Unusual Tomato Varieties to Cultivate as Seed-Starting Season Approaches
As the seed-starting season draws near, gardeners are turning their attention to planning their summer harvests, with tomatoes often taking center stage. While tomatoes are commonly associated with their classic red hue, they actually present a dazzling spectrum of colors and flavors that can transform any garden and kitchen experience.
Beyond the Traditional Red Tomato
Many gardeners have been conditioned to expect tomatoes in shades of red, with popular varieties like Beefsteak, Porterhouse, and Brandywine dominating home plots. However, this year offers an opportunity to look past these usual suspects and explore a kaleidoscope of oddball tomatoes that might just become your new favorites.
Cherokee Purple: A Sweet and Earthy Delight
The Cherokee Purple tomato stands out as a remarkable heirloom variety. Despite its grayish-brown skin and flesh, which might not appear immediately appetizing, this indeterminate plant produces fruits with a sweet, earthy, and somewhat smoky flavor. Its juicy consistency makes it ideal for sandwiches, though it may not yield as prolifically as other varieties.
Black Krim: A Tangy Crimean Heirloom
Introduced to North American gardeners in 1990, the Black Krim tomato is an old indeterminate heirloom from Crimea. It features a reddish-gray color and offers a sweet, salty, tangy flavor that intensifies when fully ripened on the vine. Gardeners are advised to resist premature harvesting to enjoy its full taste profile.
Black Beauty: The World's Darkest Tomato
With skin resembling blackberries and deep red, meaty flesh, Black Beauty is celebrated as the darkest tomato globally, backed by high antioxidant content. This hybrid variety has been stabilized through selective breeding, ensuring seeds grow true to type. It makes a stunning addition to Caprese salads and other culinary creations.
Ananas Noire: A Colorful Belgian Hybrid
Also known as Black Pineapple, Ananas Noire is a vibrant hybrid that emerged naturally in 1990s Belgium from a cross between a pineapple tomato and a black tomato. Developed by horticulturist Pascal Moreau and available since 2005, this indeterminate plant produces abundant sweet, juicy, citrusy fruits with a tie-dyed appearance in green, red, and yellow.
Yellow Pear: A Historic Heirloom
The Yellow Pear tomato is an indeterminate heirloom that yields small, vibrant yellow, pear-shaped fruits. Historically grown by American settlers in the early 1600s, its fruits were often preserved and pickled. Today, they can be eaten fresh, used in salads, or continued in traditional preservation methods.
Voyager: The Travel-Friendly Tomato
Voyager tomatoes are unique heirlooms named for their segmented fruits that can be pulled apart without disturbing others, making them excellent travel snacks. When sliced horizontally, they reveal an intriguing shape. These tomatoes ripen quickly and offer a tangy flavor, perfect with olive oil, salt, and pepper.
Green Zebra: A Stripped and Resilient Variety
Green Zebra tomatoes feature green-and-yellow stripes with bright green interior flesh and a sweet, tangy taste. Developed over four decades by plant breeder Tom Wagner in Everett, Washington, this indeterminate variety, available since 1983, produces crack-resistant fruit with exceptional heat and drought tolerance.
As gardeners prepare for the upcoming season, considering these unusual tomato varieties can add diversity and excitement to both gardens and meals. Experimenting with different colors and flavors can lead to discovering new personal favorites and enhancing the gardening experience.
