The Backyard

The Backyard

Friday, August 22, 2008

A Variety Pack of Heirloom Tomatoes - What a Fun Surprise


I don't believe I've ever had so much fun in the garden as I am this year trying to figure out what kind of tomato is ripening. I started 10 seeds from a variety pack of heirloom tomato seeds this spring and they are now producing the most beautiful fruit I think I've ever seen. My parents are SUCH traditionalists and only like the red ones, but the unique and rare (I'm discovering) tomatoes are truly unusual. Thanks to FEDCO seeds, a coop seed group that ONLY sells organic seeds and adamantly opposes any genetic modification or hybrids, I have some beautiful tomatoes this year. Perhaps the most unique is the Peach tomato. They are a small tomato, slightly larger than a cherry tomato, reaching top weights of 2 ounces. Aside from the skin resembling a fuzzy peach, its the flavor that is unusual. It's tomatoey, with a fruity sweetness - very unusual. Then there's the Black Krim tomato. When sliced, this guy has blackish stripes at the seed area. My husband says it looks rotted...but obviously its not. The flavor is more traditional on this one -- its definitely the coloring that is an attention getter. The size is typical -- maybe 6-8 ounces each, with traditional shaping. The striped tomatoes are interesting too. It took me a long time to find the variety name, but I'm fairly certain its called a Striped Roman. At first I searched for striped tomatoes, then I searched for Roma (paste) tomatoes, and I come to discover this one belongs in a class called "sausage" tomatoes. Yup, they are long like sausages and we were joking at work about what else they look like. Its a heavier fruit, with paste-like qualities - very firm - and good for canning. Although I enjoy looking at them so much (I sit tomatoes in a bowl on the table for decoration) its hard to actually do something with them. Lastly, one of the last plants most noteworthy, produces huge orange 1.5 pounders. I believe they are a variety called Amana Orange. These puppies are humongous and would consume a piece of bread easily. I took about a dozen to work and they were gone in no time. I also have an ox heart tomato that is the best for canning, and two orange plum tomatoes which to be honest, I pulled one of the plants because there's just not much you can do with a small, orange plum tomato. The flavor was mediocre, and they can horribly (nothing like traditional red in the jar). There's also a traditional size and flavor orange and red tomato. I didn't have a chance to look them up -- they are too average! Fun stuff.

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