Get excited about heirloom tomatoes

The essence of summer for me is a freshly picked tomato, and if you are a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) member or visit farmer’s markets, I am sure you love the rainbow of colors that come from heirloom tomatoes. At the Denver Botanic Gardens Chat eld Farms’ CSA, we get super excited about new nds, old classics and interesting adapted heirlooms that we can add to our o erings. Of course, tomato season starts well before the summer — deep in the winter, when the snow

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Josie Hart

is falling, tomato growers pursue seed catalogues with all sorts of tomato varieties. Now, with mid-summer approaching, we enthusiastically wait for the rst fruits of the vine.

I would like to share three varieties we are most excited about for this season. ese varieties are heirloom or more accurately, ‘open pollinated’ tomatoes, which means a saved seed from the fruit will have very similar characteristics as the original plant.

LINDA SHAPLEY Publisher lshapley@coloradocommunitymedia.com

MICHAEL DE YOANNA Editor-in-Chief michael@coloradocommunitymedia.com

KRISTEN FIORE West Metro Editor kfiore@coloradocommunitymedia.com

RYLEE DUNN Community Editor rdunn@coloradocommunitymedia.com e carbon tomato is a large, rm, meaty tomato. Its esh is deep red with light to dark purple shoulders. It has a vibrant, sweet, smokey avor with the texture of a beefsteak.

Carbon ese black heirloom tomatoes are heavy feeders and have a high tolerance for drought and hot growing conditions. Carbon tomatoes are open pollinated, which means they use natural pollinators such as bumblebees, bees, birds and, sometimes, the wind — all natual elements of the garden.

ERIN ADDENBROOKE Marketing Consultant eaddenbrooke@coloradocommunitymedia.com

AUDREY BROOKS Business Manager abrooks@coloradocommunitymedia.com

ERIN FRANKS Production Manager efranks@coloradocommunitymedia.com

LINDSAY NICOLETTI Operations/ Circulation Manager lnicoletti@coloradocommunitymedia.com ese fruits are marketed as crack resistant, but according to several growers, they tend to split if watering is not regular.

Cherokee green is tomato is a true green when ripe which can cause confusion. We see many people pick up green tomatoes, then set them down because they think they are not ready. However, if you know what to look for in ripeness, then you are blessed

SEE HART, P13

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