Grow What You Love: A Life of Tomatoes
Grow What You Love: A Life of Tomatoes
Photography by Valery Rizzo.
Photography by Valery Rizzo.
When Tim Mountz was given some of his grandparents’ forgotten beans as a young man, he became intrigued by the genealogy of heritage plants: one of the beans was so rare that it had been extinct—until then.
When Tim Mountz was given some of his grandparents’ forgotten beans as a young man, he became intrigued by the genealogy of heritage plants: one of the beans was so rare that it had been extinct—until then.
A feast at Tim’s tomato acres in the Brandywine Valley, Pennsylvania.
Grow what you love.
“The two foods I’m always thinking about are pizza and tacos,” says Tim.
“It is a great sauce tomato, and I sell out of the seed every year.” Tim is a great supporter of open-pollinated varieties, a wider selection than the heirloom group (in which a variety needs to be at least 50 years old).
“It is a great sauce tomato, and I sell out of the seed every year.” Tim is a great supporter of open-pollinated varieties, a wider selection than the heirloom group (in which a variety needs to be at least 50 years old).
Heirloom is the way to go.
Heirloom is the way to go.
Grow together what goes together.
Grow together what goes together.
Purple basil ‘Opal’ grows alongside tomatoes; a prime pizza ingredient. If I’m depressed, I just grab some and bury my face in it.
Tim testing green tomatoes for ripeness. Splitting in tomatoes is caused by a heavy rain just as the fruits are ripening; tomato aficionados watch the weather and relax in the morning if the weather is fine or harvest when rain is predicted.
Tim testing green tomatoes for ripeness. Splitting in tomatoes is caused by a heavy rain just as the fruits are ripening; tomato aficionados watch the weather and relax in the morning if the weather is fine or harvest when rain is predicted.
Don’t prematurely harvest.
Don’t prematurely harvest.
There’s a neat way to store them for winter.
Trusses of Grappoli d’Inverno (winter grape), a storing tomato that can be harvested for months, when hung in a cool place.
Condensation on the skin of a refrigerated tomato.
Tomatoes aren’t all sweet.
Peach tomatoes have a slight fuzz and a slight sweetness.
If Tim could choose just one tomato it would probably be Black Krim from Crimea It s salty and savory and intense Not like the the whites or the yellows that are giddy and sweet...
...and super summery it s the thinking man s tomato Other favorites are Brandywine which couldn t be more local since his tomatoes are watered via the Brandywine River and every type of peach tomato
...and super summery it s the thinking man s tomato Other favorites are Brandywine which couldn t be more local since his tomatoes are watered via the Brandywine River and every type of peach tomato
You can eat too many tomatoes—but it’s worth it.
A salad of basil, red onions and very ripe tomatoes.
Cut as a truss, smaller tomatoes store well.
