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Although you might not have celebration plans, the National Garden Bureau (NGB) has designated 2011 as the Year of the Tomato. Little wonder that they selected the most popular home-garden vegetable in the country for this honor.
Although it is not yet time to plant them, it is time to start planning what you plan to grow this season.
Although most everyone likes to eat these, not everyone understands their fascinating history shared by the NGB.
Although tomatoes come from the Western Hemisphere, it was never appreciated by the Andean people who lived where it originated. Early records indicate the plant had to migrate to Central America, where pre-Mayan people domesticated the plants, naming them xitomatl.
Solanum lycopersicum var. cerasiforme still grows wild in coastal mountains of Peru, Ecuador and northern Chile. The plants produce cherry-size fruits and although they are not valuable commercially, they are valuable for plant breeding because of their disease resistance.
Cortés is credited with finding tomatoes in an Aztec market and taking the seed to Spain. They spread across Europe but initially failed to win popularity and were considered ornamentals.
Europeans identified them as a member of the nightshade family, which has many poisonous plants, so many did not consider them edible. In 1600, an English country doctor wrote, "This plant is more pleasant to the sight than either to the taste or smell because the fruit being eaten provoketh loathing and vomiting." That's hardly a recommendation for a tasty treat.
According to legend, Colonel Robert Gibbon Johnson gathered a crowd around him in 1820 at the courthouse in Salem, N.J. He ate tomatoes with the audience fully expecting him to perish before their eyes.
Although this is a great story, it has never been verified. In fact, cookbooks dating to that time contained tomato ketchup, relish and soup recipes. Thomas Jefferson raised them at Monticello and apparently ate them while visiting Paris.
By the later part of the 1800s, tomatoes were firmly entrenched as an important vegetable. Period seed catalogs list many kinds, and some of those are still grown as favorite heirlooms.
The most common question I get about tomatoes is, "What is the very best tomato?" I confess I don't have the best answer for that, because it depends on so many factors.
There are thousands of kinds of tomatoes, so grouping them makes it easier to choose some favorites. They are classified in many ways, including fruit shape, ripening times, color and size.
From smallest to largest, the most popular fruit shapes are cherry, plum, standard and beefsteak. Cherry tomatoes range from 1/4 to one ounce and grow in clusters. Plum tomatoes are shaped like that fruit and generally weigh 2-6 ounces. These are called paste or Roma tomatoes; they have meaty interiors and thick fruit walls.
Standard-size tomatoes are round and weigh 4-16 ounces, while beefsteaks are usually oblate and can weigh 2 pounds or more. Grape, currant and saladette are newer types. Currant tomatoes are half the size of cherries, grape tomatoes have oval-shaped fruits and saladettes are somewhat larger than cherry tomatoes.
Check the maturity dates on tomatoes for your area. The days to harvest is the average number of days from planting outdoors to the first ripe fruit. Early tomatoes usually ripen in fewer than 70 days from transplanting, mid-season types take 70- 80 days and late types require more than 80 days.
While most tomatoes are red, they come in a kaleidoscope of colors. Some are white, but the colors range from yellow to golden to orange and many shades of red.
Alternatively, tomatoes can be all shades of green, pink, lavender and even purple.
Yellow and orange types have a milder taste than most red types, but they are not less acidic. It is the balance of acids, sugars and aromatic compounds that make tomatoes taste different.
Another choice to make is the growth habit. Determinate tomatoes have a compact growth habit and grow to a predetermined height with each short branch end producing a fruit cluster. These tend to ripen over a short time, so they are ideal for those who want many tomatoes to can.
Indeterminate plants grow, blossom and produce fruits throughout the growing season. They can grow 12 feet tall and produce numerous stems that are all capable of fruiting. Flower clusters grow in the leaf axils of the elongating shoot, and the shoot tips continue to grow.
These plants are best staked or caged to keep the fruit off the ground.
Semi-determinate plants are bushy like determinate types but set and ripen fruit throughout the season.
"Celebrity" is a popular semi-determinate type. These are best grown as caged plants.
Take some time in January to decide what tomatoes to grow this summer. Find some different sizes, shapes colors or growth habits to learn what tomato is really best for you. Written by: Larry A. Sagers Extension Horticulture Specialist Utah State University Thanksgiving Point Office
