I've heard of people buying heirloom tomatoes from a grocery store, but living in a relatively small town, I've never seen anything but commercial hybrids available. Until yesterday. While doing our shopping at Costco, I found a six pack of heirloom tomatoes. I was delighted!
So yesterday we put the first tomato to the test. We cut up the big yellow one (top right in the photo above). I have a couple admissions here. First off, I've never tasted an heirloom tomato, but I've heard lots of good comments about them. Secondly, this is possibly one of the biggest tomatoes I've ever had the pleasure of tasting. And third, while my kids are open to trying new foods, they aren't all find of tomatoes... And this one is a lot if tomato.
I cut it up, scooped out seeds, and we shared it for Sunday lunch. Reviews were mixed. It wasn't overly flavorful, but it was alright with salt. I admit, I was disappointed. But there was some pink/red streaking on the fruit which may indicate that it wasn't fully ripe. I suppose I can plant some seeds and see what I get. Being an heirloom it should breed true.
Despite mixed reviews, very little was left at the end if the meal.
Seeds are fermenting now. I should have enough to trade later. It's a large yellow Oxheart shaped heirloom tomato of unknown variety.
I'm currently working on an apple butter recipe I found online. A friend of mine posted it to Facebook and I decided to give it a try. I'll post photos and the recipe in my next blog post.