Heirloom tomatoes

[realFedUp]

a little rant...

Heirloom tomatoes, now being featured in the best restaurants
are actually those old-fashioned home grown tomatoes pushed
aside for the tomatoes that pick and travel well.
$4.99 per pound, these beauties actually taste good like tomatoes.
Isn't it the way of the world that quality is rarer and
costs much more.

I'm planting tomatoes next year...

[MisterP]

1. you sure this is GD material?

:o

[realFedUp]

3. this is general discussion.

If you don't like it, don't respond to it.

[MisterP]

14. oh, sorry

[realFedUp]

19. S'cuse my abruptness

Yeah, this should be in the Lounge, but felt like
breaking up the political chitchat subject lines
in GD...no matter, it will disappear into archive
hell tomorrow.

Forgive my abruptness MisterP

[Friar]

7. it's probably better for the lounge but

you can't beat homegrown tomatoes. I pick the suckers off the vine and eat em like apples. I make tomato and lettuce sandwiches, no meat. My kids used to call them "salad sandwiches". Yum!

[SoCalDem]

9. My kids loved "salad pita sandwiches"

:)

[havocmom]

13. sure it is food for thought in GD!

If more of us turn our backs on the products the Corporitist, (or Global Feudalist, as mentioned in a different thread) the world deteriorates a little slower.

Some of those lovely red but tasteless tomatoes offered in stores everywhere are grown by a Dutch company operating in AZ and treating workers like potting soil. Corporate farms are not good for the earth or the nation. You want the likes of Big Oil to own all the crop land and water too? Say hello to Soylant Green if we let them become the sole producers of food.

Grow as much as you can. Share with neighbors. Offer extra produce to rest homes. Get the kids interested in growing things and show them how they can be as self sufficient as possible. There is a sick sort of mindset that people have to take what is out there and have no voice in changing anything. It makes whole populations shrug off outrages with a "but what can we so?" whimper. Fight that helplessness. Do as much for yourslef as you can and don't buy anymore from exploiters than you have to.

Homegrown produce can be a very effective means of Grassroot Change!

Take it from an old gardener and political rabble rouser, it's a good thing!

[SoCalDem]

17. and the greenhouse and grocery store plants are icky too

check out the flower section of this catalog and ask youself when the last time you saw some of these flowers.. I remember hollyhocks, and lilie of the valley and morning glories and 4 o'clocks, and real roses that SMELLED like roses ..almost growing wild in empty lots and in alleys.. Now there is only concrete, asphalt and "engineered plants".. Everyone's yard looks the same..:(

http://www.seedsavers.org/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=2000&Category_Code=vegetabelseeds

[realFedUp]

23. Throwing tomatoes!

Ok, I like that this is political again! Thanks havocmom.

[havocmom]

26. gimme a high five realFedUp!

Everything is political if you frame it right. Firmly believe gardening can be a very political act. (and it keeps a great thread out there for more to get invloved with!)

Gardeners make things bloom. We need that in politics.

[realFedUp]

29. Big five!

hehehe.

[catzies]

28. I find the best of both worlds at my Farmers' Market

I can buy heirloom tomatoes, grown locally and organically by people I know!

You're also right about teaching kids where food comes from -- and not just from a box by Kraft or General Mills!

We have moved away from understanding or contributing to how our food is prepared and sold to us and I think that's been a detriment to us all.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

2. check out seed savers

this group has been growing, saving, and sharing the seeds of many different heirloom plants. My neighbor also raises heirloom plants which he sells in Fayetteville and Little Rock AR.

[SoCalDem]

4. I love kohlrabi... another heirloom veggie

:)

[StClone]

44. Brandywine Tomato. kohlrabi, salsify

The old Amish Brandywine is a superbly flavorful heirloom with the drawback that it has a long season 75+ days. Kohlrabi is a super veggie best enjoyed peeled and raw. Salsify is a root crop that can be be harvested at the end of the first season or left to grow into the next season. It has a mild oyster-like flavor that is delicious breaded with salt and black pepper, baked with Okra.

[realFedUp]

5. Do you have a link?

Is it just www.seedsavers.com?

[SoCalDem]

6. catalog link...no kohlrabi (sniff)

http://www.seedsavers.org/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=2000&Category_Code=vegetabelseeds

[havocmom]

18. here is a goody for tomato growers

I have had good service and great gardens from these folks
http://www.tomatogrowers.com/

[StClone]

45. Seed Savers is near my hometown!

I personally buy from Jung's Seeds, Randolph WI. They have a long history and offer a nice variety of heirlooms and modern varieties.

[GumboYaYa]

8. I planted Heirlooms last year.

I started with a $1.99 pack of seeds. We ate them all summer. Little yellow beauties, striped red guys, green tomatoes with a citrus taste; they were all awesome. We would make a mixed tomato salad and eat just that for dinner. I saw them in the store for $5.00 a pound and laughed knowing I could eat all I wanted for $1.99.

[realFedUp]

10. I'm jealous

We had a bread salad the other day...so good, made
with cubes of hardened bread, good tomatoes, celery,
pistachio nuts, gorgonzola cheese, avocado-everything
diced small and dressed with a balsamic vinegrette....yum!

[GumboYaYa]

11. That sounds good

and I had Sushi for lunch so I'm already hungry. I could use a nice Bread Salad right now.

[ender]

12. they better not be "GREEN" tomatoes...

[havocmom]

24. Nah, Greens are OK!

Not all Greens are ideologically restricted! There are some mighty tasty green tomato varieties out there!

And for those of you who have a bit of trouble with the acid in tomatoes, consider the yellow and white fruited varieties. They tend to be lower in acid and sweeter.

For the brave among you... go for diversity: grow tomatoes of all colors and shapes! Makes for wonderful salads and is a political statement to boot!

[slackmaster]

38. Green Zebras ROCK!

Once you figure out when to pick them.

[havocmom]

41. If you love Green Zebras....

try Lime Green Salad tomatoes! Wowie Zowie! Greens are tastie!

[izzie]

15. You can still buy them from side road stands and grow them

God but they are good.

[CWebster]

16. my kind of thread!

Too much rain and not enough tomatoes this year

[KoKo]

20. What about those great old-fashioned hairy crooknecked Yellow Squash, too?

I would love to find heirloom seeds for those. I haven't had a good crook neck in so many years it's hard to remember. Those mushy things they grow in Mexico and elsewhere now....cook to nothing and have no taste.

People didn't like the sharp little hairs, I guess so they bred them out....and when the hairs went, so did the insides.

[realFedUp]

21. had no idea....

didn't know that crooknecks were hard to find..
I'm not a squash lover though...

[SoCalDem]

22. KoKo01...try here

http://www.seedsavers.org/Merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=2000&Category_Code=squash

[KoKo]

36. Thanks So Cal........It's too late to try them this year....but that the

seeds still exist .........has me jumping up and down. I have two squash casseroles I've given up on because of he much yellows........

Between that and the "real" tomatos, I'm starving! Sadly.....another year will go by.......

[sangha]

34. Try Shepherd's Garden Seeds

They sell seeds for crooknecks, complete with sharp little hairs.

I don't have an URL.

[Brian Sweat]

25. You have to understand that the mass market tomatoes are cheap

because they are designed to be cheap. They grow fast and they are picked before they are ready. The things that make them cheap are the very things that cause them to be so flavorless. Producing a tomato with good flavor takes time and requires that they stay on the vine until they are actually ripe. As a result, the have to be rushed to market and all of this adds to the cost.

[corarose]

27. Whole Foods sells them for $5.99 a pound

I love tomatoes!

[hatrack]

30. We're doing ten different heirlooms this summer

And so far, we've been in tomato heaven!

I'll recommend a few varieties that are especially yummy: Cherokee Purple (rich, dark taste), Arkansas Traveler (huge bright red and incredibly juicy), Yellow Peach (with a fuzzy skin like a peach, and a delicious, crisp tomato flavor) and Black from Tula (a reddish-black Russian variety which makes BLTs to DIE for).

We got ours locally from a farmers' market, but Seed Savers, Seed Exchange and (I think) Cook's Garden have most, if not all of these varieties.

Other recommendations - if you like cucumbers, check out a variety called Double Yield - for every cucumber you harvest, two more grow to take its place.

Gardening is also satisfying in that it's a fundamentally subversive act - refusing to eat the kind of tasteless plastic crap shovelled out to you by agribusiness and grocery chains.

[realFedUp]

32. Exotic!

Love the names of those tomatoes...wrote em down. Thanks
for the info.

[sangha]

35. Black from Tulas are scrumptious

and I'm not a big fan of tomatoes.

Re: Cukes

I recommend Marketmore 76's. They're easy to find, productive, and easy.

[realFedUp]

31. With Monsanto working so hard to GM these seeds

you have to wonder if there will be pure seeds left if
not for those who understand how vital it will be.

[havocmom]

33. that is why there are groups like Seed Savers out there

dig a little (OK, me bad for pun) and you shall havest many groups to give you hope. Jump on board. Tis fun to buck the system.

Remember: Living well is the best revenge!

[murphymom]

37. another source for seeds

Here's another source for open-pollenated and heirloom seeds in the NorthWest:

http://www.abundantlifeseed.org/cat2.htm

I ordered some native plant seeds from them and will see how they do. Trying to reclaim a wild patch of yard that we cleared of ivy and vinca.

When I checked the website it looks like they just had a fire, so things may not be available until they get reorganized.

[grasswire]

40. and why the hell...

.....have they bred the scent out of certain flowers such as chrysanthemums and easter lilies? Argghh!

People who can't grow their own produce can also (in some areas) subscribe to a produce co-op. My niece pays a flat-fee share at the beginning of the season and gets a huge overflowing box of organic produce delivered each week. Huge peaches, exotic melons, greens, herbs, everything changing all the time.

[theHandpuppet]

39. Sources for Heirloom Seeds....

I'm a big proponent of heirloom gardening. Here are two places which are good sources for heirloom seeds:

www.heirloomseeds.com

and

www.VictorySeeds.com

Also, if you can find the seeds (I got a small quantity from a seller on ebay), I would recommend heirloom Zapotec tomatoes native to Mexico. I planted some this year and the plants are just chock full of fruit and are about six feet tall! All this in an organic garden using no pesiticides or artifical fertilizers -- and I've had no pest infestation at all.

[underpants]

42. What about pre-made PB&J sandwiches?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=105&topic_id=94255&mesg_id=94255&page=

[havocmom]

47. OK, Underpants wants a food fight

You DUers are such a blessing this week!
A mixed blessing but a blessing none the less.

Now, anybody have portable generators to spare for out eastern brethern who may be having trouble with their grow lights this evening?

[cally]

43. I grow heirloom tomates every year

There is nothing like homegrown tomatoes. They taste so much better than store, or even farmer's market, tomatoes. My tomatoes don't do that well in my new house, but I always grow 6 to seven plants a year.

The store bought variety were called 'Davis' tomatoes when I was in college. They were created at UC Davis and designed to hold up to shipping. The test was to drop them on the floor and see if they would remain intact. I tried many times and they do survive. :scared: The small farmers in California started objecting to state funds being used for this and it was the beginning of the California cuisine and organic farming movement in California.

[zekeson]

46. We palnted so much this year that today

I brought in a sack to give away. Tomorrow will be another. Time to start making salsa and sauces, and the season is still middle aged. I love homegrown tomatoes... Won't even eat a store or restuarant tomato.

[John_H]

48. I grow at least 6-8 varieties a year. Here are my top ten:

1) Old German--Huge, ultra seet, yellow w/ pink stripes
2) Caspian Pink--most intense tomato flavor
3) Evergreen--green when ripe, slightly tart
4) Branywine--classic tomato flavor
5) Mr. Stripey--similar to Old German, but not quite as prolific
6) Great White--once you get past the snow white color they're good
7) Cherokee Purple--lot's of folks love em'. I think they're just OK.
8) Green Zebra--zingy and tart. Doesn't grow well in my dirt (VA)
9) Orange Oxheart--Thse look cool, but taste a lot like hybrids
10) San Marzano--great for canning--they ripen mostly all at once.

Caution--a lot of the heirlooms you see in the seed catalogues are obscure for a reason--they're tough to grow and/or they don't taste all that great. I usually stick to the top sellers at www.totallytomato.com.