Supermarket tomatoes have been grown with transport and packaging in mind. They're tough, picked fairly green, and you can rest a brick on them and they won't get squashed. Taste has not been a priority. Looking at those sad, pale, tasteless things, you could easily forget there's a whole world of flavours and colours waiting to be discovered, including many "heirloom" varieties that were left behind as the unsquashable supermarket tomatoes took over.
This season I'm growing Green Zebras (green stripes with a subtle orange flush, very refreshing taste), Yellow Pears (firm texture, citrusy taste), Tommy Toes (fantastically prolific & flavoursome golf-ball sized red tomatoes), and my favourite... a small orange cherry so sweet it's like bursting an especially intense grape in your mouth. Above is a photo of these varieties.
Last year I also grew Black Krims, which when sliced, provide darkly beautiful and intricate food mandalas for the salad plate.
You can get seeds for these, and many more varieties of tomatoes, from seed companies that work to keep these old varieties alive.
Digger's Seeds: http://www.diggers.com.au/
Eden Seeds: http://www.edenseeds.com.au/
Greenpatch Seeds: http://www.greenpatchseeds.com.au/
These companies also have selections of certified organic seeds (Greenpatch are completely organic). These open-pollinated seeds give us back control over our own food supply, because you can save the seeds from your harvest and grow them again next season.
If you've never tried a just-picked tomato, warmed and juiced up by the afternoon sun, perhaps sliced open with a little sprinkling of sea salt, then quick put it on your list of things to do before you die.
Or slice them all up together for an insanely colourful bruschetta....mmmm. I have converted tomato haters to tomato lovers with some of these tomatoes! And kids love the little coloured ones.
In future posts I'll share hints for growing tomatoes in containers or on worm farms, with minimum space requirement.
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