Growing Heirloom Tomatoes

We decided to change things up in the garden this year by moving away from many of the hybrid varieties we normally plant. The biggest section of our garden to feel the impact was the numerous tomatoes we include in our plantings. New to the garden were several heirloom varieties: Hawaiian Pineapple, Amish Paste, Black Cherry, and Mr. Stripey, to name a few. Many of these varieties were obtained from the Eco-Festival we attended in Salt Lake City.

All told, growing heirloom tomatoes was no more difficult than growing the standard hybrid varieties that have saturated the market over the years. There were a few issues, of course, but nothing drastic. On some of the larger varieties, there was a small problem of not catching the tomatoes before their skin split, but after a few misses, we were able to determine the best time to pick by gently squeezing the fruit for tenderness.

The Amish Paste were much like Romas, though slightly more petite and less prone to blossom end rot. When allowed to grow in tight clusters on our biggest plant, they actually looked quite a bit like strawberries. Of course, this doesn’t make for very fun canning, more small fruit makes for more work, but they were great to feed to the little red head. She loves eating fresh food out of the garden!

The Hawaiian Pineapple was a huge hit with its sweet yellow flesh. Sliced and topped with salt and pepper, they were a perfect afternoon snack on hot summer days. Even Tara, who doesn’t eat tomatoes in such a manner, loved them. Don’t get me started on BLT sandwiches… Yum!!!

The Bear Creek tomato was a fun one. With its dark purple skin and beautiful flesh, it was definitely an eye-catcher. I gave my mom a few of the different varieties to take home and she came back asking for more of “that purple one”.

Mr. Stripey actually came from Home Depot, believe it or not. We planted one right before a late frost at the beginning of the season and he was looking very sad for a while there. So we ended up picking up another and planting them side by side. It wasn’t long before the original recovered and both plants produced some very large fruits all summer long. Some of these things were huge!

In the interest of preserving the heirloom tradition, we did a little research into how to keep tomato seeds from our harvest so we’ll have a chance to grow these wonderful varieties for years to come without depending on vendors or catalogs.

Verdict: Growing Heirlooms = Success!