my current wallpaper is a big rainbow tomato i grew last year. i’m fiending for homegrown tomatoes and it’s not even march yet.
here’s the full-res file of that photo, in case anyone else wants to drool every time they turn on their computer. right-click and “save image as.”
last year i was mostly interested in oddly-colored tomatoes--blacks, browns, purples, greens, yellows, oranges, whites. i tried to grow a wide variety of colors, shapes and sizes, and that was a success that i’m hoping to replicate this season, but with a new wrinkle: stripes.
i’m passionately in love with striped tomatoes, all of a sudden.
as i’ve been searching out the neatest stripey mater friends, one place keeps coming up: wild boar farms. they do some far-out work with tomato genetics, stabilizing their heirloom-derived garden freaks and mutants into open-pollinates.
so far i’ve decided to grow black and brown boar:
berkeley tie-dye (“warning, high acid content may cause flashbacks”):
and michael pollan!
i love that they named a tomato after michael pollan. it’s an open-pollanate! i’m taking small, slow bites out of his book “second nature” right now...trying to make it last because i love it so much...it’s comforting me through the restlessness that comes at the end of winter, just like “animal, vegetable, miracle” helped me through early spring last year.
anyway, hooray for stripes! i’m also growing striped roman, green zebra, and possibly some red zebra too. who knows, maybe my zebras will produce some freaks that i can stabilize--those varieties seem to be where a lot of the wild boar mutations originated.
this one isn’t striped, but, it’s pretty exciting nonetheless...i’m going to grow reisetomate!
11 comments:
Who doesn't love a homegrown tomato? I'm obsessed with the green zebra tomato, but I didn't buy seeds for it and I'm more than out of space for this year. Can't wait to see all your stripes!
aaaaaaand wallpaper changed...commence drooling ;)
oh em gee, spewn! the reisetomate looks radtastic!
You mean you don't enjoy the plastic tomatoes available now? I love the tie-dyed tomato. I used to tie-dye everything!
potted farm--i used to not like tomatoes, homegrown or otherwise! growing them AND eating them is a relatively new thing for me, which explains part of the passion and obsession. i can't wait to see what varieties you're growing!
spoon--hehehe thank you. they're pretty much the weirdest-shaped mater i've ever seen so i feel like i have to grow them.
andrea--yeah, with most tomatoes available right now, it hurts me to even look at them. they're the wrong color and i can feel their mealy tasteless nastiness without eating or even touching them.
that's awesome that you used to be into tie-dying...i need to try that sometime! i bet i'd blow through all my white clothing really fast.
I LOVE tomatoes! And thanks for that pic, it's gorgeous. I'm going to check out wild boar farms. The craziest tomato I had last year was a pink one (well, it was supposed to be. In reality it was just an odd shade of red). Can't wait to see your stripey ones!
thanks, i can't wait either!
I might have to borrow your photo. I can't wait to see how your striped guys turn out. I'm kind of a year behind you with my black/purple tomatoes. I am going to look that company up right after I finish this comment.
i still think black and purple tomatoes are awesome! probably the main reason i love stripes so much is because i think they'll look great in photos.
Hi Emily!
Green zebras are great tomatoes! I've been eye-balling some striped varieties too, but I think I've got enough tomato varieties to try this year. We'll see. I still have time to add some to the list.
I saw reisetomate in Baker Creek Heirlooms' catalogue. How fascinating! I can't wait to see how yours end up looking. Let us know how they taste too. I'm very curious.
Tomatoes are relatively new to me, too. I never liked eating them and now I love them in certain dishes. I'd love to grow them myself...by the way, this is Holly. I have a new blog. I always appreciated your comments and wanted to let you know I switched...definitely thinking about getting some plants to care for!
shari--there's always room for more tomatoes! i think the catalogue said reisetomates are very sour. i don't expect them to be super tasty, but i will let you know.
m--hey holly! thanks for letting me know about the new blog. i hope you do get some plants, they're so uplifting to have around.
Post a Comment