Heirloom tomatoes, heirloom values

Heaps of Heirlooms to all! Heirloom tomatoes refer to old-fashioned varieties, tomatoes once found in the vegetable gardens of Americans prior to the ascendancy of urban life and the concomitant development of a national food economy. But small farms continue to develop heirlooms today; because all heirlooms are open pollinated, it is possible to save the seed.

Heirloom tomatoes taste substantially better than the round, smooth, red varieties often found in stores. But they look much different: green-shouldered and cracked and scarred and mottled. They ask us to subscribe to an aesthetic sensibility grounded in a bond, emotional and intellectual, with the land and with the land ecology. Because rural lifestyles encourage such a bond more than urban ones do, heirloom tomatoes possess a rather atavistic quality as well. The cracks and scars indicate high sugar content and thinner skin, qualities that improve flavor. The green shoulders are natural; entirely red tomato fruits are the product of 20^th century hybridization. Personally, I find myself enchanted by the various reds, yellows, greens, and swirls of orange and red, or green and red and gold. Heirlooms speak of a time of great ecological wealth.

A ripe heirloom is highly perishable, and requires eating within a few days, or possibly within one day if the tomato is completely ripe. This perishable quality also speaks of older and more receptive habits. Once, we ate what the land produced when the land produced it; eating was an acting of listening and adapting. Today, we can eat whatever our solitary preferences dictate. Such transcendence from ecological conditions bespeaks technological insight, but also paves the way for a culture where immediate wish fulfillment replaces discipline, patience, and listening. I like the older habits; responsiveness and patience lead to deeper satisfactions.

Are your heirlooms ripe? All tomatoes are ripe when their color is deepest, and when they are soft. Often, heirloom tomatoes will ripen first on the bottom. If the top is still hard, or green or yellow, I recommend waiting a day or two. About 100 different chemicals create the tomato flavor, but the basic flavors are tartness, saltiness, and sweetness. The sweetness comes last, and occurs only in fully ripe tomatoes. Some of the heirloom tomatoes we pick for you will NOT be completely ripe. We pick some of them a bit early to minimize cracking and also to give to all of you more time to use the tomatoes that you choose. Here is our cast for the season…

Red Brandywine. Darker red with pink overtones. Often considered the best tasting heirloom. Excellent in sandwiches. Some family members here on the farm refuse to put any tomato in a sandwich except a red brandywine.

Striped German. The most beautiful tomato I know. Yellow predominating, with streaks of red and orange. The fruit often feels light for its size. The flavor is sweet for a tomato, but milder than a brandywine. Best in salads and pasta, where the wonderful sweetness can express itself.

Lillian’s Yellow. All-yellow, and possessing a wonderfully sweet tomato flavor for a yellow tomato. I’d put it in a sandwich; the flavor will hold amid mustard, mayonnaise, and bacon.

Aunt Ruby. An all-green tomato, sometimes with red streaks, sometimes with a yellow or gold cast to it. Aunt Ruby’s possess a robust red tomato flavor, tilting in the salty direction. I have seen people who love each other become testy with each other when only a single slice of Aunt Ruby’s remains.

Cherokee Purple. Deep red to purple, prolific in the field and early. Considered a ‘black’ tomato, Cherokee Purples are juicy and admittedly a bit mild given their color. But, when eaten raw either alone or in a white pasta salad, a smoky flavor reveals itself.

Amish Paste. Red, hefty, with a pimiento pepper shape. Amish Paste may be the best over-all tomato. Use them for fresh eating, for saucing and canning, even for stir fry. The dense, meatly interior holds juice well, and it possesses a wonderful traditional tomato flavor. Grampa has dropped Brandywine for Amish Paste in his daily tomato sandwiches!

We have other heirlooms available at market. Ask any of us any questions about them.