Brilliant reds, sunny yellows, striped greens and burgundy purples abound in September and October. Tomatoes, that is, not the tree leaves — at least not yet. Now is the time to enjoy these fruits of a gardener’s summer efforts. A smart gardener wants to enjoy these delicious, flavorful fruits over a prolonged period by cultivating a range of varieties for a productive yield.
El Vecino starts with Cherry Tomato and yellow Pear Tomato varieties for their bountiful and early production. Just a couple of these plants yield hundreds of intensely-flavored red fruits and sweet mildly-flavored yellow fruits that make an excellent finger-food. Cherry tomatoes’ intense flavor is in part due to their high acidic content; the low acidic content of Yellow Pear Tomatoes results in a milder flavor. Growing both allows gardeners to have an early (mid-to-late July) choice to suit their palates or culinary needs.
The Early Girl Tomato variety is a must for its productivity, early readiness and intense flavor (high acidity). This variety yields about 35 to 50 fruits per plant and it ripens in early August, fulfilling tomato lovers’ appetite for something more satisfying. Early Girl Tomatoes are juicy, flavorful and a favorite of El Vecino’s family.
Late-ripening tomato varieties can be cultivated to extend the “tomato season” and increase taste and texture variation. These include Roma Tomatoes, Brandywine or Beefsteak Tomatoes and Heartland or Red Celebrity Tomatoes.
Roma Tomatoes are a small-to-medium size, very fleshy, low seed and moderately-flavored variety having a tremendous yield of 50 to 75 fruits per plant. They are excellent for eating or for making sauces if you don’t like many seeds in your fruit.
Brandywine and Beefsteak Tomato varieties yield excellent, extra-large tomatoes having slightly different textures and taste. Brandywines produce mild-tasting, fleshy and low-seed fruit while Beefsteaks produce moderately strong tasting, moderately fleshy and seedy fruit. Both varieties require only one slice to cover a hamburger patty.
Brandywine plants yield about 15 to 30 one-pound fruits and tend to be slightly more productive than Beefsteak plants. So the choice largely depends on the gardener’s preferences for taste, texture and seediness.
Heartland and Red Celebrity varieties produce large, round and late-ripening tomatoes of moderate taste that are essentially equal except for productivity. The Heartland Tomato variety is significantly more productive, yielding about 25 to 40 fruits per plant.
Tomato color variation has recently drawn interest because of its appeal in visually dressing table dishes. Yellow, purple and green-striped tomatoes add appetizing visual appeal to many foods. El Vecino likes the Green Striped/Zebra Striped variety not only for its interesting appearance but for its dramatically intense flavor.
El Vecino cultivates and thoroughly enjoys Cherry, Yellow Pear, Early Girl, Brandywine, Roma and Heartland or Red Celebrity tomato varieties. They are chosen for their taste, texture, degree of seediness, productivity and maturation time. These choices are designed to lengthen the enjoyment of the fruits of our labors — isn’t that why we garden?
Eddie Campos gardens on a half-acre historical family plot that has been in cultivation for over 70 years in the center of Ojo Caliente, and on a small 70-foot by 40-foot garden outside his home in El Rito. His father, Augustine Campos, was his gardening teacher and mentor. El Vecino can be reached at carmen_campos7@yahoo.com or 581-4422 with questions about gardens and gardening.