Please forgive my sidebar here but my first truly successful heirloom tomato harvest was yesterday (after 2-years of trying). I thought it paired nicely with some elk steak done to a turn and some blue cheese polenta (& all washed down of course with a Super Tuscan).
This Cherokee Purple tomato came from a plant that was devastated in a late hailstorm here (June 8th) and we had almost given up on it. In this case it was well worth the wait because unlike store-bought tomatoes (which are bred to have less liquor and thicker, flavorless walls) this one was really a treat.
When it comes to raising tomatoes, a garden hose in my hands is like death ray to what it touches. I recall an article I read about why "store boughts" are tasteless pulp. The author was in north Florida driving behind what looked like a dump truck full of green balls. Once fell out and bounced unharmed down the highway. Upon examination by the author, it was determined to be a rock hard green tomato. He later learned that it was on its way to the ripening chamber where ethylene gas is pumped in to ripen the "fruit." Gil
