Green Tomatoes

Towards the end of the summer I discovered heirloom tomatoes.  It all started with a desire to propagate my own tomato plants next year.  It turns out that you can’t do that unless you have heirloom tomatoes.  I found some partners in crime who donated some seeds to my cause and one particularly generous individual gave me a tomato so I could taste it and harvest my own seeds from it.  It was an Aunt Ruby’s German Green.  I wasn’t forward thinking enough to snap a pic of it but I’m sure if you search it out, you’ll find a picture or two out there.

For some reason the idea of eating a green tomato left me squeamish.  Deep down a part of me insisted it was not ripe even though I knew better.   A few days passed and I started to fear for the life of the tomato.   The last thing I wanted it to do was rot on my counter but I was also very hesitant to cut it open and actually eat it.   Finally I came up with the idea of using it in a dish I make with tomatoes, onions, corn and chicken.  It was delicious! I put most of it in the dish and the colour was fabulous.  I gathered up some courage and ate a piece and what do you know…it tasted just like a red tomato! The tomato was quite large and I ended up leaving a quarter of it behind.   I was ready to eat the rest when it suddenly dawned on me…I hadn’t harvested any seeds from it!  That was the primary purpose of me having it; eating it was secondary!  Ahh, the irony of it all.  I harvested the seeds, ate the rest and we’ll see if the seeds germinate next spring.

Green Tomatoes, Red Tomatoes, Purple Onions and Yellow Corn