Heirloom Tomatoes have flavors, colors and textures that are quite different than regular store bought tomatoes.  These are the varieties that our grandparents and great grandparents grew many years ago that are full of anti-oxidants, vitamins and cancer preventing agents.  The colors normally determine the amount of acidity, darker colors are more acidic and lighter colors are less acidic.  The more red a tomato has, generally follows with the amount of sweetness and green in a tomato, determines tartness.  Yellow and orange varieties usually have a milder and sweeter flavor while purple and black varieties have a bold, rich, acidic flavor.  Growing several of the different tomatoes available is a good way to find new favorites for your garden.

One of our favorites is Cherokee Purple, a dark acidic full flavored fruit that just makes your mouth feel good.  Rose de Berne which has a luscious sweet flavor and a texture that is fantastic just melts in your mouth.  From Flamme' a little French orange tomato to Aunt Ruby's German Green, a nice tart acidic tomato to Aunt Gertie's Gold that is so sweet you would think you were eating a melon, these tomatoes are exciting and make gardening fun! 

A few new varieties this year are:

Copia - gorgeous color and sweetness this tomato has been developed recently by crossing Marvel Stripe and Green Zebra.  Really tastes like a tomato and looks great on a plate!  Try some other striped varieties such as Georgia Streak, Pineapple, and Hillbilly.

Watermelon Beefsteak - is an exceptionally sweet tomato that grows huge and makes a fantastic tomato sandwich.  Good consistent texture allows you to slice all the way across and have no hard core.  Try our other sweet pinks such as Arkansas Traveler, Brandywine, German Giant, and Momotaro

Cabernet - originally a greenhouse tomato this is a nice tame plant that makes delicious red round fruits that are early and sweet.  Basically a cluster tomato they have the best flavor when grown outdoors.  Try our other rich reds such as Box Car Willie, Carmello, Creole and the huge Goliath!

Black Pear - a new purple tomato this season is full acid flavor with a meaty texture and full-on sweetness.  We chose it for pasta so we could throw it in some Penne with some garlic, onions, sweet peppers and Italian sausage.  Try some of our other fantastic purples such as Black Prince, Purple Calabash, Black Brandywine and Black Cherry.

Tommy Toe and Sweet Baby Girl - are both cherry tomatoes but each has a different quality that makes it special.  The Tommy Toe is from Australia and is prolific as well as sweet.  Expect this plant to get large, as much as 8 feet tall and you will not be able to eat all the fruit it produces.  Sweet Baby Girl is tamer and smaller and can be easily grown in a container for a tasty snack on your patio all season long.  Other cherry types are Sun Gold, very sweet, Yellow Pear (small shaped like tiny light bulbs), and Grapes!

A note about growing heirlooms:

Heirlooms can also be unpredictable from year to year.  We list the expected number of days to ripening but this can vary greatly depending upon your weather and growing conditions.  Keep in mind that heirlooms can sometimes produce less fruit than the hybrids that you may be used to, so plant extra and plant several varieties so you have a continuous harvest throughout the season.  A variety that produces well one year in a garden may not be as happy the next year and can produce much less fruit.  For more consistent results, grow some hybrid varieties as well as heirlooms. Mulching is extremely important to keep moisture conditions the same from year to year and to prevent diseases.  Don't try to grow the heirlooms without this protection.

Planting your tomato plants deeply will give them a head start on growing a strong root system.  Bury them in the ground two thirds of the way down or to where the stem begins to thin out.  They will send out roots from the stem and begin their top growth more quickly as well as anchor them in to the soil.  More roots mean they can feed themselves faster.

Staking and supporting tomatoes can be tricky with heirlooms that grow well over 6 feet tall.  Customers have reported needing a ladder to reach the top of their tomato plants.  Make sure to use good strong stakes or trellises that can hold lots of weight.  Most commercial cages are much too small for tomatoes although they work fine for peppers and eggplant.  We recommend making your own out of sturdy wire fencing and anchoring the cages to the ground to prevent them blowing over in the wind or try our new tomato cage supports that anchor to a stake.

Always water deeply and slowly getting water down where the roots of the plant are is very important and keeping the leaves dry will help prevent diseases.  Plants naturally droop a little bit in very hot weather so don't water them unless the soil seems dry.  Soaker hoses send a slow trickle of water down deeply and left on for an hour or so at a time, about once a week (if it doesn't rain) is all they need.

With heirlooms we do not remove the flowers.  You might be getting fruit from those flowers and you may stunt the production of fruit by cutting them off. There is no guarantee that the plant will produce more.  Hot dry weather may cause your plant to stop producing flowers and then you would have no tomatoes.  We do not have to help the tomatoes bear fruit, they do just fine without us.  They will kick off any flowers they don't need or that don't set fruit.

As far as pruning or pinching goes, our position is that you should never prune a tomato plant, they have a natural growth form that creates a healthy fruitful plant without our trying to make it do something more.  The extra growth from "suckers" is used by the plant to help shade fruit, and make additional leaves for the photosynthesis that the plant uses to make food.  You can remove the dead leaves from the bottom of the plant once your vine starts to die off from the bottom, this is a natural process with vining type plants, but cut them off instead of pulling them off or you could damage the main stem which would kill the entire plant.

With heirlooms picking fruit must be done before they are fully ripe.  Harvest fruits as soon as they start to turn color and they will quickly finish the ripening process in your kitchen.  Once the ripening has started, they don't need sunshine to finish becoming sweet and picking them early will prevent them being eaten by critters (or neighbors) before you can.