By Michelle Fabio

As reported by Jennifer Amato in the North-South Brunswick Sentinel, one corner of New Jersey is being attacked by 4-pound heirloom tomatoes.

OK, maybe they are more like welcome guests in Jim and Lynn Nicoletti’s backyard, which holds three 8-foot tomato plants.

Two of the largest tomatoes have weighed 4 pounds and three and a half pounds.

Jim Nicoletti has a few secrets for growing such large heirlooms. One is about watering: “I realized if I stopped watering the plants and started watering the roots, they grow better.”

Another thing that helps his tomatoes is Read the rest of this entry »

By Vanessa Richins

On the first night of my Master Gardener course, we had a tomato sampling feast. (Lucky me!)

We went out to the experimental tomato patch and were able to try many different varieties of tomatoes.

The one that I was most impressed with was a heirloom named ‘Old German.’

The fruits were huge and the flesh very sweet. I felt like stealing the plate so I wouldn’t have to be polite and leave the rest for everyone else.

We have Old German thanks to a 19th century Mennonite (a religious sect that is somewhat like the Amish) group in the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia.

Actually, several of the heirlooms Read the rest of this entry »

By Kira Hamman

What does the word “heirloom” mean to you?

Old, dusty things that used to belong to your great-grandmother, right?

If you’re lucky, maybe your great-grandmother was the funky jewelry type, but otherwise we’re probably talking tarnished silver and dark, heavy wooden stuff. Anyway, heirloom sure doesn’t mean food. At least, it didn’t until recently.

Now, suddenly, in every chic restaurant in the country you can pay $12 for an heirloom tomato salad. Let’s hope Read the rest of this entry »

By Michael Nolan

What if I told you that for $35, you could have all the fresh produce you could want, and tons of free education to boot?

Would you be intrigued? Overwhelmed? Interested?

I thought so, and while the headline is just a bit misleading, it isn’t far off from the truth. Enter the Seed Savers Exchange, an organization founded in 1975 and dedicated to preserving the rich heritage of heirloom plant varieties around the world. With a $35 annual membership, members receive a Read the rest of this entry »

By Kira Hamman

Looking for a good book to pass the time until the tomatoes are ripe?

Try these:

100 Heirloom Tomatoes for the American Garden, by Carolyn Male
This book from Smith & Hawken is, according to Amazon, “for the true tomato snob.” Well, that would be me. Male gives excellent assessments of the relative strengths of the varieties she features, plus tons of information on culture and, of course, mouth-watering photos.

In Praise of Tomatoes, by Ronni Lundy
From tomato history to tomato pop culture and everything in between. Brush up on your tomato trivia!

Grow the Best Tomatoes, by John Page
The Storey guide to growing tomatoes. Storey’s guides are simple, straightforward, and reasonably complete. Plus, Read the rest of this entry »

By Michael Nolan

Here at Tomato Casual there are so many wonderful regular visitors who make this site a warm and welcoming place for one and all.

This week I’m going to put the TC spotlight on one of our best and brightest – Debbie Middleton from Aunt Debbi’s Garden.

A self-described “forty-something” mommy gardener from North Texas, Deb’s blog is a never-ending journey through the loves of her life. As a wife and mother of three boys, two rabbits, two cats and a German Shepherd, I wonder Read the rest of this entry »