Q: I have tomatoes coming out my ears. What can I do with them? I’m not much of a cook, and it’s too hot to cook anyway. I’m not going to can them. Any suggestions besides sandwiches?
A: Share with friends and neighbors or people at your workplace, church, gym or social clubs. Some people never had the pleasure of eating a true homegrown tomato. Also check with your local food bank. The people may be thrilled to get something fresh rather than canned or processed items.
If you are tired of the traditional sandwich of tomato and mayonnaise or of the BLT, try a TVO (tomato-Vidalia Onion) or slip slices of tomato into pimento cheese and grilled cheese sandwiches.
Why should only hamburgers be honored with tomatoes? Sprinkle diced tomatoes on your hot dog, too. Freshen a storebought or delivery pizza with thin slices of tomatoes.
Tomatoes go well with eggs at breakfast, and halved cherry tomatoes or chopped tomatoes can be used as a topping for grits. Try a slice of tomato on buttered toast.
Drizzle sliced tomatoes with balsamic vinegar and serve with hunks of mozzarella. Stuff cherry tomatoes with pesto.
For extra tomato flavor throughout your salads, blend finely chopped or pureed tomato into your oil and vinegar dressing. You don’t need leafy greens to have a salad; consider a simple salad of tomatoes and cucumbers with vinaigrette. Combine chopped tomatoes and cubed avocado and sprinkle with kosher salt.
Mix tomato wedges or halved cherry tomatoes with slices of peaches and mangoes and slivers of onion. Add a little goat cheese and drizzle with a extra virgin olive oil, balsamic vinegar or vinaigrette and some salt and pepper.
Gazpacho – this summer soup requires no cooking and is a cool and savory combination of tomatoes, tomato juice, garlic, onion and bell peppers. You can also puree some tomatoes and freeze them for making soup in the winter when hot soups (and the heat from cooking them) will be welcomed.
And don’t forget bruschetta and fresh salsa.
We’re too hungry to make any more suggestions…
Q: A friend shared a huge, pinkish red (and delicious!) tomato with me he called ‘Radiator Charlie’s Mortgage Lifter.’ Can you tell me more about this tomato? I want to find more or grow some of my own next year.
A: ‘Radiator Charlie’s Mortgage Lifter’, or sometimes simply ‘Mortgage Lifter’, was developed by M.C. Byles in the early 1930s in Logan, WV.
Mr. Byles, affectionately known as "Radiator Charlie,” a nickname he received from the radiator repair business he opened at the foot of a steep hill on which trucks would often overheat, created this now-legendary tomato by cross-breeding four of the largest-fruited tomatoes he could find: 'German Johnson', 'Beefsteak', an Italian variety and an English variety. One of the four varieties was planted in the middle of a circle. Using a baby's ear syringe, he cross-pollinated the center plant with pollen from the circle of tomatoes. The pollination and selection process was repeated six more years until he had a stable variety. After Byles developed this large, tasty tomato, he sold plants for $1 each (in the 1940s) and paid off the $6,000 mortgage on his house in six years. Each spring, gardeners drove as far as 200 miles to buy his seedling tomatoes.
In the 1980s Byles donated seeds to Southern Exposure Seed Exchange, a company specializing in preserving old vegetable varieties. ‘Radiator Charlie’s Mortage Lifter’ is still carried by that company and others as well. The variety gained popularity for its large size, flavor and meatiness. You may find this variety for sale now at farmers markets. If you want to grow your own from seed next year, don’t delay ordering because seed companies may sell out of this popular variety.
‘Radiator Charlie’s Mortgage Lifter’ is a tomato with great flavor and a great story to match!
Q: I have heard of tomato varieties from Russia that are cold tolerant. Is this true? Where can I find some? I would love to grow tomatoes in my garden in the winter.
A: “Cold tolerant” means that a tomato variety tolerates colder temperatures than the average tomato variety. It does not mean that it will grow outdoors in winter. Selecting cold-tolerant varieties may allow you to plant a little earlier in the spring than you would with standard varieties. They are also good for cooler areas like the Pacific Northwest.
In the past few years, tomato varieties originating in Siberia and other parts of Russia and the former Soviet republics have come on the market. They are available from various seed catalogs such as Johnny’s Selected Seeds, Burpee, TomatoFest, Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds and Southern Exposure Seed Exchange. However, having “Russian” in its name does not automatically indicate that a variety will be cold tolerant or less tolerant of heat, and there are plenty of non-Russian varieties that are cold tolerant.
Q: Seed catalogs label some tomato varieties as determinate. What does that mean?
A: Determinate varieties of tomatoes are more compact than indeterminate varieties. They “top out” (stop growing taller) when fruit sets on the terminal or top bud. They ripen all their tomatoes at or near the same time, usually over a few weeks.
Indeterminate varieties of tomatoes are also called "vining" tomatoes. They will grow and produce fruit until killed by frost in the fall and can reach heights of up to 10 feet although six feet is more common. They will bloom and set fruit throughout the growing season.
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