Tomato time is my favorite time.
In spring, the anticipation of slicing into a juicy, meaty ball of perfection has me planting more than I should. By midsummer, plumping tomatoes on fragrant vines motivate me. And in late summer, when the payoff arrives here in my zone 7 garden, I’m reminded why they’re the most popular backyard vegetable.
Tomatoes, of course, are technically fruits, as is every crop with seeds inside its edible part. True vegetables are plant parts such as flowers, stems, leaves and roots. Still, we colloquially refer to tomatoes as vegetables, so who am I to argue?
Every year, I grow at least one new-to-me variety in hopes of discovering the next best thing, but in the end, I keep returning to the same five superstars (all require a minimum of 6-8 hours of direct sunlight daily and about 1 to 1 1/2 inches of water per week):
Bull’s hearts, or oxhearts
These are staples in my raised beds. I fell in love with them on a trip years ago to Italy’s Amalfi Coast, where they’re called cuore di bue; in France, they’re coeur de boeuf. Your seed packet might call them by any of these names (tomato, to-mah-to!).
Plants produce large, meaty, fragrant and tasty heart-shaped (human, not Valentine’s) fruit with few seeds. They make great salads, sandwiches and, because of their low water content, tomato paste and sauce, too.
There are variations among subtypes (pink, Russian, Hungarian, etc.). Some are heirloom; others, hybrids. Expect most to be ready for harvesting roughly 80 days after planting.
First introduced to home gardeners in 1934, this is a new favorite in my garden. Technically hybrids bred by Rutgers University and the Campbell Soup Company, their seeds can be saved for replanting as with heirlooms because they have been open-pollinated. Sometimes called Jersey tomatoes, the round, bright red, flavorful, 4- to 6-ounce “slicer” tomatoes are nice and meaty, making them great for sandwiches and salads. You can expect to harvest in about 75 days.
These may look like perfectly round, boring supermarket tomatoes, but just one bite will put an end to the comparison. Among the tastiest of the hybrids, the beefsteak was introduced by the Burpee Seed Company in 1949. Plants are highly productive, pumping out a steady stream of (at least) 10- to 12-ounce, aromatic tomatoes starting about 78 days after planting.
These have a somewhat cult following among tomato growers, myself included. Since they’re prone to splitting, they aren’t typically found in grocery stores, so unless you’re lucky enough to stumble upon them at the farmers’ market, you’ll have to grow these babies yourself if you want to taste what all the fuss is about. Plants produce clusters of candy-sweet, low-acid, orange tomatoes, each approximately an inch wide. Use them in salads and crudite platters, or just snack on them right off the plant. Ready in about 60-65 days.
Large, juicy heirloom beefsteaks that date to the late 1800s. The plant has potato-type foliage and produces 6-to 7-inch pinkish-red fruits that weigh up to a pound apiece and make perfectly sized sandwich slices. Pink-fruited varieties are available, as well.
Jessica Damiano writes regular gardening columns for The Associated Press. She publishes the award-winning Weekly Dirt Newsletter. Sign up here for weekly gardening tips and advice.
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