Tuesday, January 26, 2010

tomato rainbow



I received some seeds in the mail the other day. I picked out a few new heirloom tomato varieties to try this year. It was so difficult to narrow down my choices. There are just too many varieties available out there in internet-land, and my garden is small. I ended up ordering these from a woman in Pennsylvania who has a small seed business called Amishland Heirloom Seeds. This picture above shows most of the types I grew last year. I'll be reprising some of them for sure, like green zebra, black plum, and blondkopfchen (little blond head). My new seeds include Blanche White (a white tomato with a slight blush when ripe), Pink Grapefruit (golden outside, pink inside), and World's Miracle (a long pointy red Russian paste tomato - I hope to try a little canning with these if they do well). It really is remarkable how much difference in flavour there is between the different types. And they are so so beautiful. Last summer was my first time growing my own tomatoes, and it spoiled me forever for store-bought tomatoes, especially in the winter when they are just so very sad. Does anyone have any tomato growing tips or varieties to recommend?

2 comments:

  1. I have never grown my own tomatoes (my parents have, though) but I can't eat tomatoes from the store at all! I don't mind the ones in cans, as long as they haven't added salt.

    I'm pretty sure I have a MSL lying around with an article on heirloom tomatoes. I can look it up for you!

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  2. Yeah, at least canned tomatoes don't have to be varieties that are bred only to ship well, with no regard to taste whatsoever.
    Don't trouble yourself over the magazine, but if you happen upon it, I would love to take a look. Thanks!

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