Black heirloom tomatoes such as Black Prince, Black Krim, Black Plum and Southern Nights are some of the 150 varieties I've grown in the last 15 years. I grow red, green and yellow ones, too!

I spent a wet, chilly Saturday amidst 104 varieties of heirloom tomatoes in an old cement greenhouse nestled along a century-old red brick street in Cherry Valley. The narrow glasshouse was bursting with 6-inch-high ‘Black Sea Man’, ‘Aunt Ruby’s’, ‘Banana Legs’, ‘Brandywine’ and numerous other healthy transplants ready to go in the ground. I thought I’d had seen or grown every heirloom tomato. I’m an avowed heirloom fan because of the taste, colors and quirks like hollowness, fluting and stripes. But I came away with one I’ve never seen or grown. ‘Big Zac’. It’s a crimson beefsteak touted to weigh at least 5 pounds.
    It was wonderful to talk tomatoes with the greenhouse owner, who has also grown hundreds of heirloom varieties. We exchanged gossip about tomatoes new to each other, swapped stories of hot peppers guaranteed to remove the skin inside your mouth, and seed sources. As I trudged to my car, grasping my tomato purchases, a swirl of cold rain hit me in the face and I shivered, yearning for enough warmth to plant But, my brief vacation from weather reality gives me hope. If you’re in Cherry Valley, just follow the red brick road to Tomato World.

— Doreen Howard  www.desperategardens.net