Gardeners await that first red-ripe summer tomato as eagerly as Great Britain awaited its new heir to the throne.
We anxiously watch for those little green balls to ripen into the glorious redness that shouts juicy and delicious. The backyard tomato far outranks the taste of any supermarket variety, and that’s why we devour bushels of them when they arrive.
This year’s tomato crop may range from pretty to pitiful, depending on where your garden is located. Some people with patio tomato plants are noting that their tomatoes aren’t ripening fast, or some tomatoes are dying on the vines. But many experienced growers are faring much better.
According to Brook Elliott of the Appalachian Heirloom Seed Conservancy in Richmond, an heirloom is basically defined as an open-pollinated plant variety (one that has been naturally fertilized by wind, insects, birds, or mammals) that has been grown for at least 50 years.