Comments on tomatoes:

     Heirloom tomatoes have become extremely popular among home gardeners as well as among supermarket shoppers. These old-fashioned varieties possess qualities not found in the run-of-the-mill varieties offered by big markets.

     Chief among these is flavor. Of course, flavor is better when you grow your own plants, and especially if they are organically grown. But in heirloom varieties, flavor is extra-special.

     But markets in the past did not offer them because of other factors that growers thought would make them unattractive to customers: irregular shape and size, uneven color, shorter shelf life.

     But now that the word is out that these varieties are more interesting and desirable than the uniform but dull varieties that buyers had become accustomed to, even the big chain supermarkets are offering them--and of course at premium prices.

     The private gardener doesn't need to worry about shelf life or the other cosmetic factors. The private gardener can easily enjoy the advantages of heirloom varieties with no more effort than it takes to grow the standard sorts. There was the worry that these heirlooms might be more subject to tomato diseases, since they have not been bred recently to be resistant to the various tomato maladies. However, this worry does not seem to have materialized.

     In past recent years I have grown the Green Zebra and Brandywine tomatoes. Both are known for excellent flavor.
This year I tried two others: Black Brandywine and Black Krim. My reason for doing this was the availability of varieties in the nursery when planting time came along.

     The heights of these plants were the same when I set them out. They received the same treatment. However, I found that the Black Krim, a Russian variety, began producing fruit much earlier than the Black Brandywine and produced a larger crop.

     The fruit size of the two varieties was about the same. The flavor of Black Krim was superb, perhaps even better than Brandywine. I would certainly recommend it, and I will undoubtedly grow it again next year. My biggest problem with these plants was that sowbugs and snails love them as much as humans do. These pests did not eat the plants or the green fruit. They waited for the fruit to begin ripening and began feasting on it. 

     By the way, the "black" in the names of these tomatoes does not really describe their color. They are both beefsteak types, and are deep red with an overlay of green on the tops of the fruit, creating a color blend that could be thought of as sort of black.

E. Malmstrom, webmaster
October 7, 2004.
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