The Tomato's in the Basket

Each week during the peak of the summer season, you will receive tomatoes as a staple Vegetable in your basket. We grow so many varieties of tomatoes that posting each type onto the website would probably be more burdensome than useful.

Instead, we will post only the most unusual. Of course, if you have any questions about a specific tomatoes in your basket, just e-mail us with a description and we will identify it for you.

Note on Our Tomatoes: The hydroponics tomato growers have tried to change our mind set into believing that "A tomato that looks perfect, must taste great." Some of our tomatoes may be irregular in size, shape, and/or with minor blemishes, but their flavour cannot be matched.

This is because they are from “old (heirloom) seed” and their minor imperfections have not been “bred” out of the variety as with many of today’s hybrid or hydroponics (perfect in shape, but lacking in flavour) tomatoes. We would never knowingly supply you with any substandard product. But we are certain that you will enjoy the taste of all of our tomatoes!!

Heirloom Tomatoes:

I often get asked how to tell when an heirloom tomato is ripe. Because they come in so many different colours, it can sometimes be hard to tell. We try to place only ripe or slightly under-ripe tomatoes in your baskets. The best way to judge ripeness is to very gently squeeze the tomato. If it is soft or tender, it is ripe.

The only exceptions to this are yellow and orange tomatoes and paste tomatoes. These tomatoes have tougher skins and therefore are always slightly “hard to the touch.” When fully ripe, they are deep yellow or orange without any shades of green. The paste tomatoes – in any colour – are also rich in colour, red, yellow, orange, black, etc.

If the tomato is very soft to the touch, it is probably over ripe and should be placed in the freezer immediately for winter use (don’t throw it out – freeze it!). Keep a Zip-lock freezer bag handy and just place the whole tomato in the bag for use in cooking in the winter.

And what about the odd shapes some of the tomatoes come in? Don’t worry about the misshapen tomatoes, just slice them as best you can and enjoy. The heirlooms often grow in odd shapes.

What about the brown or grey cracks? Heirloom can develop crack mark because this trait has not been bred out of them like the tomatoes in industrial food outlets. The cracks are harmless – just cut them out and enjoy the rest of the tomato. Cracks usually form on the bottom of the tomato or branch out from the stem.

We are limited by space in our delivery vehicle as to how many tomatoes we can deliver to you each week. If you would like more, please visit our markets and identify yourself as a home delivery customer and we will make you a special deal on more tomatoes.

As a home delivery customer, watch our weekly reminder emails which will alert you to the bounty of tomatoes for purchase at our markets for winter freezing, sauces, salsa, etc.