Greetings from The Neighborhood Farm, home of ugly but delicious
heirloom tomatoes!
The sun came out and the tomatoes came in!!! We are officially in
the midst of tomato season. In fact, they are ripening so quickly
now, that we are taking some to a 2nd farmer's market today. We'll
be at the Weston Nurseries Farmer's Market in Hopkinton from 12 to
6. If your travels take you in that direction today, stop by and
say hi! We are only bringing tomatoes though, no other produce.
We'll probably be at this market for at least the next few weeks
with our tomatoes.
Almost all our heirloom tomato varieties have started producing
now. We'll give you a quick rundown, so you'll be familiar with
them when you see them:
Pineapple - a HUGE yellow, red and orange tomato that looks like
a sunset. Gorgeous! (But ugly of course). Sweet, low-acid,
smooth, delicious.
Cosmonaut Volkov - oddly, our only red,
round tomato this year. Cosmonaut tastes and looks like a classic
tomato, but with a little bit of yellow and orange patterning to the
outside. Delicious. And yes, I grew it because I liked the name.
Cherokee Purple - a classic, with a brownish-purple bottom and
greenish-brown shoulders. It is totally ripe even when the
shoulders still show green. Sweet, juicy, rich, one of the most
popular varieties for good reason.
Brandywine - the tomato that brought heirlooms back into the
public consciousness, a big meaty beefsteak that is just a touch
tart. A great slicer. Dark pinkish-red.
Tiffen Mennonite - very similar to Brandywine, but even bigger
(1lb+) and pinker.
Aunt Ruby's German Green - a green tomato that is ripe,
sweet, tart and fantastic. Tastes great. This is my first year
growing Aunt Ruby, and it has become my sandwich tomato of choice.
When ripe it is green, with a faint yellowish-pink blush at the
base.
Green Zebra - another green but SWEET tomato. Green Zebra has a
yellow-green base with darker green "Zebra" stripes. It is
incredibly sweet and flavorful. For a fun change of pace, use Green
Zebras to make a tomato and basil salad, but use red balsamic
vinegar and purple basil. Technically not an heirloom, but so
good it should be.
Black Krim - ripe when it is half green/half
purplish-maroon. The shoulders always stay green. It is rich and
complex in flavor. It is also very non-standard in appearance.
They can be perfectly smooth and round, or weirdly distorted and
mountainous. Someone at market said, "That tomato looks like a
maroon intestine." I guess that sums it up. They always taste
wonderful though.
Rose De' Berne - beautiful, pink, round, sweet
tomatoes. Medium sized and surprisingly, not ugly. Oh well, we
love them anyway. They can't all be ugly.
In other farm news, this week the bunnies tunneled under the fences
and they ate the lettuce. Again! So, sadly, no salad this week.
We're sorry (although the bunnies don't seem to be.)