(Tomato) Variety is the Spice of Life

As I mentioned in my last post, we now have six tomato plants. This means we'll probably end up with more fruit than we remotely need, but between all the various varieties, I feel like I'm covered in terms of both timing and flavor when it comes to our harvest.

• "Early Girl": This is the variety that really helps out with the timing because, as the name suggests, it matures earlier in the season. I'm glad to have it for that reason, but I don't expect the same quality of flavor as I know we'll get from the heirlooms. We have two of these.


• "Brandywine": Ah, Brandywine. Arguably the most well-known of the heirloom varieties. We grew this with great success last year -- eventually they got so big that I had to lash them to the fence. (Heirlooms tend to be indeterminate tomatoes, which sprawl all over compared to more compact and well-behaved determinate ones that stay in place. This was one of the things that led me to get those crazy bamboo teepees.) Brandywines have a beautiful color, a deep rosy pink, along with an amazing texture and a wonderful, almost fruity taste. Like any heirlooms, I find them outstanding in panzanella (always a good way to use my herbs, too), but they're fantastic in caprese salads, too. Perhaps my favorite
  way to serve (and eat!) them is sliced, spritzed with a little truffle oil and sprinkled with kosher salt. Mmmm.


• "Halfmoon China": I had such nice heirloom experiences last year that I wanted to try some other heirloom varieties that I wasn't as familiar with. This one is pretty unusual looking, with a creamy white color (or so reads the label). The flavor described as "mild" -- I'm hoping that doesn't turn out to mean "bland."


• "Black Cherry": Last year, I grew a cherry-sized yellow pear tomato last year, and it was lots of fun having smaller variety around. This, another heirloom variety, looks like a red grape when ripe.

So far, they're all doing fine, but Halfmoon China and Black Cherry in particular have been growing like gangbusters -- probably because of their placement (they get the most sun).

Here's one of our two tomato trellises, with "Brandywine" on the left, "Early Girl" in the center, "Black Cherry" on the right and creeping thyme thrown in for a little groundcover.