A few Heirlooms and why they are so good

BRANDYWINE - The name even sounds like you should try it.

Brandywine fruits can grow to two (2) lbs. each. The flesh is firm and not red but pink. There are few seed cavities, so when you slice this tomato, it makes a very solid slice. When fully ripe, this tomato is hard to beat for taste, firmness, flavour and large size. The strain is Suddith, named after a lady who maintained this tomato for 80 years. The fruit pictured here weighed in at just over two pounds, was so ripe it cracked at the top and was totally delicious.

AUNT RUBY'S GERMAN GREEN - Named after a lady by the name of Ruby Arnold, Greensville, Tennessee who maintained this variety for many years,this variety never gets red, or even pink. It ripens green and is picked by the touch. If it is soft, pick it. A tiny bit of pink may appear around the blossom end. Fruits 1-2 lb. size have excellent flavour and are used to make 'Fried Green Tomatoes' that are Yummy! Good!

Try "Fried Green Tomatoes", you will love them. Slices dipped in beaten egg, floured or rolled in corn meal and then fried in skillet both sides until near cooked. Then, ‘yum , yum', eat them up and ask for more. Some heirloom seeds you will want to save and you should learn how to save them. Aunt Ruby's German Green is definitely one to save and pass on to your children to grow as well. Join the nostalgic elite group who know how good Fried Green Tomatoes are.

STUPICE - pronounced (Stew -Peach -Ka) is an heirloom from the Czech Republic, and is very early with a multitude of 4-5 oz. fruits with excellent flavour. It's best attributes are tasty earliness. The plant has leaves that resemble potato leaves. It is thus referred to as a potato leaf variety. Your first fresh from the garden tomato soup will be from Stupice, and you have been waiting for that great taste a long time.

KELLOG'S BREAKFAST - A nice large tomato of 14 oz to 1.5 lbs. The color is a golden yellow and about the color of cornflakes when ripening. It is a juicy tomato with good taste, size and bright golden yellow color. Your salad plate can take on a new color with this one cut up on it.

ANANAS NOIR (Black Pineapple). A tomato that can claim many colors when sliced on a plate. It can show purple, red, orange, yellow, pink, and green all on one slice.

And best of all, the taste of this tomato when extra ripe is absolutely delicious. I have eaten different tomatoes in my lifetime and never tasted one that was so good. The skin only ripens pink and will rot if not picked then. (I thought they were not ripe yet). Fruits are a little softer than Brandywine, could be it's only negative point.

CHEROKEE - Named after the Cherokee Indians who grew this one when the white man arrived in America. It for sure is an heirloom's heirloom. These people were not uneducated to good taste. This is a very tasty tomato that ripens pink on the outside but when sliced is dark blood red. It is referred to as one of the black tomatoes because of this dark coloring.

OPALKA - Is it a pepper? No! it is a roma or pasta type tomato that looks very much like a pepper. If it is in good soil, it will grow more like the shape of an acorn squash and is three inches across. Cooks will like this tomato because it grows so large and has so few seed cavities.

My list could go on for days so I will just show you a few more pictures of some I have grown and enjoy. Just look at those green grape tomatoes that taste so spicy when you go to the garden. You can have pockets full of this delicious snack every day as they produce enormous crops on one foot bushy plants.

Do you want the black ones or the green ones?

I'll take the spicy Green Grape ones, if you don't mind, as I like their spicy and juicy taste for after the game.

I wasn't sure they were ripe, so I tried one of these chewy dark greenish looking Black Marble tomatoes. When I saw inside that it was deep red, and had such good taste, this gourmet tomato became a favourite with me.

Your turn now. Well if your going to eat them all up, I'm not playing any more, but I am glad you like these marbles.