(Lycopersicon esculentum) A large, slicing-type indeterminate tomato with fruits which go from green to tinted with purple and pink, still with a dark greenish base, when ripe. Delicious. I received this tomato from my uncle, Greg Cressman. He gardens in the front yard of his home in Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario, because the back yard is overhung by black walnuts, which tomatoes detest. As he tells the story, “One day I was…
(Capsicum annuum) A paprika pepper. Plants are 2-3’/60-90 cm tall, with lots of medium-sized fruit. If you have never tasted a fresh paprika pepper before, our best description would be a flavour distinctly like a bell pepper with the bite of a hot pepper (be careful; they really are quite hot, though not like cayenne). This variety originated in Leutschau, now Levoča, Slovakia, which was a trading centre on the…
(Capsicum annuum) A productive, hot little pepper. Knee-high plants keep flowering as long as you keep harvesting. I like to string the red fruits on a tread and hang them to dry in our kitchen for eating all winter long.
(Lycopersicon esculentum var. esculentum) A sensible, round red slicing tomato. No fancy colours or shapes; just excellent flavour. Originally from Ukraine, this tomato is named for Soviet cosmonaut Vladislav Volkov, who died in 1971 in an accident during reentry on Soyuz 11. Plants are semi-determinate, climbing about 5’/1.6 m in our garden. They will be happiest if trellised. 50 seeds/packet.
(Lycopersicon esculentum) This really is a perfect slicing tomato; not too large or small, excellent texture, just about unbeatable. Vines will get 6’/2 m tall, so a high yield is possible in a fairly small space, but trellising is important. Bred by Ruth Zinniker of East Troy, Wisconsin, one of the early biodynamic farmers in the United States.
(Lycopersicon esculentum) Ten Fingers gets its name from its distinctive clusters of slim fruit. An excellent paste tomato, more productive even than San Marzano, this was an excellent addition to our gardens. We also found that they dry well in our solar dehydrators if sliced in eights lengthwise. Also called Dix Doigts de Naples. Determinate or semi-determinate; does not require a tall trellis, but would benefit from caging.
(Physalis sp.) Prolific and weird. This is a fruit, not a vegetable. Low, spreading plants produce loads of little fruits, each wrapped in its own husk. Do not pick them; simply harvest by collecting the ones which drop off the plant. Leave them in the husks until the fruit turns a golden yellow, indicating it is ripe; until then, it is poisonous (ah, the joys of high-stakes food...) Once they…
