The Joyful Goodness of Heirloom Tomatoes

By Deborah Lambeth

Green Grape, Green Zebra, Brandywine, Mortgage Lifter, Red Pear, Yellow Pear, Amish Paste, Cherokee Purple, White Wonder, and Black Krim. I don’t know about you, but these names don’t exactly sound like you’d be eating a tomato. But that is exactly what you’d be eating because they’re varieties of what are called heirloom tomatoes.

Heirloom tomatoes basically are tomatoes that have been altered in some way or preserved through generations. According to Craig LeHoullier and Carolyn Male who are tomato "experts," heirlooms are classified into four categories. Open-pollinated tomatoes that were introduced before 1940 or that have been available for more than fifty years are called commercial heirlooms. Family heirloom tomatoes are rightly called because the tomato seeds have been saved from one season to the next and have been handed down through several generations. Created heirloom tomatoes are a result of purposefully crossing two "parents" (either an heirloom and a hybrid or two heirlooms.) With this type of tomato, it takes as much as 8 years or more to refine the seed so that the strange characteristics are eliminated. Finally, there are mystery heirlooms. No, they’re not like mystery meat! Mystery heirlooms are tomatoes that have been cross-pollinated with other heirloom varieties. There is not anything different from growing regular red tomatoes that needs to be done when growing heirloom tomatoes.

Sometimes you can find heirloom tomatoes at your grocery store, but they can be found more often at a local farmer’s market or local vegetable stand. A large part of the reason they are not often found in your grocery store is that they do not have as long of a "shelf life" as the hothouse tomatoes. The skin of an heirloom tomato is very thin and not suitable for shipping/crating. Regular hothouse tomatoes can be picked before they’ve ripened and will eventually turn red. However, there is not a "ripening time" for heirlooms; once they are picked; they have to be eaten within a few days.

Although heirlooms tend to be pricier than the regular type of tomato, the taste is definitely worth the price! Remember those juicy tomatoes you ate as a child that have somehow seemingly disappeared? The tomatoes in the stores today are either mealy or hard, lack flavor, and are not as juicy and flavorful as an heirloom tomato.

I have to admit that I had never seen an heirloom tomato until last summer when I was at the local farmer’s market. It was a weird looking tomato because it was purple. But since they were offering free samples, I decided to taste it. What a difference! It was juicy and very flavorful! I also saw a starburst tomato. Yellow skinned, but when it was sliced, the fruit was yellow with a red starburst in the middle. I purchased one of the starburst tomatoes; the taste was incredible and made for a great tomato sandwich later that afternoon. So, why get stuck in the red rut?

Get out to your farmer’s market this summer and experience a unique treat by buying an heirloom tomato. You’ll be amazed at the different colors and varieties and, best of all, your taste buds will thank you for it!