For those of you who have been chomping at the bit (or the soil) with shovels in hand, yes, now is the time to plant tomatoes! Your patience will be rewarded with healthy fruit in the next few months.
Because there are so many choices in our local garden centers, I have decided to break it down to three types of tomatoes: slicers, cookers and tiny tots.
• Slicers: These are the tomatoes that everyone wants on a sandwich. Look for Beefsteak, Big Boy and Big Girl as the old-timers. But over the past few years new heirlooms have come onto the scene. Black Krim, Cherokee Purple and Chocolate Stripe are some of the new favorites from San Diego Seed Company.
• Cookers: Look for Roma, San Marzano and Yellow Taxi for sauces
• Tiny tots: The tiniest yellow, green and red tomatoes are great for salads, but also are featured in our Yellow Tomato Sauce recipe below. Look for Yellow Pear, Sungold and Yellow Peach varieties.
Think about flavor
It is not often the case that you can line up tomatoes in a taste contest, but if you are looking for something new, try one of the heirlooms. Cherokee Purple and Black Krim both have smoky, dark flavors.
All of the yellow tomatoes have after notes of citrus, which can be perfect in a salad or a fresh sauce. And the green varieties, such as Green Zebra or Green Grape, are great baked or broiled as a side dish.
Tomato experts
Since 2010, owner Brijette Peña and her staff at San Diego Seed Company have produced over 300 varieties of seed regionally adapted for Southern California, including organic and heirloom seeds for gardeners, farmers and market growers.
Her website (www.sandiegoseedcompany.com) features a complete selection of flowers, vegetables and products available, and also lists online and in-person events.
According to Brijette, “It’s not too late to start your late summer tomatoes from seed right now, and we can show you how!”
Visit local nurseries
Since growing from seed might be too time-consuming for many gardeners, local nurseries have stocked up on many of the heirloom varieties. Try Armstrong Garden Center, 5702 Paseo Del Norte, Carlsbad; Anderson’s La Costa Nursery, 400 La Costa Ave., Encinitas; and Green Thumb Nursery, 1019 W. San Marcos Blvd, San Marcos.
Try a new take on tomato sauce
A culinary idea came to me last summer when our garden had an overabundance of small Yellow Gold and Yellow Peach tomatoes. Because these two are considered indeterminate varieties, they bear fruit all summer, and had started to fall off the vine.
Most yellow cherry or grape tomatoes will become available in the farmers markets as the season progresses, so you don’t have to wait for yours to ripen.
This recipe will work for any cherry or very small tomato, but if you can find the yellow variety, they impart a special, sweet citrus taste to the recipe. The sauce looks completely different than a traditional red tomato sauce, since it relies on fresh vegetables cooked briefly and served over pasta.
Try to use the heaviest pan you have available, such as cast iron, to help the tomatoes brown more efficiently.
Jano’s fresh yellow tomato sauce
This sauce is meant to be cooked the day it is served. Serves four
Ingredients
• 4 cups fresh yellow cherry tomatoes (use only tiniest variety)
• 1 yellow onion, sliced thin
• 6 cloves garlic, sliced
• 1 large zucchini, sliced into thin rounds
• ½ cup olive oil
• 1 quart chicken or vegetable stock
• ¼ cup white wine (optional)
• 1 large bunch of fresh basil, cleaned with stems removed
• 1 box high-quality or fresh linguini or fettuccine
• Sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
• 1 lemon
• Fresh block of parmesan cheese
Process
- In a deep cast iron or Le Creuset skillet, brown onions in olive oil until caramelized. Add garlic and cook slowly. Remove onion/garlic mix to plate.
- Add more oil to pan. Scatter yellow tomatoes to pan and cook very slowly, rotating slowly, until just turning brown. When just turning brown, add zucchini and cook until soft. Add entire bunch of basil, leaves only, no stems.
- Add 1 cup chicken stock and white wine, cover loosely and continue to cook for 10 minutes. Add more stock if sauce is too heavy.
- At this point turn off heat until ready to serve. Do not overcook.
- Meanwhile start boiling water for pasta. Cook pasta to taste, drain.
- When ready to serve, use very large decorative bowl to serve pasta. Add ¼ stick butter to bottom of bowl before adding pasta.
- Reheat the sauce, and toss with hot pasta. Add salt, fresh pepper and freshly ground parmesan cheese. Squeeze lemon on each dish. Serve immediately!
Send us your vegetable recipes, and we might just publish them in the column.
Jano Nightingale is a horticulturist who teaches vegetable gardening at the Pine Avenue Community Center senior garden. Contact her at [email protected] for upcoming classes and garden consultations. Call the Carlsbad Senior Center at 442-339-2650 to register for gardening classes.
