It’s time to pull out all your favorite salsa, sauce and salad recipes because the tomatoes are rolling in! The plants look good so I predict many weeks of delicious tomatoes ahead. When we harvest in the field, we pick some fruit that are under-ripe to ensure we don’t lose any tomatoes to pests, or in case they become too ripe and begin to rot. 

When you pick up your share, you will get to choose from tomatoes that are fully (or mostly) ripe. Be aware that each variety has its own personality, look and distinguished flavors. Hybrid tomatoes are the most common types you see in grocery stores. They are favored for their consistent shapes and ability to keep for long periods of time and withstand shipping. Heirloom tomatoes can be tricky because they tend to crack around the stem, significantly reducing their shelf life and they bruise easily (not to mention they have no resistance to disease so the plants often fall ill before many of the hybrid varieties). But boy oh boy do they make up for that with their superior flavor! Cherry tomatoes are beautiful and delicious, but Sun Gold is definitely known for being the sweetest variety and is a crowd favorite. Our paste varieties are chosen for their flavor and ability to keep in the field without going bad. 

The list below tells you the varieties we are growing this year, where we grow each variety on the farm and a description of what it looks like when fully ripe (including a photo) so you know when it is ready to eat.

Cherry tomatoes:

Sunpeach – Grown in the fields. Pink

Supersweet 100 – Grown in the fields. Red

Purple Bumblebee – Grown in the fields. Reddish purple with green streaks 

Pink Bumblebee – Grown in the fields. Pinkish red with orange streaks

Sungold – Grown in our greenhouses and out in the field. Orange

Hybrid Slicers:

Beorange – Grown in our greenhouse. Orange

Geronimo – Grown in our greenhouse. Red

Big Beef – Grown in the fields. Red

Mountain Fresh – Grown in the greenhouse and the fields. Red

Damsel – Grown in the fields. Pink

Chef’s Choice – Grown in the fields. Orange

Heirloom Varieties:

Brandywine – Grown in the fields. Pink

Valencia – Grown in the fields. Orange

Cherokee Purple – Grown in the fields. Mostly pinkish purple with green streaks around the stem

Cherokee Green – Grown in the fields. Yellowish green with streaks 

Striped German – Grown in the fields. Orange with red streaks

Paste:

Amish Paste – Grown in the fields. Red

Speckled Roman – Grown in the fields. Red with orange streaks

Plum Regal – Grown in the fields. Red

Until next time,
Ember