Oh my goodness, there is nothing like good old fashioned flavour in a tomato, or well, anything for that matter. But in a tomato, That tangy tart and a little sweet, with just the right amount of flesh to seeds, that cannot be beaten. It so very much reminds me of sitting in the garden with my father and his salt and pepper shakers, which I still have and am using daily in my own kitchen. We would pick the ripe tomatoes and salt and pepper them generously as we ate them like apples, sun warmed and fragrant, right in the garden. I have never found a tomato since then that was a good as what we grew there and then. Until now, that is.
This tomato produced about 20 pounds of fleshy, amazing, so ugly they are beautiful tomatoes, with exactly that flavour I remember, and eating them with salt and pepper from those vintage shakers, there is a melting of my heart with fond memories and sweet flavours. There is nothing like it.
The name of this tomato is Cherokee Heirloom Carbon, Lycopersicon. It is also known as the Cherokee Purple tomato and is supposedly dated back to the 1800's. It is not a pretty fruit, as we are used to perfect red orange orbs or a uniform size. It is purple brown and green and anything but uniform or orb shaped. But one plant produced over 20 pounds of tomatoes and they are incredibly delicious. I am going to try to ferment some seeds and dry them to grow next year. Yum!.
I also grew 6 other varieties of tomatoes this year, but the tags disappeared from most of them. There is one that is sort of strawberry shaped and sized, but the flavour is somewhat lacking for my taste. The Beefsteak is good, but does not compare to the Cherokee Purple. The Sweet 100 will be good, as always, once the tomatoes ripen. I recall one day in my garden when the kids were preteens that they had a war with my Sweet 100 green tomatoes. I was furious, but can laugh at it now. They must have been the perfect ammunition, soft enough not to really hurt and the right size to hurl at the opponents. KIds!
Look for the Cherokee Purple tomato if you love that old fashioned tomato flavour. I certainly will be planting these next year, lots of them. I bet tomato soup from them would be spectacular. Want some?
This tomato produced about 20 pounds of fleshy, amazing, so ugly they are beautiful tomatoes, with exactly that flavour I remember, and eating them with salt and pepper from those vintage shakers, there is a melting of my heart with fond memories and sweet flavours. There is nothing like it.
The name of this tomato is Cherokee Heirloom Carbon, Lycopersicon. It is also known as the Cherokee Purple tomato and is supposedly dated back to the 1800's. It is not a pretty fruit, as we are used to perfect red orange orbs or a uniform size. It is purple brown and green and anything but uniform or orb shaped. But one plant produced over 20 pounds of tomatoes and they are incredibly delicious. I am going to try to ferment some seeds and dry them to grow next year. Yum!.
I also grew 6 other varieties of tomatoes this year, but the tags disappeared from most of them. There is one that is sort of strawberry shaped and sized, but the flavour is somewhat lacking for my taste. The Beefsteak is good, but does not compare to the Cherokee Purple. The Sweet 100 will be good, as always, once the tomatoes ripen. I recall one day in my garden when the kids were preteens that they had a war with my Sweet 100 green tomatoes. I was furious, but can laugh at it now. They must have been the perfect ammunition, soft enough not to really hurt and the right size to hurl at the opponents. KIds!
Look for the Cherokee Purple tomato if you love that old fashioned tomato flavour. I certainly will be planting these next year, lots of them. I bet tomato soup from them would be spectacular. Want some?
A taste of home! The Cherokee Heirloom purple tomato!
Although they varied greatly in size, this one was larger than the palm of my hand by double that size. This is the one I ate.
Over 20 pounds off one vine!
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