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Heirloom tomatoes...did I get ripped off...?


wokkingtall

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Hi All,

 

This afternoon I was at one of my cities' major outdoor markets.  One of the vendors was selling containers of heirloom tomatoes.  Price was $6 (Canadian) for the container.  6 tomatoes... so a buck a tomato.

 

Upon further inspection later at home, I thought one of the heirlooms...well...didn't look so "heirloom-y".  It looked closer to a regular old field tomato rather than an heirloom.

 

Can anyone tell if indeed, the vendor slipped in a non-heirloom variety into my container...?  In the picture, the tomato in question is directly above the yellow one (top left corner).

 

Oddly enough, it might have been the best of the bunch.  Doh!

 

(Apologies in advance if the pics are uploaded wrong...I've never attached pics to a post before)

 

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Depends on how you define "heirloom".

There are dozens and dozens of older tomato cultivars that are red globes, but it's impossible to know exactly what you really have.

Heirloom or not, a buck a tomato is pretty steep pricing, IMHO....for tomatoes that size anyway.

Edited by DiggingDogFarm (log)

~Martin :)

I just don't want to look back and think "I could have eaten that."

Unsupervised, rebellious, radical agrarian experimenter, minimalist penny-pincher, and adventurous cook. Crotchety, cantankerous, terse curmudgeon, non-conformist, and contrarian who questions everything!

The best thing about a vegetable garden is all the meat you can hunt and trap out of it!

 

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There are some heirloom red globe tomatoes showcased here.. http://www.victoryseeds.com/tomato_red.html ...there are many many others still around as well.....with "new" ones being discovered and introduced to the general public every year.

Edited by DiggingDogFarm (log)

~Martin :)

I just don't want to look back and think "I could have eaten that."

Unsupervised, rebellious, radical agrarian experimenter, minimalist penny-pincher, and adventurous cook. Crotchety, cantankerous, terse curmudgeon, non-conformist, and contrarian who questions everything!

The best thing about a vegetable garden is all the meat you can hunt and trap out of it!

 

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Hi DDF,

 

Depends on how you define "heirloom".

There are dozens and dozens of older tomato cultivars that are red globes, but it's impossible to know exactly what you really have.

Heirloom or not, a buck a tomato is pretty steep pricing, IMHO....for tomatoes that size anyway.

 

Hm.  I would have to plead ignorance on the definition of "heirloom" then.  Simplistically, (at least for me) I would define heirloom as a (lineage?) of fruit or vegetable that has been bred in such a manner as to enhance characteristics of sweetness, colour...etc.

 

RE: $1 / tomato... this is why I wanted to know if what I had purchased was indeed what I was supposed to have purchased.  For what it's worth, at this particular market, the heirloom tomato prices were, if I recall correctly:

 

$6 for the basket we are referring to in this post

$8 for a slightly larger basket... not sure how many were in it

$8 a pound for loose, pick your own

 

Your point is well taken though.  I was quite aware that this would be a difficult question to answer definitively.  I decided to try anyways... :smile:

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There are some heirloom red globe tomatoes showcased here.. http://www.victoryseeds.com/tomato_red.html ...there are many many others still around as well.....with "new" ones being discovered and introduced to the general public every year.

 

After a quick look at the link.... I can definitely say to this untrained eye, there are heirloom varieties that look just like a field tomato.  Enough for me to definitely give the vendor the benefit of the doubt....

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I would define heirloom as a (lineage?) of fruit or vegetable that has been bred in such a manner as to enhance characteristics of sweetness, colour...etc.

 

 

It could be argued 'heirloom' means exactly the opposite - it's an old variety that hasn't been mucked about with, because it tasted good all along.  Often, in my experience, heirloom fruits and veg aren't as 'pretty' as newer, cultivated varieties, but boy, do they taste better.

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Leslie Craven, aka "lesliec"
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Heirlooms may also be harder to grow than modern tomato hybrids.  In the US, at least, one can find heirloom varieties grafted to disease resistant rootstock.

 

Still, a dollar a piece for a small tomato sounds a little expensive, particularly when tomatoes are in season.

Cooking is cool.  And kitchen gear is even cooler.  -- Chad Ward

Whatever you crave, there's a dumpling for you. -- Hsiao-Ching Chou

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It could be argued 'heirloom' means exactly the opposite - it's an old variety that hasn't been mucked about with, because it tasted good all along.  Often, in my experience, heirloom fruits and veg aren't as 'pretty' as newer, cultivated varieties, but boy, do they taste better.

Yep,

 

being an old variety that is being cultivated again <<Dictionary

Wawa Sizzli FTW!

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I don't care what it's called, as long as it tastes good.  :smile:

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~Martin :)

I just don't want to look back and think "I could have eaten that."

Unsupervised, rebellious, radical agrarian experimenter, minimalist penny-pincher, and adventurous cook. Crotchety, cantankerous, terse curmudgeon, non-conformist, and contrarian who questions everything!

The best thing about a vegetable garden is all the meat you can hunt and trap out of it!

 

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