Many of you know I'm a proud radical right wing militant with more ammo and guns than the infamous Waco compound. I have a reinforced bunker that would make Hitler proud...But... Then there is also "Green-ROXRAN", aka "G-ROX" the side of myself in touch with mother nature. Suddenly I gravitate towards the concerns of the Earth. Whaling ends today!..as I shed a tear. I go carpet shopping and choose P.E.T. polyester instead of BCF Nylon... P.E.T. polyester uses a recycling process involving plastic bottles...whatever, Anyways I spoke previously about the gah-den. It's great. Big Dog Tomatoes, but after speaking to my co-worker, farmer Keith (who lives on a farm in the middle of no where..trust me) he tells me the joy of what is called "heirloom tomatos"...These are (uncommon) tomatos that are non-hybrid meaning their seeds are more likely to be reused for seedlings with success compared to the hybrids that are typically bought. Don't get me wrong, home-grown hybrid tomatos still taste so much superior than store bought. Common types bought at home centers include: better boy, or patio tomato, or husky cherry red. Great, and this is what I have (all 3 types), and there are more versions that can be obtained, but there is more... Before enormous farms of today with hybrid technology from A&M or something, there were family farms or market community farms that grew these heirloom types and the sad thing is many versions are not known to the kids today... Going back to what I was saying, farmer Keith brought THE greatest tomato on planet earth the next day, and now I'm hooked! Absolutely awesome! Best taste ever!!! He left me some seeds as well to grow, but I did some research and came across this tomato on a website for ordering. If you get a chance ...check it out. Best taste ever! http://store.tomatofest.com/Cherokee_Purple_Tomato_Seeds_p/tf-0113.htm the Cherokee Purple tomato...
I thought these were the greatest tomatoes: <object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/Wfm3_BMinhg&hl=en&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/Wfm3_BMinhg&hl=en&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
I don't see a big contradiction. As a survivalist you should be concerned about conserving resources and protecting the natural environment. Especially if you plan on living off of the land. Nice looking tomato.
It's similar to a large, juicy homegrown beefsteak tomato, but with even greater distinct flavor. mc mark is correct,... all hierlooms are absolutely unique (either in appearance, taste or both) If you get a chance check out the site for the other hierloom pics...The only type I've tried is the Cherokee Purple. I can't imagine a better tasting tomato. p.s. if there is any downside to non-hybrids it might be that they are less disease/pest resistant, but I'm not sure about that. I do have 2 small 1 inch seedlings growing, so we shall see if any results...Now my hybrid "better boy" versions (similar to a beefsteak tomato, but slightly smaller) ARE 5ft tall and doing great, but if I start getting results, I may stick with heirloom non-hybrids cultured from seed rather than transplants exclusively.
Heirloom tomatoes are the bomb. I discovered them about 5 years ago, and it was one of the most transcendent gustatory experiences of my life. I look forward to summer in part because they come into season then. We can't grow them as much at our current house, but at our old house, we'd grow 15 plants at a time. We do, however, pick them up at farmer's markets as soon as they're available, and August usually features a very heavy tomato-centric menu. I was in Houston a month ago, and the HEB by my parents carried them for a week. My Dad (a recent convert) and I stopped immediately to get some. Quite a few people including an HEB worker were staring at them amazed. A few said they looked deformed and couldn't taste good. I gave an impromptu tomato lecture and about a dozen people walked away with brandywine tomatoes. I absoultely adore purple tomatoes of any type, but the Purple Cherokee are the most common to find at the store or farmer markets here in Seattle. Man, just slice those things up and put a bit of salt on them. We'll serve them along side steak or chicken or just eat them straight up. Getting back to the gardening side, brandywines and purple tomatoes (dark prince, purple cherokee, purple calabash, etc.) are harder to grow. They'll produce really big tomatoes, but they take a lot longer to grow. I would imagine they'll do better in Texas than up here in Washington due to the heat. Just be careful of heavy rain, because most of those heirlooms are delicate and will burst if they get to much water. I've had the best luck as far as quantity growing cherry tomatoes. Green Grape, Blondekopchen, and Sungold all will produce a ton of cherry tomatoes. The king of production is the Sweet Million (also called sweet 100's or sweet 1000's). You'll get dozens of clusters with 20-30 tomatoes per cluster.
They're lush and rich. I compare it to drinking wine. The inside don't have the same sectioned look of a traditional tomato. Instead they're fleshy. Once you go heirloom, it's really hard to go back.
I gotta try these heirlooms out. I love the heirloom oranges, they taste sweeter and have more depth than regular naval oranges. Central Market FTW! much cheaper than whole foods.
So, where can I get some seeds so I can't plant me some next year? I am assuming it is too late to plant them this year.
