Heirlooms

The heirloom tomato varieties in the garden are now coming ripe. I've picked a few Old German, and some Cherokee Purple are almost ready.


As you can see in the tomato on the left, I've had some problems with splitting (some split so much they rot as they ripen), which the heirloom varieties are more susceptible to, but can apparently be made worse by uneven watering or temperature. However, I ate that ugly one last evening in a pita with hummus and bell pepper, and boy was it good. The flavor was much more intensely tomato-y than store-bought or my own Better Boy tomatoes, and sweeter, too. One other striking difference is that instead of spilling that jelly-like stuff with the seeds in it when you cut them open, the Old German tomatoes are mostly flesh, with only small liquid-y seed pockets. So when you slice it, you basically get slabs of tomato instead of that familiar lattice. The only problem with tomatoes this tasty is that it's sure to make it kind of depressing when I later have to resort to one of those bright red tomato objects in the grocery store.