The taste of summer seemed even more vibrant with the vegetables coming from my great grandmother's garden. The flowers were also gorgeous- especially the gladiolus in a rainbow of colors. It was a mystery, up until the moment the buds showed their first tinge of color. It was one of my favorite places to be when I was younger.
As kids, I'm sure we had our battles with not eating our vegetables. Then again, our vegetables were usually sweet corn, carrots, green beans, onions, potatoes and tomatoes- the real hearty ones that were usually eaten with a pork chop or steak. Broccoli seemed foreign to us. Hard to believe, most of our vegetables came from cans even though we had a nice sized garden, with the exception of the tomatoes.
Since having the space now at the community garden and getting older, I want to go back to a simpler time. In my down time, I have an interest in food- learning about where it comes from, tips for gardening, and of course- lots and lots of cooking. This also compounded, as the slow food movement came into play. I was fascinated by Jamie Oliver coming to America and seeing firsthand, the ingredients that go into school lunches for children. It also opened my eyes as to how I was eating and changes that I needed to make in order to avoid preservatives or chemicals.
Here is Jamie dressed up as a pea, and helping to make vegetable a little more exciting...
This year with the warm weather and my interests in food, I am ready more than ever to get gardening. I'm especially focusing on heirloom vegetables (specifically tomatoes) because so many have a complex taste, the rainbow of colors, and variety names that will make you smile.
Here are some tomato varieties that I have started from seeds, or hope to in the very near future for this growing season:
Amish Paste- sauce tomato (red), originally from the Lancaster, PA area
Black Krim- sandwich tomato (black/ dark purple-red), from Krimm, Russia
Black Ruffles- sandwich tomato (black, fluted/ pleated tomato)
Black Sea Man- sandwich tomato (dark purple-red, red and green centers when sliced), from Russia
Egg Yolk- cherry tomato (yellow, very similar to an egg yolk!), from a Missouri garden
German Pink- large sandwich tomato (red-pink), Bavarian heirloom
Green Zebra- small to medium sized (green and yellow stripes), from Washington in 1983- recent
Gold Medal- medium to large sandwich tomato (gold/ yellow and red bicolor), originally from 1921
Lemon Drop- cherry tomato (yellow, tart flavor), found as a sport on a white tomato plant
Japanese Black Trifele- (dark purple-red), Russian heirloom that is great for canning!
Kellogg's Breakfast- large beefsteak (orange), from West Virginia and tomatoes weight 1-2 lbs.
Nyagous- medium sandwich tomato (black), almost blemish free tomatoes in clusters
Red Fig- small cherry tomato with a fig like shape, from PA in 1805 and used as a substitute for figs
Rosso Sicilian- paste or slicing tomato (red- fluted/pleated), one of the prettiest tomatoes- from Italy
Striped Cavern- slicing/ stuffing tomato (red/ yellow bicolor), shape is similar to a bell pepper
Sweet Pea Currant- pea sized red tomatoes, great flavor but I'm going to resent picking these
Wholly Blue Jay- I'm not sure... I ordered it from a Seed Savers Exchange member- we will find out!
And others such as Ferris Wheel, Pork Chop (I live in Iowa after all!), Berkley Tie Dye, and more!
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