By Michael Nolan
As much as I adore tomatoes of all shapes and sizes, there are certain heirloom tomato varieties that simply do not do well in the hot Alabama summer sun.
As I have received quite a few questions about this topic recently, I decided to give you a short list of a few heirloom tomato varieties that tend to have better results in certain climates. I am intentionally calling attention to varieties that I have not yet covered on Tomato Casual:
Heirloom Tomatoes for Hot Weather Climates
- Aunt Ruby’s Green — a long time favorite that originated in Tennessee, these beauties are light green, often with yellow stripes. They are flatter than they are round, and an excellent choice for fried green tomatoes.
- Cosoluto Genovese — originally from Italy and used most often for preserving, this variety has the odd shape most commonly associated with heirlooms, accompanied by an intense and acidic flavor.
- Box Car Willie — Bright red, delicious and as lumpy and misshapen as the King of all Hoboes for which it was named. Huge yields!
Heirloom Tomatoes for Cool Weather Climates
- Black Prince — An absolutely beautiful deep shade of garnet, rated in the top ten best tasting tomato varieties according to a taste test by Country Living magazine.
- Moskvich — From Russia with love! This variety produces results quickly, usually in 60 days, and the taste is nothing short of amazing. It is one of the best tasting and most naturally disease-resistant heirloom tomato varieties I’ve ever tasted.
- Stupice — This gem of a plant from Czechoslovakia is full of tons of little tasty tomatoes that thrive in cooler climates.
By now you have probably already started your tomato plants for this season, but if you can inch another plant or two into your space, you might want to consider one or more of these phenomenal heirloom tomato varieties. If not, there’s always next year!
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