Search for perfect tomato points to heirloom varieties

NEW MARKET, Va. -- Many of the gardeners among us are looking for the perfect tomato, which in the end may be worth more than a precious metal.

"Taste is subjective," said Gary Ibsen, who grows 520 varieties of heirloom tomatoes on three organic certified farms in Central California. "I've had people tell me 'The best tasting tomato I ever had was from Uncle Henry's jar in 1946. I've never had anything that good since.' And then they ask me what I can offer. I can't match it," Ibsen said.

"It's a taste etched in someone's emotional memory that will never be replaced. But we can find varieties that are similar."

Ibsen is an author, grower and seller of heirloom tomatoes and organic tomato seed. He also also is founder and director of TomatoFest, a fund-raiser held each September in Carmel, Calif. The event includes tomato, wine and olive oil tasting, a salsa showcase, many hard-to-find heirloom tomato seed varieties, some culinary and gardening displays.

"People have different tastes," Ibsen said. "Some people like a big complex fruit that stands up and shouts 'tomato.' It has enough acid to push the flavors forward, with just the right amount of sweet for balance and a clean finish. Others may prefer something less robust and more fruity."

Consumers often complain that the tomatoes they buy in supermarkets are attractive but bland -- grown in indiscriminate soil, picked green and then shipped across country in large lots never being allowed to develop properly.

Heirlooms have pedigree

That's where the heirlooms come in. Each comes with a pedigree. An heirloom tomato is generally defined as any variety grown for generations by a family or a group like the Amish. A variety also may qualify as an heirloom if cultivated at least 50 years.

Heirloom tomatoes grow in colors ranging from deep red to a soft yellow; purple, chocolate, pink, yellow, black and a variegated green, among others. Most have thin skins. Many appear wrinkled and misshapen.

They can be as small as grapes or as large as two-pound sandwich tomatoes, meaning platforms with flesh sliced thick enough to support super-sized hamburgers.

Heirlooms have pleasing personalities. They might not win many beauty contests but they're hard to beat for taste, aroma and texture.

"Home gardeners, grocers -- especially small, independently owned -- and farmer's markets are all getting used to different looking vegetables with different sounding names. The public is becoming more at home with trying things they've never seen or heard of before," said Barbara Melera, president of the D. Landreth Seed Co., in Baltimore, Md. "Though there is a growing interest in heirlooms, the real movement is becoming more comfortable with eating new and different things," Melera said.

Not all that many people know how to select and store tomato seeds, how to grow heirloom tomatoes, when they should be picked and how quickly they must be eaten. Here is how you might duplicate those farmer's market favorites in your own garden:

* Choose the healthiest, most productive and flavorful plants to save for seed. Allow seeds to fully ripen before harvesting.

* Most vegetable seeds remain viable three to five years when stored properly, a Clemson University Extension fact sheet says. Place dry seed in a tightly closed glass jar and leave it in a cool, dry location.

* Good genes are one thing; good ground is another. "It is very important to have the soil with sufficient minerals via compost or whatever soil amendment," Ibsen said.

* Tomatoes are ripe when fully, richly colored. Pick them by hand, but gently, to avoid bruising and tearing which opens the way to disease and spoilage.

* Most heirloom tomato varieties continue to ripen after they're picked, meaning they have a short shelf life. Place them in a window sill or some other visible spot and eat them quickly -- no more than two or three days after harvest.

* Never refrigerate a tomato to keep it from spoiling. "That kills the flavor," Melera said.

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Recommended reading: "The Great Tomato Book," a gardening-cookbook written by Gary Ibsen with Joan Nielsen. Published by Ten Speed Press. List price: $15.95.

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On the Net: For more about heirloom vegetables and tomato growing, see this Clemson University Extension Web site: http://hgic.clemson.edu/factsheets/HGIC1255.htm. Or go to the Gary Ibsen Web site: http://www.tomatofest.com. Or for a How to Grow library, try The D. Landreth Seed Co. site: http://www.landrethseeds.com.

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You can contact Dean Fosdick at deanfosdick(at)netscape.net.

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