Tomatoes - Heirloom vs. Hybrid
There are thousands of tomato varieties. Heirloom tomatoes are the old-fashioned types as opposed to hybrid types which have been bred to have certain preferred characteristics. In the effort to produce plants of an certain height and disease resistance, and fruit that ripens early or has a certain size and shape; the one thing that seems to be sacrificed is flavor. While the taste of any home-grown vine-ripened tomato beats store tomatoes hands down, heirloom varieties offer a wonderful taste experience. But taste sometimes comes at the cost of reduced fruit production or plant susceptability to disease. We suggest trying a couple of heirloom types for fun and planting hybrids for your main tomato production. Hybrids are the choice if you want to can salsa, sauces, and juice. Also remember that in any given year, the weather can and will affect growth and production. Please follow along as we will address more tomato topics in future blogs. Let me leave you with a simple yet wonderful tomato salad. Cut wedges of several heirloom tomatoes, (different colors make it very pretty), place them on a plate with a slice of fresh mozzarella cheese, drizzle with a little olive oil, and top with fresh chopped basil. YUM YUM!!!