted them every year in the garden and I had access to fresh, home-grown tomatoes. I started eating them around the age of 22, and have been liking them more and more each year.
So here’s a list of my favorites from the Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds online catalog, which I loved because it allows customers to post comments to share their experiences with each variety.
Copia Tomato. Photo from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds
There are 22 varieties of striped tomatoes on this site. I love striped tomatoes. They make a beautiful addition to any fresh salad.
The Copia Tomato is a gorgeous yellow and red striped variety. It sounds as delicious as it is beautiful from its online description.
The Red Zebra is just as beautiful, and has an even better rating, though the only commenter to date mentioned using them for salsa rather than salads.
White Tomesol Tomato. Photo from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.
The Big Zebra variety is a striking green and yellow striped tomato. The website describes it as being “groovy and retro looking,” though that wasn’t the first thought that came to mind when I saw it.
How about white tomatoes? There are ten varieties of white tomatoes at Baker Creek.
Check out this White Tomesol Tomato. Customer comments seem to agree that the actual tomatoes aren’t quite as white as the photo indicates, but most reviews praised the excellent sweet flavor.
Purple tomatoes are also gorgeous, though perhaps not as unusual as some of the
Paul Robeson Tomato. Photo from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds.
abovementioned tomatoes, since the color is usually a dark purplish-red. Baker Creek has 24 varieties of these, with the Paul Robeson Russian variety being the apparent favorite.
I’ve noticed on this site that a handful of the most unique heirloom varieties come from Russia. Did Russia do more experimenting with tomato varieties than other countries, or were they just better at cultivating alternative tomato varieties than other countries?
The Black Cherry tomato is also a gorgeous small variety with great reviews.
What are your favorite tomato colors? Can you get a variety of heirloom tomatoes at your local farmers market or grocery store? Do you grow any at home?
My brother raved about some old variety tomatoes that looked kinda funky and “greyish”? ugh. He said they tasted so good.
Tomatoes in Hawaii are not super yummy like I was used to in NY.
Maybe one of the “white” varieties comes out gray? Are you talking about store-bought, or home-grown tomatoes? It kind of makes sense that store-bought tomatoes aren’t as good…where are they coming from?
I also have grown tomatoes myself last year. i grew yellow & red cherry tomatoes, larger yellow & bright green tomatoes & also red bell peppers & red hot chili peppers & herbs & lettuce of course!
I’ve been seeing tomato seeds for sale around here lately, and while I just can’t imagine it getting hot enough for them, I’m getting tempted.