Mmm. Stripey tomatoes.

Lewisburg.

Let's talk tomatoes.

There are a small handful of vegetables that the average American garden includes. Sweet corn's up there, as is the zucchini. Green beans often make a showing, and snap peas seem pretty common. But nothing rivals the tomato for popularity, in my experience. A warm, vine-ripened tomato is a luxury that even the poor saps buying grocery store tomatoes¹ this time of year can appreciate. I even remember an excellent "News from Lake Wobegon" bit from years back that was entirely devoted to the effort and pleasure that goes into growing the perfect tomato.

That said, I don't aim for perfection. I aim for delicious, delicious variety. This year, I'm planning to grow nine different varieties of tomato. I'd plan on more, but space constraints - both in garden area and stomach capacity, even considering the canning and drying options - limit me to somewhere in the range of twenty plants. Which is still a lot, of course.

The majority of our tomatoes come from the Seed Savers Exchange, a non-profit group devoted to preserving heirloom seeds. If you're a member, you have access to an alarming variety of plants, but even we peons can find a phenomenal variety of interesting things in the annual catalog. Especially when it comes to peppers, melons, squash, and tomatoes.

Oh, the tomatoes. SSE offers 72 different varieties in their catalog, and they run the full range of possibility in terms of color, size, shape, and flavor. Reds and pinks, yellows and greens, oranges and browns and blacks; some with stripes and some with peach-like fuzz. The Brandywine (Sudduth's Strain) will produce fruits of up to 2 lb. each, while the Gold Rush Currants are a mere quarter-inch in diameter. The choices are so interesting that it's tough to choose.

I've ended up with nine types of tomatoes for 2009; eight come from SSE, plus the Sun Gold hybrid from Johnny's Selected Seeds. It's such a fine little tomato that it's tempting to grow it alone, just a field of bright, sweet, orange-colored fruits ready for eating out of hand. But we need variety. So, after a series of little red dots beside everything that looks good², it's time to narrow it down.

Sometimes it's easiest to make up a few semi-arbitrary rules to simplify the process. For example: no beefsteak varieties. Sure, they're good, but we're less likely to use them. Another: no Sun Gold-like varieties, since we've already got that covered. And: a mix of colors is essential. Finally: what worked best last year?

What does that leave us with? More than enough, still. Admittedly, flipping back through the catalog makes me want to second-guess myself; maybe I should have picked the Plum Lemon or the Nyagous. But the seeds are already on their way, so I suppose these are enough:

1. Black Plum: Oval 2" fruits ripen from deep mahogany to black-brown, better color than other blacks. Some prefer this variety for spaghetti sauce because of the nice rich color. Indeterminate, 80 days from transplant.
   
   We love these little tomatoes, and have grown them with success a number of times. In addition to having good flavor and a really interesting color, they've got a perfect little size that lets them ripen well even in an off year (like 2008). They're also spectacular when dried, because the meaty flesh holds them together into perfect slices.
   
   
2. Federle: Beautiful, blemish-free 6-7" long paste tomato, rich full flavor unlike most other banana pepper-shaped tomatoes. Productive plants. Very few seeds, excellent for processing, especially good for salsa. Indeterminate, 85 days from transplant.
   
   These are going to be an experiment. We didn't have great luck with the Amish Paste tomatoes last year, so a lot of these are probably destined for canning or drying. If we get enough of them, then we'll probably start canning our own jars of salsa again this year - assuming the peppers have a good year, too.
   
   
3. Green Zebra: Green 1½ - 2½" fruits with various shades of yellow to yellowish-green stripes, sweet zingy flavor. Very productive plants, sure to be a best seller at market. Introduced in 1985 by Tater Mater Seeds. Indeterminate, 75-80 days from transplant.
   
   Hands-down, my favorite tomato. Juicy, uniquely spicy in flavor, and really striking when they ripen to green and yellow tiger stripes. They're perfect for the home garden, because they're almost impossible to transport when fully ripe; they're so tender that it's all you can do to get them inside the house intact.³
   
   
4. Jaune Flamme: Beautiful apricotshaped heirloom from France. Great for drying, retains deep orange color. Excellent bitey flavor. Very productive, fruits borne in clusters and weigh 2-3 ounces, about the size of a large apricot. Indeterminate, 70-80 days from transplant.
   
   One of Sharon's favorites. 2008 wasn't a good year for them, but they have such a great flavor that I'm trying again. We'll have to see how they compare with the...
   
   
5. Moonglow: Medium-sized bright orange fruits. Solid orange meat, few seeds and wonderful flavor. One of our favorites since we first grew it in 1996. Indeterminate, 80 days from transplant.
   
   Will these be as good or better than the Jaune Flamme tomatoes? Who knows? At least we ought to have plenty of orange tomatoes this year.
   
   
6. Speckled Roman: Developed by SSE member John Swenson as a result of a stabilized cross of Antique Roman and Banana Legs. Gorgeous 3" wide by 5" long fruits with jagged orange and yellow stripes. Meaty, great tomato taste, ideal for processing. Very productive, few seeds. Still throws an occasional yellow striped fruit. Indeterminate, 85 days from transplant.
   
   We've picked these up at farmers' markets before, and they're really cool-looking. They taste pretty good, too. I'm thinking of them as a complement to the Federle tomatoes for processing, in addition to looking good on a plate of sliced tomatoes.
   
   
7. Stupice: One of the four Czechoslovakian tomato varieties sent to the U.S. by Milan Sodomka. Potato-leaf 4' plants loaded with 2½" by 2" diameter fruits borne in clusters. Extremely early, great flavor. Heavy yields all season. Produces well in northern climates. Indeterminate, 55-70 days from transplant.
   
   Here's our workhorse tomato. Sharon remembers us growing them - with good results - in Madison, though I can't quite recall. I do remember seeing them for sale at the market, and figure it's worth a shot. If nothing else, they're early tomatoes - as early as 55 days, compared to the 70 or 80 days more common for similarly-sized fruits.
   
   
8. Wapsipinicon Peach: Heavy producer of 2" peach-shaped fuzzy yellow fruits. Sweet excellent flavor. Our favorite “peach” tomato, from Dennis Schlicht, named after the Wapsipinicon River in northeast Iowa. Winner of SSE’s 2006 Heirloom Tomato Tasting. Indeterminate, 80 days from transplant.
   
   Now this is one delicious and productive tomato. Just all-around excellent, and we're going to continue to grow this variety for as long as we can get the seed. Also interesting: the skin is slightly fuzzy, and the flesh blushes pink in spots when ripe, making these alarmingly peach-like in appearance.
   
   
9. Sun Gold: Intense fruity flavor. Exceptionally sweet, bright tangerine-orange cherry tomatoes leave customers begging for more. Vigorous plants start yielding early and bear right through the season. Tendency to split precludes shipping, making these an exclusively fresh-market treat. The taste can’t be beat. Indeterminate.
   
   Yup, these are a pretty phenomenal tomato. Perfectly delicious eaten out of hand, or just barely cooked, warmed through and softened ever so slightly. If left whole and slow-roasted, they're the most amazing tomato-flavored candy.

What'll work this year, and what won't? Will twenty plants be far too many this year? What varieties will I be salivating over for 2010? Hard to say, but I'm excited to find out.

* * * * *

¹Why? Seriously? They have the taste and texture of cardboard. I could try to explain it by assuming it's part of some lizard-brain habit, except that my lizard-brain is occupied solely with things that I like, including sleeping in, sex, cocktails that taste of alcohol, and guilty-pleasure foods. Not necessarily in that order, though extra sleep is so much nicer when the dog gets you up in the pre-dawn hours every single day.

²Relatively speaking. Honestly, there probably isn't a single one in the catalog that I wouldn't be happy to be growing, so there's a distinct pressure to be selective.

³Exaggeration? Sure. But only slightly.