Photo courtesy Kimberly Ann Farms.
The tomato, Solanum lycopersicum, which translates to comforting wolf peach, has a rather recent recorded history starting in the 1500s. Wild tomatoes were from western South America, cultivated in Central America and brought back to Europe by Cortez, spreading from there. Around the 1940s, tomatoes began to be hybridized for disease resistance, thicker skin and uniform shape for efficient harvesting, transporting and canning, but flavor fell to the wayside.
Heirlooms are open-pollinated, have seeds that grow true to parent and have been passed down for generations at least 50 years. Some say true heirlooms were developed before the 1940s before popular hybrids like ‘Big Boy’ were hybridized. For more information on Heirloom Tomatoes; CLICK HERE