A lovely selection of heirlooms grown by Ray Newstead, inventor of the EarthTainer self-watering container system. (Photo © Ray Newstead)
Who hasn’t admired a plate full of knobby, multicolored heirloom tomatoes? In recent years, heirlooms have taken the culinary world by storm. Top chefs pay a fortune for heirlooms, both for their superior flavor and their beauty. Dark purple, rich green, zesty yellow—heirloom tomatoes brighten the plate and attract attention.
Better yet, they dramatically expand the universe of possible tomato flavors. Tomato fanatics swear there is nothing that can beat a well-grown heirloom tomato. They have the most complex flavor, and the most satisfying bite. They can be sweet, almost like syrup, or they can be dusky and even a tad spicy. Some restaurants and farmer’s markets even offer tomato sampling trays, where you can try all different kinds and flavors of heirlooms.
What makes an heirloom tomato an heirloom is a little more fuzzy. Not so long ago, all tomatoes were basically heirloom, mostly because there was no large-scale commercial tomato breeding. But this began to change in the decades after World War II, when the agricultural industry organized and matured. Commercial seed breeding companies moved heavily into tomato programs. They wanted to create the perfect tomato for the market. And their vision of a perfect tomato was pretty straightforward: large, red, disease-resistant and thick-skinned. These tomatoes could be field-grown in huge quantities, picked early, and force-ripened with ethylene gas. They could be packed into crates and shipped across the country and not spoil, split or get smooshed. In other words, they created the beast we know as “grocery store tomatoes.” By the 1970s, these hybrid tomatoes had taken over commercial tomato farming in a sea of uniformly red fruit.
Yet the advent of hybrids wasn’t all bad. The same qualities that turned on commercial farmers were great for home growers. Commercial hybrids were disease-resistant. They set fruit in hot weather and in arid climates. Basically, they made it easier than ever to grow your own tomatoes. How many heirloom ninjas today started with sturdy hybrids? Good question—they might never admit it! In reality, lots of very experienced growers (myself included) still grow hybrid tomatoes. They perform beautifully, they yield well, and they’re fun to grow.