Homegrown Tomatoes
Ain't nothin' in the world that I like better
Than bacon & lettuce & homegrown tomatoes
Up in the mornin' out in the garden
Get you a ripe one don't get a hard one

Plant `em in the spring eat `em in the summer
All winter without `em is a culinary bummer
I forget all about the sweatin' & diggin'
Everytime I go out & pick me a big one

Homegrown tomatoes homegrown tomatoes
What'd life be without homegrown tomatoes
only two things that money can't buy
That's true love & homegrown tomatoes.

- Guy Clark, Texas songwriter

August is hot, humid, and for many of us, a reason to hightail it out of town to cooler temperatures. For gardeners, though, August is the month of the big payoff as vegetables ripen and are ready to be plucked from the garden.

Overnight, it seems, our kitchens are overflowing with fruits and vegetables in colorful, showy reds, yellows and greens. But hands down, there is one vegetable that screams summer – the juicy, delicious homegrown tomato.

They are such a delight that homegrown tomatoes have even inspired the musical tribute, above, by Guy Clark.

Three Groups of Tomatoes
In delving into the summer delight of tomatoes, you’ve got lots of choices. There are thousands of different types of tomatoes to grow, but they can be divided into three basic groups: cherry, plum and slicing. Plum tomatoes are best used for canning and paste. Slicing tomatoes are favored by cooks and show up in hundreds of dishes across a wide range of cuisines. Meanwhile, cherry tomatoes are quickly becoming a favorite snack food for the organically minded.

Capitol Hill gardener Stephen Williams grows a variety of tomatoes and acknowledges that the large, vine-ripened slicing tomatoes like Brandywine and Persimmon have their fans. But if he could only grow one tomato plant, he would “let it be a cherry tomato plant, with its many small but wonderful bundles of joy.”

A single cherry tomato plant grown in a large pot makes a perfect addition to any summer patio or deck that gets at least four hours of sun a day. Williams says that two of his favorite varieties of cherry tomatoes are Sun Gold and Sun Sugar. They seem closely related; both produce gold-colored fruit that are “real crowd pleasers.” Sun Sugar plants are sometimes easier to find at a nursery/greenhouse.

At a conference a few years back, Williams had a chance to ask New York Times writer Cass Peterson about cherry tomatoes. She offered this lyrical growing tip: “Keep them reaching for the zephyrs!” A Sun Gold plant can easily reach 7 feet in height with the right encouragement (a tall stake, string loops and water).

When it comes to slicing tomatoes, Williams’ favorite variety is Green Zebra, with fruit about the size of a plum. In fact, one can hardly talk to a tomato aficionado without the conversation working its way around to the Green Zebra. That’s because, as Williams says, “The first bite into a fully-ripened Green Zebra tomato – when its green strips are accentuated by a yellow blush – will open your eyes with a sense of wonder.”

Good for you – most of the time
There’s more than just good taste behind a tomato’s appeal. Kimberly Rush Lynch, a certified holistic health counselor and a graduate of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in New York City, promotes the tomato as beneficial in many ways. It is rich in vitamins A and C, the B-complex, potassium, phosphorus, the carotenoid lycopene, flavonoids and other phytochemicals with anti-carcinogenic properties.

Kim says tomatoes are also important for detoxifying the blood and liver, reducing blood pressure and the risk of heart disease, encouraging digestion and even reducing inflammation in the body. “In fact, many people find that after consuming tomatoes they feel ‘lighter’ and less stressed,” she says.

But Kim cautions that tomatoes are members of the Nightshade family and do contain solanine, a compound which can create a calcium imbalance if consumed in excess. She says it is recommended that those with arthritis and osteoporosis limit their intake of tomatoes for this reason.

Also, people with weakened gastrointestinal tracts and kidneys may find tomatoes irritating. “One way to balance the effects of solanine is to cook your tomatoes with warming spices, such as cumin or mustard,” Kim suggests.

Plenty of Tomatoes on the Vine
Tomatoes have to be the easiest vegetable of all to find on the Hill. First, a walking survey around the Hill found tomatoes being grown in pots or small potages on almost every block. From the number of yellow flower buds and small tomatoes ripening on the vines, your neighbors will soon be knocking on your door giving away their extra bounty. Local farmers are also predicting that, by the first week in August, their tomatoes will be ready to share with Capitol Hill shoppers.

Prices vary depending on the type of tomato being sold, but the best price per pound is found at the RFK Stadium Farmers’ Market at the Miller Farm of Clinton, Maryland’s vegetable stand. The Miller family has been bringing its homegrown produce to this site for over 20 years, says Betty (Miller) Fugate. The Miller farm plants a variety of tomatoes including Mountain Pride and Big Boys. They sell their tomatoes at $1.59 per pound, and are at the market every Thursday and Saturday year round from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wayne Miller says that he harvests his tomatoes off the vine through the first frost of the season, which is usually late September and into October. For reasons the Millers cannot figure out, business has been down this year, and they encourage Hill residents to come out.

For a few weeks following the Eastern Market fire, longtime farmers from Maryland and West Virginia found their sales down as well. But now that summer is in full swing, Daniel Dunham of Jesse Dunham’s farm says he is “selling better than this time last year.” His farm will soon be bringing stake-grown red and yellow tomatoes to market at $1.99 per pound. Daniel says their price is up a little from last season, reflecting rising transportation costs. The $l.99 per price was the average price at more than four other vegetable stands at the market and was consistent with pricing at the local Safeway and Yes! Organic Market.

Heirloom Tomatoes – The Best of the Best
A fairly new vegetable stand to Eastern Market, Long Meadow Farm of Shenandoah, Virginia, will soon be offering 15 different kinds of heirloom tomatoes. Heirloom tomatoes are considered to be the best of the best. Heirloom tomato cultivars can be found in a wide variety of colors, shapes, flavors and sizes. In its truest sense, an heirloom is a cultivar that has been nurtured, selected and handed down from one family member to another for many generations.

Marvin Ogburn of Shenandoah Farm loves the Cherokee Purple Heirloom. Cherokee Purple is one of the first known “black,” or deep, dusky, rose-colored cultivars. The story goes that the Cherokee Indians gave the “purple” tomato cultivar to Tennessee farmers over 100 years ago. Heirloom tomatoes are definitely being widely used in many of Washington’s finest dining establishments, but be prepared to pay a good deal more for the special quality being offered.

Whatever you’re looking for in the way of wondrous tomatoes, you can find them on the Hill. So go ahead – pop a cherry tomato for a snack, enjoy an exotic heirloom in your salad, or make your favorite BLT. After all, it’s August!

For more information on nutrition, contact Kimberly Rush Lynch, Cultivating Health, who focuses on energizing moms and dads to become healthier and happier parents equipped with the tools necessary to improve the eating habits and overall health of their families. For more information, visit www.Cultivating-Health.com. Kimberly@Cultivating-Health.com, 301-356-4731.

And if you haven’t grown your own tomatoes this year, visit RFK Stadium Farmers Market, Thursday and Saturdays, and Eastern Market farmers on the weekends. Shenandoah Farms is also at the Foggy Bottom Farmers Market on Wednesdays.

Rindy O’Brien has been living on Capitol Hill for over 30 years. She is the former Executive Director of the Friends of the National Arboretum, and a long time advocate for open spaces and parks. Rindy can be reached at rindyob@mac.com to share your gardening tips.