It's ugly, but tastes good. Often shunned in the supermarket because of its homely looks the heirloom tomato is often the best tasting on the shelf. This ugly fruit with its bumps and bulges and sickly color stands as the last bastion of resistance against the attack of the hybrids. The hybrids so pretty, so red, so round and large__ all looks and no taste, a plastic tomato. The heirlooms are natural and have been around for hundreds of years__ they are grandpa's tomatoes and their seeds have been protected from the hybrids and passed down from generation to generation. Some belong to certain individuals or families, others have been commercially grown, and still others have been cross pollinated to create even uglier, but better tasting varieties. One is called: "Radiator Charlie's Mortgage Beater,"because in 1930 its creator "Charlie the Radiator Repairman" was able to pay off his mortgage by selling it to his neighbors. Thomas Jefferson grew Heirloom tomatoes in his garden at Monticello from 1809 to 1826. Heirlooms today are increasing in popularity as people discover they actually taste like a tomato especially in the winter. Hmm__looks aren't everything.
Monday, August 24, 2009
OBSERVATION:Heirlooms
It's ugly, but tastes good. Often shunned in the supermarket because of its homely looks the heirloom tomato is often the best tasting on the shelf. This ugly fruit with its bumps and bulges and sickly color stands as the last bastion of resistance against the attack of the hybrids. The hybrids so pretty, so red, so round and large__ all looks and no taste, a plastic tomato. The heirlooms are natural and have been around for hundreds of years__ they are grandpa's tomatoes and their seeds have been protected from the hybrids and passed down from generation to generation. Some belong to certain individuals or families, others have been commercially grown, and still others have been cross pollinated to create even uglier, but better tasting varieties. One is called: "Radiator Charlie's Mortgage Beater,"because in 1930 its creator "Charlie the Radiator Repairman" was able to pay off his mortgage by selling it to his neighbors. Thomas Jefferson grew Heirloom tomatoes in his garden at Monticello from 1809 to 1826. Heirlooms today are increasing in popularity as people discover they actually taste like a tomato especially in the winter. Hmm__looks aren't everything.
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