Heirloom tomatoes are open-pollinated varieties which were either introduced commercially before 1940, or grown from seeds that have been passed down at least 50 years through several generations of a family, religious, ethnic, or tribal group, without the plants crossing with another variety of the same species.
Heirloom tomatoes come in a multitude of sizes, shapes, colors, and flavors. In addition to red, they can be purple, yellow, green, orange, or pink, and they can even be striped or marbled. They also vary in shape (pear, oblong, round, oval) and size (from small grape-sized fruit to giant two-pounders). And heirlooms can have a long harvest season, producing fruit into fall if conditions are right.
Heirlooms have often been named along the way with quirky monikers like “Black Krim,” “Cherokee Purple,” “Missouri Pink Love Apple,” or “Hillbilly Potato Leaf.” If the seeds have been passed down within a family there is usually a written history about the variety. They may be mentioned in an old seed catalog, a state agricultural report, or a garden book or journal.
We grow them for their wonderful flavor, texture, and taste, but it is interesting to learn the stories that go along with each tomato. The person from the past that created a certain variety over 50 or 100 years ago reaches down, through time, to deliver the same tomato seed that we can plant from year to year in our own gardens. These unique stories are usually included along with the tomato's description in seed catalogs or the back of seed packets.
There are both determinate and indeterminate varieties of heirloom tomatoes. Determinate varieties are sometimes smaller plants that work well in containers. The fruit ripens all at once so they are good for batch projects like making tomato sauce for canning or freezing. Indeterminate tomatoes bloom and ripen at different intervals throughout the season and bear fruit for a longer period of time.
The Back Story
The tomato is a New World fruit, native to Mexico and Central America, where the Aztecs and Incas cultivated it as early as 700 AD. During the Age of Exploration in the 1500s it was introduced to Spain, Portugal, and Italy. In the mid 1800's the tomato became a staple in kitchen gardens in the United States.
Over the next 100 years tomatoes were grown by home gardeners or by farmers for local markets. These tomatoes were fragile and did not travel well. Hybridization began commercially, in order to breed a tomato that could travel long distances. Hybrid tomatoes were developed for uniform shape and size and thicker skin. They were not bred for flavor. Hybrid tomatoes remain a major commercial crop; they are the tomatoes generally found in grocery stores today. They are picked greener for shipping and are often lacking in the best flavor and texture.
Consumers are starting to show interest in some of the old heirloom varieties that are full of flavor. During the summer months, heirloom tomatoes can be found in local farmers markets and in some grocery stores. They can also be planted in backyard vegetable gardens.
Cultivating Heirloom Tomatoes
There are some challenges with growing heirlooms. They can be less reliable than hybrids from year to year, and may produce less fruit. Their fruit can develop cracks in the heat, or be less disease resistant. They might produce well in one climate zone and not in another one.
Every heirloom variety is genetically unique and with this uniqueness is an evolved resistance to pests and diseases as an adaptation to specific growing climates and conditions. Experiment and find what works well in your area.
To learn more about UC Butte County Master Gardeners and their upcoming events, and for help with gardening in our area, visit our website. If you have a gardening question or problem, call our Hotline at (530) 538-7201 or email mgbutte@ucanr.edu.
Advice from the Help Desk of the UC Master Gardener Program of Contra Costa County
Client's Request: I purchased a Yellow Rainbow Beefsteak Tomato Plant at your annual sale in Walnut Creek this year. The plant has grown quite big and has about four tomatoes on the plant. They have stayed about the same size for about two weeks now and are not turning yellow — they are green. I have used organic tomato fertilizer, but it has not helped. Any suggestions?
It's hard to know why your tomato has been so slow to produce ripe tomatoes. However, Yellow Rainbow Beefsteak tomatoes are one of the slower tomatoes to start producing—some websites call them “fall producers”. The typical time for the plants to start producing is about 90 days from the time the seedlings go into the ground, so it does seem that your plant is a bit late. One possibility is that the soil where it is planted had excessive nitrogen fertilizer. When there is excess nitrogen, tomato plants often produce abundant foliage but set very few tomatoes. Next year, you might want to do a soil test before you plant your tomatoes. You can purchase an inexpensive home soils test kit at a nursery or big box store. The kit typically allows you to test levels of three principal nutrients—nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium (N, P, K). N is used by plants to produce green foliage; P helps with fruit production and K helps with roots and the overall well-being of the plant. Then use fertilizers only as needed to address any nutrient deficits.
You indicated that you used an organic tomato fertilizer. That likely included some amount of all three nutrients (and possibly other micro-nutrients such as calcium). If the plant was already growing well, it probably didn't need more nitrogen. Applying a fertilizer that added only phosphorous might have done the job. Also, you didn't say when you applied the fertilizer, but we are guessing you might have added it to help spur fruit production. If you applied it before the four tomatoes set, the fact that you now have those tomatoes on the plant may be a sign that the fertilizer application did help. As for the slow growth of the size of the tomatoes and their being slow to ripen, I think you just need to be patient. If is not uncommon for heirloom tomatoes to take several weeks to mature. I waited about six weeks after fruit set for tomatoes on one of my plants this year to finally grow to an appropriate size and ripen.
Tomatoes don't need to have insect pollinators to set fruit. Rather, the flowers are typically pollinated by wind action. If you have flowers on your plant that have not yet set fruit, try to duplicate the wind effect by gently shaking the plants once or twice a day, preferably mid-morning. Also, it may be helpful for you to know that tomatoes usually don't set fruit when daytime temperatures are more than 85 to 90 degrees. It's been somewhat cooler throughout our county in recent days (but not the last several days when this was edited and updated for posting) and hopefully, you may have had some additional fruit set then. But it's about to get hotter again for the next several days (or more likely cool again thank goodness). By early week when this blog is posted, it's supposed to be cooler again. Hopefully, at that time some additional tomatoes will set, particularly if you remember to shake the plant occasionally.
One final thought, keep track of how well all of your tomato plants produce and how much you enjoy their flavor. I typically try to plant at least one variety that has been a reliable producer in prior years to make it more likely that I'll get a steady supply of tomatoes. I re-plant slow producing varieties again only if I really thought their taste was outstanding and worth the wait and low production rate.
Hope you soon have some tasty tomatoes to harvest.
Help Desk of the UC Master Gardener Program of Contra Costa County (tkl)
Notes: Contra Costa MG's Help Desk is available almost year-round to answer your gardening questions. Except for a few holidays (e.g., last 2 weeks December), we're open every week, Monday through Thursday for walk-ins from 9:00 am to Noon at 2380 Bisso Lane, Concord, CA 94520. We can also be reached via telephone: (925) 608-6683, email: ccmg@ucanr.edu, or on the web at http://ccmg.ucanr.edu/Ask_Us/. MGCC Blogs can be found at http://ccmg.edu/HortCoCo/ You can also subscribe to the Blog.
Advice for the Home Gardener from the Help Desk of the
UC Master Gardener Program of Contra Costa County
MGCC Help Desk's Response: Thank you for contacting the UC Master Gardener Program Help Desk with your questions. I know the list of available tomato seeds and seedlings can be overwhelming.
Unfortunately, given our area each area can have lots of micro-climates. So we cannot tell you exactly which variety will grow best in your yard. That is highly dependent on your individual circumstances (are you planting in pots, raised beds, the amount of sun, temperature, disease). Your best information on how individual varieties will perform is likely from your successful tomato-growing neighbors.
There is some good information about heirloom tomatoes though. The scientific definition of an heirloom tomato is an open-pollinated variety that will make fruit identical to the parent. This means if you save seeds from your tomatoes you would expect to be able to produce the same fruit year after year. There is disagreement on how old a variety has to be to be considered an heirloom with some saying at least 50 years and others saying at least 100 years. Here are some links to articles written by nearby Master Gardener organizations which discuss heirloom tomatoes in further detail. In addition, if you want to save seed yourself you might look over the website for Seed Savers Exchange.
http://sacmg.ucanr.edu/What_are_Heirloom_Tomatoes/
http://sonomamg.ucanr.edu/The_Kitchen_Garden/All_About_Tomatoes/Heirloom_Tomatoes/
https://www.seedsavers.org/
If you look through our list of tomatoes for our Great Tomato Plant Sale this year, you can see there are lots of different heirloom tomato varieties. It does appear that only one is a determinate variety (Black Sea Man, a slicer). As you likely know, determinate tomato varieties grow in more of a bush form than a vine and tend to set fruit all at once and then decline. For older varieties, most are likely going to be indeterminate. If you look through the offerings on Seed Savers, only 9 out of their 82 heirloom varieties appear to be determinate. You likely have found these lists already but below are the links to our descriptions of all our varieties and the shopping list to make it easier to find what you want the day of the sale.
http://ccmg.ucanr.edu/files/298659.pdf
http://ccmg.ucanr.edu/files/298656.pdf
Thank you for contacting us with your questions. We are very excited to see you for our MGCC tomato sale either on March 30th in Walnut Creek, April 6th in Richmond, or April 13th in Antioch.
Help Desk of the UC Master Gardener Program of Contra Costa County (SES)
Note: UC Master Gardeners Program of Contra Costa's Help Desk is available almost year-round to answer your gardening questions. Except for a few holidays (e.g., last 2 weeks December), we're open every week, Monday through Thursday for walk-ins from 9:00 am to Noon at 2380 Bisso Lane, Concord, CA 94520. We can also be reached via telephone: (925) 608-6683, email: ccmg@ucanr.edu, or on the web at http://ccmg.ucanr.edu/Ask_Us/. MGCC Blogs can be found at http://ccmg.ucanr.edu/HortCoCo/ You can also subscribe to the Blog.
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
Some consumers are willing to pay a hefty price at trendy restaurants, farmers markets, roadside stands, and even local grocery stores for tomatoes with irregular shapes, vivid colors and rich tomato flavor.
The consumer demand presents an opportunity for small-scale farmers, and a challenge.
“It's not easy to grow heirloom varieties,” said Margaret Lloyd, the UC Cooperative Extension small-scale farm advisor for Yolo, Solano and Sacramento counties. “They often have less disease resistance, are lower yielding and cannot tolerate as much stress as improved modern varieties.”
When Lloyd joined UCCE last summer, she began visiting small-scale producers in the counties she serves.
“I realized very quickly how important fresh market tomatoes are to these growers,” Lloyd said.
Because she holds a doctorate degree in plant pathology from UC Davis, Lloyd is well-positioned to begin her research program with a small tomato grafting project on UC Davis farmland. Her idea is grafting the particularly delicious heirloom varieties onto tomato roots that are resistant to soil-borne diseases.
“Grafting is an old technology,” Lloyd said. “It works in the same way we graft fruit trees and grapevines onto favorable rootstocks. Vegetable grafting has also been done for years.”
Lloyd said the process is simple and an individual can easily learn to graft tomatoes. But to do so cost effectively with the quality and success rate necessary for economically viable production, it may make most sense to work with a commercial nursery.
Lloyd is conducting a quarter-acre field trial with the three most common heirloom varieties – Brandywine, Cherokee purple and Marvel stripe – plus the yellow-hued Sun Gold cherry tomato and a non-heirloom salad tomato, Charger. Several growers in the area have also planted them in their commercial operations.
In addition to collecting data from the trial that will help small farmers decide whether grafted tomatoes make sense for their operations, Lloyd and her research associates will harvest many bushels of fresh tomatoes from the plots. Some will be sold at the UC Davis farm store to help support the research, and as for the rest, “We're definitely going to eat them,” Lloyd said.
“I enjoy them raw with olive oil, salt, vinegar and a little basil,” she said.
In the cherry category, ‘Sun Gold' is a perennial favorite of Napa County Master Gardeners. Steve Rae also likes ‘Miller's Cove Currant'. It produces incredible numbers of half-inch, sweet red tomatoes over the entire season. I like ‘Black Cherry'. It has the rich taste common to the so-called black tomatoes and holds up better to roasting than most cherry tomatoes.
Which varieties to choose for making sauce or paste or for drying? Pat Hitchcock grew the hybrid ‘Big Mama' last year and says this plant was a great producer and perfect for sauce. I grew ‘Opalka', a Polish heirloom paste tomato. I will grow it again because it was so meaty and had few seeds. I used it for sauce but also found it ideal for bruschetta and for drying.
Some Master Gardeners are big fans of black tomatoes. Mickey Riva, Marci Nielsen‑Berruezo and Lorie Mazzaroppi all sing the praises of ‘Black Krim'. Marci describes it as dark and mysterious in appearance and rich in flavor, with a natural saltiness that adds complexity. One of my dark favorites is ‘Paul Robeson'. It resembles Cherokee Purple' in flavor but produces earlier and is extremely prolific. Penny Pawl and Helen Bergin favor ‘Japanese Black Trifele'. It is the only variety that Penny grows, and Helen loves its taste,appearance and resistance to cracking.
Do you have room in your garden for only one tomato? For length of harvest and consistent performance, Gayle Keane and Jo Moore swear by ‘Early Girl'. Amelia Ceja loves ‘Green Zebra' for its flavor, beautiful color and suitability to the cool Carneros region. She uses it for her spicy, fire-roasted tomato salsa. David Layland's favorite is ‘Bloody Butcher', an early producer that persists well into fall.
Many gardeners grow large tomatoes for slicing. Some prefer traditional all-red varieties, while others favored multicolored types. Meredith Lavene loves ‘Red Brandywine', which won the large tomato category in last year's Napa County Master Gardeners taste test. Lois Quick prefers ‘Marvel Stripe'. Orange and yellow outside, this large tomato reveals streaks of red, yellow and orange when sliced. It has a sweet, fruity taste. Mike Weinberg grows ‘Pink Berkeley Tie Dye' for its size, taste, yield and beauty.
If you are looking for new tomato varieties to try, ask yourself these questions. How do you plan to use the fruit? Will you be cooking and preserving your tomatoes, or do you primarily eat them fresh? How much room do you have in your garden? How would you rank the importance of flavor, appearance, productivity and disease resistance? Research the characteristics of different varieties before you make your choices. Decide whether you prefer hybrids or heirlooms or want to grow some of each.
Many hybrid varieties have been bred for productivity and resistance to diseases that plague tomatoes. On plant tags, look for the letters V,F,N,T and A, which indicate resistance to Verticillium wilt, Fusarium wilt, nematodes, tobacco mosaic virus and Alternaria stem canker.
Heirloom tomatoes offer a wide spectrum of flavors, colors, textures and shapes. While heirlooms may not be as productive as hybrids and tend to be more susceptible to disease, many home gardeners appreciate them for their unique characteristics. What's more, you can save and replant heirloom tomato seeds next year; in contrast, seeds from a hybrid variety will not “come true,” or produce an identical tomato when replanted.
Whichever varieties you choose, wait until the danger of frost is past and the soil is sufficiently warm to plant your tomatoes. Soil temperatures below 57ºF delay growth and leave the plants more susceptible to insect damage and disease. Tomatoes planted later usually catch up with those planted in colder weather. I wait until the last week in April to plant mine, and even then, I watch the forecast so I can cover them if frost threatens.
Tomato Sale and Education Event: Napa County Master Gardeners are hosting their third annual Tomato Sale on Saturday, April 18. Join us in the South Oxbow parking lot in Napa, 9 a.m. until sold out. We have a bountiful selection of strong, young plants: heirlooms, hybrids, cherry, paste and just plain good eating tomatoes of all sizes. Remember to bring your own box to safely transport your plants home. Click on the link above to read descriptions of the varieties for sale.
Master Gardeners are volunteers who help the University of California reach the gardening public with home gardening information. Napa County Master Gardeners ( http://ucanr.org/ucmgnapa/) are available to answer gardening questions in person or by phone, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 9 a.m. to Noon, at the U. C. Cooperative Extension office, 1710 Soscol Avenue, Suite 4, Napa, 707-253-4143, or from outside City of Napa toll-free at 877-279-3065. Or e-mail your garden questions by following the guidelines on our web site. Click on Napa, then on Have Garden Questions? Find us on Facebook under UC Master Gardeners of Napa County.