You say tomato. Farmer Brooke Salvaggio says start eating.
"The time to buy heirloom tomatoes is right now. The season is going to be short, so you're only going to have two to three weeks to get the best tomatoes," says Salvaggio, who runs Badseed Farm and Market with her husband Dan Heryer.
The recent rain and an early blight fungus means that the crop you see right now is likely to be the best of summer. Salvaggio advises that with an excess of tomatoes on the market, prices should be down.
Her rule of thumb for picking the right tomato is simple: The uglier the better.
"With
heirlooms, you want to pick big, ripe tomatoes with bumps and
character. They should almost look like a brain bubbling," says
Salvaggio.
The hundreds of heirloom varietals are the
result of seeds being saved and replanted. The term "heirloom" is
typically thought to refer to a variety that has been cultivated for at
least 50 years.
You'll be able to find heirloom tomatoes
nearly every day of the week at farmer's markets all around the city.
You can start at the City Market
(20 E. 5th Street, 10 am. to 2 p.m. on Wednesday, 6 a.m. to
3 p.m. on Saturday, and 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday), Briarcliffe Farmer's Market
(4175 Mulberry Drive in the Northland, 3 to 7 p.m. on Thursdays),
Bad Seed Market (1909 McGee Street, 4:30 to 9 p.m. on Fridays), and
the Farmer's Community Market at Brookside (63rd and Wornall, 8:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. on Saturdays). A list of additional farmer's markets in Missouri is here.
If
you're looking for organic tomatoes, be sure and ask exactly how and
where the tomatoes were grown. Cheaper tomatoes are more likely to come
from a hothouse. "I'd always take tomatoes grown outdoors," says Salvaggio. "They'll have the flavor of the ground and the farm from where they're
from."
If you don't feel like cooking, Bluestem hosts an heirloom tomato dinner, pairing wines with tomatoes from Crum's Farm, on Tuesday, July 28.
Look for "Heirloom tomatoes (Part II)," covering the different varietals, their flavors and how to use them, on Monday.
[Image via Flickr: srqpix]
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I disagree with brooke's statements about "ugly" and "bubbly". Neither make the tomato.
Cracked and split tomatoes can be overripe leadng to less quality for flavor. It can also be a sign of a poor grower who does not apply correct horticultural skills to deal with even heavy rains.
"Bubbly" misshaped tomatoes often have excessive inner cores which are hard white tissues which have not redeeming qualities other than fine compost material.
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