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Tomatoes!!

© Mary Henry

At last!! Minnesotans are just now beginning to reap the rewards that folks in more southerly climes have been enjoying for weeks. With our late tomato planting season (Mother's Day is the rule of thumb here, but May 12 in my neighborhood is more statistically correct), the most grown tomatoes are the early or short season ones like Early Girl, Oregon Spring or Moskvich. They do well here, but earliness and cold tolerance come at the expense of flavor. Those great big, luscious slicers that bring tomato ecstasy to the tongue are mostly 75 days or later to maturity. AND they need a lot of sun and heat to develop that flavor. Brandywine, the acknowledged standard for tomato flavor, is listed to ripen in 78-90 days. One of my favorites, Mortgage Lifter, lags behind until 80-90 days have passed since it was transplanted. If you do the math and count on your fingers, you will find that we don't get the first fruits of these great treats until about the first of August. The Minnesota State Fair opened on Aug. 26, and it's a good thing. There would have been very little to brag about any earlier.

The other factor, seasonal weather trends, has given us the backhand this year too. Our weather, unlike much of the rest of the country, has been mostly cloudy, frequently rainy and with more humidity than usual. So, it has not been a good year for tomatoes. Without the heat and sun my supersweet cherry tomatoes are not as sweet as usual. The big beauties that I have been watching develop so slowly are just beginning to ripen and the flavor is not as intense as in sunnier years. As gardeners, many of us are already talking about next year and the hope that it will be a great tomato year. It's like all gambling, you have one great year and then you spend a lot of time and effort trying to repeat the feat. Each time that you are less than pleased with the result, "next year" becomes the rallying cry.

A small group of dedicated local tomato freaks have formed a club, the TLC (Tomato Lovers Club). They meet monthly during the season, first to swap seeds, later plants and information about tomato culture. On Saturday, Aug. 28, they will have their annual Tomato Parade at Bachman's at 6010 Lyndale Avenue South in Minneapolis from 1:30 to 3 p.m. to show off their finest. The event will be open to the public. The various varieties that members have grown (plus a sampling of the varieties available locally to those who must buy their delights) will be available for tasting. Since growing conditions can also affect taste, helpings of the same variety but from different growers will be identified separately so the flavors can be compared. The members will also be bringing a selection of tomato dishes for tasting. The recipes for these will be available as well as handouts on sources for tomato and pepper seeds and how to save your own tomato seeds.