Welcome Heirlooms!

Our tomato plants may be getting a tad bit crusty, but they are still producing big, fat, beautiful fruits. Unfortunately, the recent rains have left them a bit imperfect, the irregular moisture causing their skin to stretch and crack. But, no matter. Most things in nature aren't perfect anyway, and I'll take a cracked tomato over one with blossom-end rot any day. And even though they're not blemish-free, what's important is that they are still edible and fantastically tasty - which means I still have a lot of tomato sandwiches in my future! Hooray!

As of today, the Grace garden tomato ticker has recorded no less than 60 homegrown tomatoes! While most of those have been hybrids (Big Boy, Better Boy and Parks Whoppers), I have had good luck so far with my heirloom varieties. Pictured up top are three of my heavyweights, a Cherokee Purple and two slightly oblate Brandywines. I have to admit, it took me awhile to cut into these gems. I was just so smitten by their unconventional tomato look (I mean, look at CP's green shoulders! And the topography on the tops of the BWs!), and they looked so nice perched atop my kitchen counter. But when the time came to put them under the knife, they proved to be incredibly flavorful - the Brandywine was super sweet and the Cherokee purple had just a touch of saltiness.

I am particulary proud of my Cherokee Purples, since I started those, along with Green Zebras, from seed back in March. They both are maturing nicely, and I hope to have a couple of more ready by next week. An heirloom tomato pie is on my cooking (and eating) agenda...

Happy tomato eating!