Jeanne Grunert is a certified Virginia Master Gardener and the author of several gardening books. Her garden articles, photographs, and interviews have been featured in The Herb Companion, Virginia Gardener, and Cultivate, the magazine of the National Farm Bureau. She is the founder of The Christian Herbalists group and a popular local lecturer on culinary herbs and herbs for health, raised bed gardening, and horticulture therapy.
Oh how I long for the tomatoes of my youth. Such flavor. I buy heirlooms when I see them in the market.
I am familiar with Heirloom tomatoes and I 100% agree with what you said about the grocery tomatoes we mostly get foisted on us. Having been alive in a time when tomatoes really tasted good and had access to them subsequently at some farmers markets, I miss them.
I didn’t know Heirloom could be applied to other fruits, vegetables and flowers.
Hi all! Yes, Jo, they’re now using the term heirloom for older varieties of flowers too, and I’ve recently seen the term applied to livestock. I’m more familiar with the term “heritage” livestock breeds when referencing older breeds.
Denise, thanks for leaving a comment!
Your post reminded me of an incident back in the day. A fellow-journalist was still single and she bought a bunch of tomatoes from a retailer that really emphasises the quality of their foods. The tomatoes were fresh, pretty… My colleague kept meaning to use the tomatoes in something but she was so busy she’d end up just buying something on the run. You know: the joy of a single life where you’re just chasing career advancement. THREE weeks later, she wanted a salad and remembered the tomatoes. The scary thing is they looked as fresh as when she first bought them. Fresh, pink, no blemishes, no sign that they were going off. In the middle of summer. She threw them in the bin. We laughed so hard when she told the story, wanting to know: what in heaven’s name did they breed into those tomatoes?