First of all, let's get one thing
straight. When I say “tomato,” I'm NOT talking about those pale,
hard, homogeneous round balls you can buy in the supermarket here in
the mid-Atlantic region between October and June. Those tasteless,
mealy, so-called vegetables are not worthy of the name “tomato.”
I'm talking about the garden-fresh, locally-grown, pesticide-free
tomatoes that are making their welcome appearance right now, at the
end of July. At any good farmers' market you should find tender and
juicy tomatoes of all shapes, colors and sizes – from bite-sized
cherry tomatoes in red, orange,and purple, to multi-colored striped
globes, to one-pound pink, oddly-shaped behemoths.
Many of the best-tasting and most
interesting tomatoes are heirlooms
which, according to at least one definition, means they are varieties
that are open-pollinated (i.e., you can save their seeds, and the
next generation of plants will produce fruit similar to the original
fruit) and have been passed down through several generations or have
been in circulation for more than 50 years.
Heirloom tomatoes are not only
good-looking (and sometimes funny-looking) and tasty, they often have
interesting names and stories. Here are a few of my favorites:
Mortgage
Lifter (a.k.a Radiator Charlie's Mortgage Lifter):
MC “Radiator Charlie” Byles was an
inventor and tinkerer, and he worked as an auto mechanic specializing
in radiator repairs. He lived and worked in Logan, West Virginia,
where coal and timber trucks frequently blew out their radiators
climbing the steep hills. (His shop was located at the bottom of one
of those steep hills, so the trucks conveniently rolled backwards
down to his shop when their radiators blew!) In the early 1940s,
Radiator Charlie set out to “build a better tomato,” by
cross-pollinating an heirloom tomato, the German Johnson, with four
other tomato varieties. After seven years of seed saving and
cross-breeding, he had a tomato plant he was satisfied with. The
fruits were – and still are – pink, somewhat flattened, and often
quite large. He sold tomato seedlings for $1 each – a good sum in
those days. He sold enough seedlings to pay off the mortgage on his
house.
Paul
Robeson (as described in the Fedco
Seeds catalog):
“This Russian
heirloom was named in honor of Paul Robeson (1898-1976) who
befriended the Soviet Union. Athlete (15 varsity letters at
Rutgers!), actor (played Othello in the longest-running Shakespearean
production in Broadway history!), singer (world famous for his
vibrant baritone renditions of Negro spirituals), orator, cultural
scholar and linguist (fluent in at least 15 languages!), Robeson was
an outspoken crusader for racial equality and social justice. Revered
by the left, reviled by the right, he was blacklisted during the
McCarthy Era and beyond, harassed by the FBI, his passport revoked
for eight years, his career
stifled. He died broken and almost forgotten, his life a testament to
lost opportunities in 20th-century American history. His namesake
tomato has developed almost a cult following among seed savers . . .
the maroon-brick 6–12 oz. oblate often bi-lobed fruits with dark
green shoulders come closest in flavor to Black Krim, but can claim
their own distinctive sweet smoky taste.” My personal favorite!
A Ukrainian heirloom tomato named
by the former space engineer Igor Mikhailovich Maslov after his
friend Vladislav
Volkov,
a Russian cosmonaut. Maslov trialed over 300 tomato varieties and
believed the Cosmonaut Volkov was the best. Volkov
was best known for his work in 1971 aboard Salyut 1, the first space
station. He was killed aboard the Soyuz spacecraft when it was
attempting to re-enter the Earth's atmosphere. The Cosmonaut Volkov
tomato is a great choice for those stuck on round, red tomatoes (and
there's nothing wrong with that!) – rich and juicy, with that
classic tomato taste.
Cherokee
purple (as described in
Wikipedia):
“This cultivar originated with Craig LeHoullier, who claimed it
was a century-old cultivar originating with the Cherokee
people. In 1990, while living in West Chester, Pennsylvania, Craig
received unsolicited in the mail, from John Green of Sevierville,
Tennessee, a brief note and a small packet of seeds. The note
indicated that John wanted to share this unnamed tomato with Craig,
and that it was a purple tomato that the Cherokee Indians gave to his
neighbors 100 years ago. Upon growing the seeds and observing the
fruit, Craig was surprised and delighted to find that the fruit was
remarkably close to being a true purple in color (pink tomatoes were
often referred to as purple in horticultural literature, so the color
of the tomato was quite a surprise). The tomato was named in line
with the note that accompanied the seeds, and a sample of seeds were
sent that winter to Jeff McCormack, founder of Southern
Exposure Seed Exchange, as well as listed in the Seed
Savers Exchange (SSE) Yearbook 1991 edition. A few years later,
Craig also sent it to Rob Johnston, founder of Johnny's
Selected Seeds. Both seed companies elected to multiply the seed
and carry the variety in their seed catalogs.”
Aunt Ruby's German Green, Golden Jubilee, Arkansas Traveler, Rose de Berne, Green Zebra . . . an endless variety of tomato flavors, colors, shapes, sizes and stories awaits your discovery this summer! Visit your favorite tomato growers throughout the season to sample the full spectrum. And be sure to save some seeds and try growing your own next year. You'll be carrying on a time-honored tradition and helping to preserve the genetic diversity which is threatened by the corporate homogenization of our food. Mostly, you'll be doing yourself a favor, because there's nothing like growing your own food – and there's NOTHING like a homegrown tomato!
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