Genuine Faux Farm
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Genuine Faux Farm |
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Tomatoes Storage: 45 to 60 degrees F for 4 - 7 days. Firmer fruits store longer as do fruits with no splits. Heirloom varieties are often more susceptible to splitting or bruising, so try not to stack these on top of each other. If you break the stems off of fruit, they will not puncture their neighbors and will allow you to stack them 2 deep (or more if smaller fruit) - but don't damage the fruit if the stem doesn't want to remove. Blemishes: Tomatoes that have splits, light bruising or small brown spots are perfectly good for consumption. It is true that these may store for a shorter period of time than those with no blemishes whatsoever. Simply cut away any part of the tomato that looks unappetizing to you and use the rest as normal. The small, round brown spots usually do not even penetrate through the skin to the meat and can easily be sliced off if they bother you. If the flesh is browned or has white fungus, then that part of the tomato should be discarded. Also, if you have tomatoes that exhibit problems and they go bad, they may encourage surrounding tomatoes to begin having the same problems. Eat them early and get them away from those you want to last for a while. Cultivation: All plants are started here at the farm. Seed is organically certified when we can get it, but we cannot guarantee that every variety we grow comes from organically certified seed. We start plants in trays and then transplant them into 4 inch pots. We expose plants to the elements (including wind) gradually - but we prefer our plants to have been exposed to full sun, rain and strong wind before we sell or transplant them. We prefer stocky, shorter plants that have roots just begging to bend at the pot edge at time of transplant. Heirloom varieties often have exceptional taste and interesting characteristics that can not be matched by common, commercial hybrid seeds. However, experience tells us that we cannot expect a bumper crop from each variety every year. In order to combat this, we try to grow a wide range of heirloom varieties so that, regardless of the year, we will have plenty of tomatoes. Do what you can to maintain a consistent soil moisture for the highest production levels. Mulching is definitely a positive for tomatoes. It is also wise to keep the plants off of the ground. Fruit that touches the soil is much more likely to have problems. Also, soil splashing on the leaves spreads soil-born blight. We rotate our tomatoes every season. Encourage tomato plants to grow deep roots. Too much watering causes them to rely too much on regular watering and results in shallow root structures. You will also get better tasting tomatoes if you have drier weather as you approach harvest. If you know a rain is coming during harvest season, go out and pick your heirlooms prior to the rain. Otherwise, the intake of water just might result in more split tomatoes - especially if it has been dry up to that point, or the rains are heavy. Tomatoes are, on the whole, very tough plants. You'll almost always get SOMETHING! Companions: We strongly believe that basil and tomatoes improve the quality of each. We have also found that the presence of cilantro and other aromatics encourage the presence of predator insects that reduce pests that might reduce our crop productions. Carrots are also said to be great companions. We're not sure we can space them close enough to gain the benefits, but, we continue to work on the spacing to give this a try. Ratings: If you see NO tomatoes in a rating, then we were awfully disappointed. If you see more than five tomatoes, then we were astounded. See, we can't even abide by our own rating rules!
Cultivars: All are Open Pollinated.
Amish Paste - This heirloom variety was discovered in Wisconsin and produces 6 to 8 ounce fruits. Very meaty and great for sauces and fresh eating. This variety was one of our first forays into heirloom tomatoes, and their success was the beginning of our interest in going all open-pollinated. These plants tend to hold off blight longer than other heirlooms and produce roma style fruit. We hope to encourage more of our members to use these to make their own tomato sauces, freezing them for winter use. Even with our rough fall weather in 2007, these plants still pumped out over 20 fruit per plant. Highly reliable. A GFF preferred variety.
Beam's Yellow Pear - Tammy loves snacking on these, hence they stay in the garden despite difficulties keeping them picked. Fruits are pear shaped and roughly the size of a cherry tomato. Wash them, put them on the counter and let the family eat them as is. Or, you can put them in salads or similar dishes. Insects tend to sample fruits leaving a single blemish or hole, They are also prone to having a single vertical crack on a number of fruits when watering is inconsistent. The first few fruits ripen in early August, producing until frost. These plants do volunteer freely unless you clean up every fallen tomato!
Black Krim - We have found the mid-size, "black" tomato that likes our farm. As with all "black/purple" tomatoes, they are often a little softer and will be more prone to cracking. You can work to avoid this by picking fruit a bit earlier and keeping any split fruit off the plant to avoid fruit rot/blight spread. We suspect they would reach peak production in a dry year with a consistent watering program. But, since we are in a wet weather pattern, we will be happy with what we get. These have a wonderful, full taste. Taste tests at the farmers' market and by CSA members resulted in every fruit - even if a bit blemished - disappearing from our sales crates in a hurry. Unlike the pictures in catalogues, we have noticed a tendency to slightly oblong fruit on some plants, whereas others stick with rounder fruits. We personally prefer Black Krim to Cherokee Purple. However, we feel they both respond to different weather situations in different ways - so we grow both.
Cherokee Purple - This larger, 'black' or 'purple' tomato comes highly recommended by the other farm participants in our 2008 heirloom tomato trials. They claim that the flavor is excellent and their CSA members grab these before most other varieties. We planted 60 plants in 2008 for research purposes. They were right, the taste was excellent. On the other hand, the plants succombed to blight early and there was a great deal of fruit loss in both 2007 and 2008. The taste is good enough that we keep fighing to find ways to make these plants happy enough to yield sufficiently to keep all of its fans healthy. We find the taste is similar in the Black Krims and feel that all black tomatoes will like dryer years. If we had to choose, we would take Black Krim over Cherokee Purple.
Dr. Wyche's Yellow - This was a pleasant surprise in 2007. We anticipated very large fruit and found that they were a reasonable 12 oz to 1lb + fruit. Definitely a sweeter tomato taste and very meaty. As with other yellow tomatoes, these have less acid and are easier on the digestion for people with limited diets. The picture doesn't really show it, but the fruits are lobed and can often be slightly irregular in shape. It doesn't matter - those who tried this tomato raved about the flavor. They showed us better qualities in 2008 with more uniform fruit with less lobing and even better color. On the other hand, they struggled in 2009 and 2010. So, their reliability takes a big hit for us. They go from a favored tomato to one we wonder about. However, you must keep these plants picked as they are susceptible to fruit blights. Get infected fruit off immediately upon discovery. Watch out, these plants can get VERY large..but are worth the effort to stake. Keep them up off the ground and you'll be well rewarded.
German Pink - German Pink has been a standard bearer for us since the 2005 season. Plants produce 1 to 2 pound slicing fruits that are pinkish red when fully ripe. Plants are very sturdy and the fruits are, in some cases, already quite large in early August. There may be a couple that push 2.5 pounds in size. There are many fewer fruits per plant as they tend to put their effort into a smaller group of them. When sliced, they leave an incredibly low amount of juice on the cutting board. Nice, sweet flavor. Treat these gently as the outer skin can be made to split if handled roughly. This variety taught Rob to like tomatoes on sandwiches - now that IS a compliment! This is still the tomato he would choose if given several to select for a fresh slice. A GFF preferred variety. Please note that we have tried cattle panel trellising with this variety and don't feel that it does these plants a favor. Yes, it is easier to pick the tomatoes. But, it seemed to us that the plants were more susceptible to fruit rot problems than in prior years. Also, German Pink does not tolerate grassy weeds at all. Keep them clean and encourage good healthy plants in cages for a nice radial cover of their tasty fruit.
Golden Sunray - This was another excellent 2007 addition to our cultivar selections! Firm, beautiful, round, yellow to orange fruit look fantastic on the market table. These are uniform in size and shape and are lower acid content tomatoes. Taste is reported to be slightly milder without forsaking the real taste of a tomato, their skin is reported to be tougher. You can wait until they get an orange-yellow coloration if you wish, but they are fine once they are full yellow. From a grower's perspective, we like it because each plant produced well and the fruit were easy to pick, pack and display. Unlike many heirlooms, these are a bit firmer and handle travel to market better than most. While we are not all about that - it just so happens that taste is not forsaken for these other qualities. Sold! A GFF preferred variety.
Gold Medal - These are yellow tomatoes with red streaks on the blossom end and they are, perhaps, the sweetest tomatoes we have EVER tasted. If you want a more acid tomato taste, you will decide this one isn't for you. They are also one of the largest we have grown. Our record for this cultivar is 3.5 pounds in 2006. Fruits tend to split, which attracts the insects - leading to fairly high fruit loss at production time. It is often better to pick these a little early and let them ripen on the counter - unless you are willing to accept losses exceeding half of the crop. Keep the moisture even (mulch and irrigate) for best results. They are too fun to grow to give up, though we are cutting back on them for farm production. If you want to grow a "State Fair Ribbon Winning" tomato - try this one. Not many of these tomotoes make it to the CSA because they are "claimed" before they go into the crates! Number of tomatoes average only 8 per plant in a decent year (with several split and not used). But, if you go by volume you get 12 pounds of tomato with that average. A typical heirloom slicer may average 40 tomatoes for a total of 20 pounds. We also find that there is less splitting as temperatures cool in the fall.
Green Zebra - We gave Green Zebra a full trial in 2008 and it immediately established a fan base. We grow all heirloom tomatoes for our CSA, but it still took us a while to take the plunge with a green tomato. People who love a tangy, smaller tomato will enjoy this one. Many have indicated that this tomato should receive top flavor marks. The only reason it does not get a "5 tomato" rating is that there are also numerous people who do NOT like the taste of a Green Zebra. Very few seem to have a neutral opinion! It does take some getting used to figuring out when to pick them (wait until yellow is more prevalent than green on the shoulders). If you wait too long to pick, they tend to fall off the plant. Taste test winner at Roots in 2008. You can easily harvest 50 salad-sized tomatoes per plant. Easy to pick, not prone to cracking.
Hungarian Heart - Large, heart shaped fruits are very meaty with excellent taste. The first such tomato to ripen weighed in at 2 lbs on August 19 in 2006. It turns out that this date was not typical - as most of the production comes at the end of the season. Earlier ripening fruits tend to have problems with splitting and rotting. As the weather cools, the fruits tend to stay whole and firmer. We did not weigh it in, but one tomato in 2007 gave us the impression that it may have beat our 3+ lb Gold Medal from 2006. They ripen on the pinker side of red, not unlike German Pink. We include these in the rotation to have some pinks at the very end of the season - often after German Pink has slowed dramatically.
Italian Heirloom - Easy to peel, slice and can with little waste. This variety tends to produce fruits that average one pound and starts production earlier in the season than any other large tomato. These do not leave juice all over the board when you slice or dice them, very meaty and great for BLT sandwiches! The fruits are usually round with a slight elongation towards the bottom, but the plants also throw some odd shaped fruit with multiple lobes that taste every bit as good. This is probably our favorite tomato to recommend to restaurants or persons who need a high volume for an event. As a grower, you won't find a better all around large tomato. The reliability rating took a hit in 2008 with a very weak year. However, plants we sold to persons in the area did extremely well. We have traced the problem to a soil drainage issue in the area these were planted. It's a tribute to the plants that they did anything. We average 20.1 marketable tomatoes per plant and typical size is around 1 pound. Plants can sometimes be a little 'weepy' looking until they bush out. It is important that you put transplants in deeply to avoid stem breakage in the wind.
Moonglow - This is another yellow/orange variety with mid-sized fruit. Most of our yellows did better than other varieties in our wet 2007 August. This, of course, makes us wonder if we need to search for a dry-weather yellow (if it exists). Descriptions indicate to us that this might be it. Well, 2008 was not the year to find out -exactly. But, Moonglow did perform exceptionally well with an astounding 43.6 tomato per plant rating. This, with three plants underproducing because they were not caged! If we have a complaint, it would be that first fruits are markedly larger than seconds and thirds - but all taste and look pretty good. Production levels can be much higher in terms of number of fruit, but total pounds will be the same as Golden Sunray. Some say Moonglow tastes a tad bit sweeter.
Rutgers - At the request of one of our CSA members, we added Rutgers to our growing list in 2006. These are a standard, round, red tomato with the 'old-time' tomato taste. Plants are unremarkable in terms of disease resistance, durability, etc. In other words, they neither stand out, nor do they ask us to remove them from our grow list. The simple fact that they have produced for us every season at reasonably good levels, despite plants having difficulty getting started in 2008, is enough to keep them on the list. They were one of the few tomatoes that gave us a good crop of earlier tomatoes in 2008 - while most sent out scouts and then retreated until peaking in September and October.
Siberian - This is supposed to be one of the best early tomato varieties available. Taste is reported to be closer to mid-season form than many earlies. Introduction in 2008 on our farm. Northern gardeners have reported extremely good success with Siberian. Fruits are firm and are a uniform salad size tomato. It is a bit unfair to talk about taste with this tomato. It is an early variety - so it can't be compared with some of the wonderful later cultivars like Cherokee Purple and German Pink - but we do that anyway with our rating system. But, if you compare it with other tomatoes you might find during the point these are ripening, they are quite good!
Silvery Fir Tree - Silvery Fir Tree is an heirloom variety that we started growing when someone gave us a seed packet as a gift. The plants are attractive and compact, making excellent container plants. They are also an early, determinant variety, which means they produce a crop all at once, after which the plant dies. Fruits are 3 to 3.5 inches and are a good for most uses, though it is more difficult to make sauces out of these. Many are large enough for slicing. These begin producing tomatoes starting in late July. With some season extension techniques, we may be able to inch production up to an earlier point of the year. We suspect these will do far better in raised beds and know they do best with very heavy grass mulch in the garden. They ride low to the ground, so the mulch helps prevent problems with the ripening fruits. Be prepared to pick them clean when they ripen as fruit will tend to contract diseases that spread to other fruit. We are wondering if these will do well in a high tunnel. But, from a field growing standpoint, we will be removing them.
Speckled Roman - We like to make our own tomato sauce and these tomatoes produce meaty, paste fruits that are great for sauces. Ripe fruits have red and yellowish striping and are elongated like most paste tomatoes. These tend to be a little lower in acid content and have fewer seeds than many tomatoes (including Amish Paste). While we use these for sauces, they are very good for fresh eating and add a little eye appeal in a salad. We have noticed that these fruits are susceptible to getting small brown spots on the skin. This is not necessarily going to be the case for all persons who grow this variety - even using our plants. We believe it is a combination of factors, including insect pests and soil born issues. Other varieties in the same plot do not seem to be susceptible to the problem. These spots do not affect the quality of the product and can be easily removed if they bother you. After all, most sauce applications encourage skin removal from the tomato anyway.
Stupice - Stupice produces volumes of smaller fruit anywhere from a quarter to a third pound, starting very early and potentially going until frost. Early wet and cool weather may result in these tomatoes producing not much earlier than other varieties (like 2008). The taste is good, but they don't stand out when other tomatoes start coming in. Sized for salads or fresh eating. They tend to be susceptible to sunscald and fruit blight. We are hearing from northern Minnesota gardeners (who have tried our plants) that Stupice has done very well for them. Don't make the mistake of assuming they don't need a little TLC because you won't get the results you want. Keep them picked to avoid fruit rot & blight. Keep them up off of the ground for best results. This variety has ridden the edge of being removed from the farm every year and somehow makes the cut - simply because of the promise to produce before any other cultivar. Average is 50 fruit per plant for us - but we often don't keep them picked once other varieties are peaking.
Tasty Evergreen - These tend towards a brownish, yellow/green when ripe and maintain a green gel in the interior with white/green flesh. The taste is quite good, giving a refreshing zing to a summer sandwich. The taste helps one to think cool thoughts on a hot day. On the down side, they tended to have deeper cracks on the shoulders that led to rot problems at ripening. Fruit size is highly variable and the shape is rarely perfectly round as shown in the picture. The taste treat is enough to grow a few of these on the farm. We find that picking them before they get too ripe gives us a better shot at harvest. Unfortunately, they do not ship well and are difficult to deliver.
Trophy - This has become one of our work horse, mid-size tomatoes. Fruit tend to be 6 - 8 ounces and are slightly flattened globes. Production per plant is good and these tend to be a bit firmer than Wisconsin 55. They make a great companion for the 55's because they tend to produce a bit later and will be going once the 55's are past their peak. Taste is quite good for a round, red tomato-see we're not totally biased against them! Trophy tends to have a bit more cracking in the shoulders than Wisconsin 55's, but they hold the fruit on the plant better. The stems also break off for shipping far better than the 55's. The absolute largest Trophy fruit I've seen was about 3/4 pound. This is a GFF preferred variety. If we had to choose a single workhorse mid-size tomato, it would be Trophy.
Wapsipinicon Peach - The Wapsi Peach is a yellow tomato variety that is grown for the lower acid content. For persons who can not eat the more acidic red tomato, they can still enjoy fresh tomatoes. Our farm is less than a mile from the Wapsipinicon River, so it seems appropriate that we should grow them as well. Fruits are 2 inches and peach-shaped, with a little bit of a fuzzy feel! We have found that our pint baskets of these sell out at market when we encourage taste testing! Juicy and delicious. Keep these plants off the ground as the fruit are impossible to clean if they get dirty! We've found that they take to trellising better than caging. A Tammy recommended snack tomato.
Wisconsin 55 - Wisconsin 55 has been shown to work well in this region and soil type. Typically, they will produce half pound fruits and are a good all purpose tomato and are recommended for canning. Plants are vigorous early on and typcially begin to ripen in mid-August. Plants tend to drop fruit from the vine before we can get to them and are often impacted by wilt earlier than other varieties. But, this does not matter much since peak production is usually completed just prior to this point. Combining with Trophy in our area seems to work very well for overall production of medium sized red tomatoes. Market growers tend to twist or break off stems to avoid puncturing fruit. The problem is that Wisconsin 55 stems don't want to easily twist off and often do more damage to the fruit when taken off. On the other hand - they rarely crack on the shoulders. Keep on top of picking them - pulling them from the plant on the early side of full ripeness - and you'll have a magnificent crop!
Discontinued Cultivars
Christmas Grapes - Chistmas Grapes are a little smaller than the standard cherry tomato and grow in clusters on the plant (like a grape). We've been hearing raves about this type of snack tomato and thought we'd give an heirloom variety of this sort a try. These should be good on salads or simply place them in a bowl on the table and watch them disappear. Why'd we drop it? - Don't take our dropping this variety as an indicator that it isn't a good one. It did, in fact, produce well and the fruit was, indeed, tasty enough. However, we find ourselves moving away from smaller cherry tomatoes since we just cannot keep up with them. Christmas Grapes had a tendency to drop their fruit when ripe - which can be annoying if you are picking rapidly and bump a branch. Suddenly, there are a bunch of fruit on the ground. The home gardener may very well appreciate this one and will never have an empty bowl once it starts producing. Some tendency to blight.
Brandywine - An extremely well-known, and therefore, popular heirloom variety. Typically produces pink/red fruits on the order of 1lb in size. Why'd we drop it? - No offense to Brandywine lovers, but we can do better than this on our farm. In head to head trials, German Pink plants resisted blight better, produced more fruit and were more resilient than Brandywine. In our opinion, the taste of German Pink and quality of the fruit is an improvement over Brandywine. So, we will grow German Pink for our large pink tomato - it appears to like us (and our farm) better than Brandywine. We cannot speak for people with different locations/soils - perhaps you will find Brandywine beats German Pink in your own head to head trial?
Soldacki - We are tried Soldacki in an effort to find a slightly smaller pink variety. We love our German Pinks, but many people have asked if we could find a variety that isn't quite so large. Why'd we drop it? - Once again, we liked German Pink better. And, these were the same size range (just a tad smaller) with a little more tendency to crack at the top. We did notice that the fruit of Soldacki are not as smoothly round as German Pink tends to be. We did not particularly feel the taste was as good as German Pink, but that is only our opinion. These ARE meaty and the internal consistency is very much like German Pink and Hungarian Heart. We wonder if this variety might do better in a sandier soil.
. Long Tom - We grew this one at the request of K&K Gardens in Hawkeye. It had been on our radar as a possible roma type, but we've been so happy with Amish Paste, our motivation hasn't been there. So, in 2008, we had a small trial of these to compare head to head with Amish Paste, Federle and Opalka. Why'd we drop it? - At a 28.1 fruit per plant rate as compared to rates in the 30's by it's competitors (except Federle), we felt this variety had to show some other quality to stay. But, it didn't show us anything in terms of plant strength, timing for ripening, taste or fruit quality. In short, it's a fine variety that was outstripped by others this year. We still like Amish Paste and Speckled Roman best for paste tomatoes. Keith at K&K was happy with the Long Tom plants, so they do well enough. It may be a city garden vs country garden issue!
Polish Linguisa - These are long, red, hollow fruit that are excellent for processing and stuffing. We found that the fruit hold well on the counter, possibly in part because of the hollow cavities combined with firm flesh. These are later season harvest fruit and the last pick prior to frost turns well on the counter. Why'd we drop it? - It is NOT for lack of consistency. Fruit production rates of 24, 29.9, 26.8 over three years with high variation in weather characteristics tells me this is a very good plant to have in production. Our main issue is that we are required to place an order in a catalogue from which we order little, if anything, else. With shipping, we end up paying a good deal more for the seed. Our trials of Opalka and Federle found us two varieties that have similar characteristics. Clearly, if they don't prove to be reliable, we'll come back to Polish Linguisa. Opalka IS a Polish heirloom and may, in fact, be closely related.
Purple Russian - After a trial plant found a home in our garden in 2006 (they were on a 'free' table -we had to put them in the ground), we had to try them the next year. The trial plant was put in late and did not have a chance to ripen most of its fruit. But, the sheer volume of fruit on that lone plant encouraged a full blown trial in 2007. As luck would have it, most purples had trouble with the August rains. These plants were a complete failure. We have to give them a real shot at success, so were given one more try in 2008. Why'd we drop it? - We suspect you have to baby these plants with irrigation, heavy mulch and perfect weather - perhaps planting them a tad later so they don't ripen in warmer weather. We mulch, but only irrigate in extreme circumstances. Perfect weather? Hah! Fruits have a terrible tendency to split at the point of beginning to ripen. They're too soft to pick and move to market. What's worse, they don't have an outstanding flavor. Yes, they are ok. But, that certainly isn't sufficient to make up for the terrible shortcomings. In our area, at least, we recommend you stay away from this one unless you REALLY want to prove us wrong.
Isis Candy - this variety tastes just fine. It produces well enough. However, it was the first to succomb to late blight and it has a terrible tendency to split when picked. Neither of these endear them to us as we need plants to produce high volumes of fruit that transport well enough to make our CSA members happy. You may like to try this in your garden. In fact, home gardeners who bought these plants from us were pleased with them, but also noted the cracking issue. This is, however, NOT an issue if you intend to just eat the tomatoes right off the plant!
Lemon Drop - We have had requests to grow a yellow cherry variety that happens to be a hybrid. Since we are committed to growing open-pollinated tomatoes, we are attempting to fill that request by finding a variety that has some relation to the requested hybrid. Well, here it is! This snack tomato tends to disappear fairly quickly when it makes appearances in the CSA snack tomato option. Leave the stem on when picking these and be very gentle as they tend to split easily. Pulling the stem usually results in a split as well. Of course, take the stem off when you eat them!
. Roman Candle - A yellow roma type tomato with lower acid content. The taste is not outstanding, but they mix well with other tomatoes in sauces, adding color and a different layer of taste. Production levels were ridiculous in our trial year (2008) with over 90 fruits per plant coming in. Plants do tend to drop fruit, but the fruit are sturdy enough to easily handle this mistreatment. They hold well after ripening, making it easier to let them sit for a while until you have time to work with them.
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| updated 2/9/11 | tomato photos curtesy of Seed Savers
Inc (until we take a few of our own!) |
