Why Heirloom Tomatoes??

[rogers]

Hi friends,

Do you ever heard about Heirloom tomatoes? If not then just take a look.

The Heirloom tomatoes that are also known as heritage tomatoes are open-pollinated (non-hybrid) cultivar of tomato. These tomatoes have become increasingly popular and are more readily available in recent years. The seeds of the Heirloom tomatoes are being saved for years and passed from one generation to the next. Today most of the tomatoes purchased from grocery stores are hybrids. These hybrid tomatoes are being bred to produce higher yields and for uniformity in colors and shapes. But its flavor is not up to the mark.

The Heirloom tomatoes are quite better in comparison to hybrid tomatoes. The Heirloom tomatoes are first known for their amazing flavor. In addition these tomatoes are available in distinctive shapes and in various ranges of colors like purple, green, orange and many more.

[Omelet]

Snob value?

Seriously tho' I know what you mean. I've heard good things about the flavor of heirlooms.

Vine ripe tomatoes of any variety tho' are better than any store bought ones by _yards_.

[Omelet]

I feel sorry for you babe.

The spam here is less than 1%.

If you cannot ignore/filter it, you may as well belong to Yahoogroups.com.

You will not benefit from the rich and diverse anarchistic (and wonderful) population that hangs out on usenet.

I pity you...

[Derald]

_Now_ I know why, despite my best efforts, I never stay subscribed to this newsgroup: The density of self-appointed know-it-all "experts", with no discernible qualifications, who broadcast, wholesale, "mis" and "dis" information without citation or evidence of any kind, whatsover, as if it's "gospel". In short, "Friend", you simply don't know what you're nattering about.

[Isabella Woodhouse]

We do blindfold taste tests every year with our tomatoes every year. The heirlooms often rate highly in this regard. But not always. Some simply don't grow well in our climate while others flourish. Several of our favorites include Pink Caspian, Amish Paste, and Mortgage Lifter. However, we also grow many hybrids that rate highly as well.

The problem with most grocery tomatoes isn't that they are hybrids, IMO, but that they are bred to withstand abuse in shipping and so they look pretty on a store shelf--- no matter how tasteless and hard.

Isabella

[Marie Dodge]

Almost any home grown tomato is better than those red things in the store.

[Omelet]

Yep!

[zxcvbob]

A couple of years ago, in the dead of winter, I was perusing the grocery store tomatoes and one variety actually smelled like a tomato. They were the bright orange colored tennis-ball sized tomatoes with the stems attached. (the yellow and the red tomatoes just like them had no smell, just like the Roma, "greenhouse", and generic slicing tomatoes.) I bought a few and made pico de gallo with them, saving some of the seeds. They were actually good! I planted them in my garden the next year and they were good fresh too, but my family wouldn't eat them because they were the wrong color.

I should probably plant "Black Krim" or "Green Moldovan" next year. ;)

Bob

[Omelet]

The "on the vine" tomatoes from the store are actually decent, and worth the fact that they are twice the price of others. ;-)

I don't use a lot of fresh ones anymore, so I can afford them when I want them as I only buy two or three at around $2.39 per lb. on average.

Last fall, I planted 2 tomatoes (around the beginning of September) in about a 30 gallon pot, and put them in the greenhouse. I had a few ripe tomatoes at the beginning of March...

but only because I hand pollinated.

One of these years, I'd like to try hydroponics with timed lighting. I just cannot afford it yet.

[Isabella Woodhouse]

Not long ago I saw Black Krims for sale at Whole Foods. Our regular grocery now claims to sell some varieties of heirloom tomatoes. They certainly look like they could be. But I almost never buy "fresh" tomatoes from the grocery anymore. We eat our fill in the summer and fall from the garden.

Isabella

[Omelet]

What do you do in the winter?

I will can a few tomatoes and freeze some blanched and peeled.

[Gary Woods]

As Ms. Omlet says, you're missing out on a lot. The OP came in from Garden Banter; always a bad sigh, breathlessly proclaiming something that, as my old Calc teacher said, was "Intuitively obvious to the most casual and simple-minded observer."

And yeah, ANY home grown 'mater beats those alien store things by [insert large distance unit here].

Gary Woods AKA K2AHC- PGP key on request, or at home.earthlink.net/~garygarlic Zone 5/6 in upstate New York, 1420' elevation. NY WO G

[Isabella Woodhouse]

Well, I try to keep warm and make it a point not to shovel any snow. :D Last winter I bought "fresh" tomatoes exactly once. For cooked cuisine requiring tomatoes, I use canned (home or store). For salads--- oh my gosh--- I use a wide variety of fruits and veggies for salads in the winter but no "fresh" tomatoes usually. Last winter, I think we had a different salad everyday. I throw together what looks good. How about you? What do you do in the winter?

[JustTom]

I've been popping cherry tomatos for a couple of weeks now, but my first full size one ripened this week (I planted late.).

It was a Rutgers: Juicy and very tangy. One of my favorites. An excellent canner or to eat out of hand.

Just for fun: Rutgers (sometimes knows as Jersey) at one time accounted for 70% of all tomato sales in the US, bolstered by the fact that Campbells used them in their soups. As a matter of fact, the variety was created at Rutgers University in cooperation with the soup giant. It's parents are the Marglobe and JTD.

It made New Jersey the #1 tomato producer in the country at the time. California now holds the distinction.

When NASA did experiments with growing food in space from seed, the tomato seeds they used were Rutgers.

I planted 38 heirlooms this year, and it appears 35 of them made it. Hope they are all as tasty as this first one.

[zxcvbob]

Rutgers is the only variety I planted this year. Yield has been poor, but they taste great. Been eating a lot of tomato sandwiches, BLT's, and pico de gallo, but won't have any to can or freeze.

I may plant Marglobes next year because they are bigger. And Principe Borghese because they do well here and are good for drying.

Bob

[Omelet]

We are close to Mexico and our local store sells some tomatoes that are "on the vine" (and they really are!) Tomatoes still attached to the vine.

Must be chemistry as those are actually decent. If the price gets too high, I, too, will use canned, even on tacos!

I did grow a pair to tomatoes last winter in my greenhouse and it sorta worked. I had a few ripe tomatoes in early March, but I had to make sure I paid attention to the plants and hand-pollinated the flowers.

My mom taught me to do that. She used to joke about "having sex with her tomato vines".

[Isabella Woodhouse]

Our groceries have those too. They look like Jet Stars but our regular grocery has a very bad habit of chilling the tomatoes and ruining the taste of even the decent tomatoes. When you cut them open, you can see that line around the circumference that indicates they've been held at too low a temperature. There are other problems too. They order far too much produce and it often sits until its rotten on the inside. Ugh! I have to be very careful. A somewhat close Whole Foods opened recently so I might be able to get better ones there.

I sometimes used canned diced tomatoes in salsa. Brands vary a lot.

I was doing that with cucumbers before we uncovered them. The zucchini were far easier...lol.

[Omelet]

Perhaps... but I've done best at the farmers market when I can attend. I seldom shop at Whole Paycheck. Sun Harvest is just as good, and more reasonable price-wise.

Meh, I use generic. I have noted that canned tomatoes at least have decent flavor. :-)

So long as you get male and female blooms at the same time! :-)

Been there, done that.

For some reason, there is always a rash of male only blooms at the beginning of the season. Fortunately, I LIKE stuffed squash blossoms! ;-d

Deep fried... Mmmmmm.

I am wondering if there is a good way to store some of that pollen, and have it be viable.

[Sue]

I was out just this morning helping the zucchini to commit lewd and lascivious acts. Lots of boys, not so many girls. Some of the boys got left out. :o( Sue

[Omelet]

Not enough girls! Oh well! ;-D

I wonder if there is a soil treatment for that? Halfway seriously.