At the market this week there were the usual increasing quantities of apples and squash etc, etc, etc. But apart from all of that, there was something else vitally important that must me noted.
The lady at our favorite farmer’s market stall (Underwood Family Farms) said it, and it shook us to the core. “It’s starting to frost. There might not be any more heirlooms next week.” It’s not that they’ve been amazing recently. But still, they’ve been a heck of a lot better than the tomatoes I grew up with. And for us in the Southern California, that’s a 7 month run of local heirloom tomatoes coming to an end. That’s 7 months of tomatoes loaded with sugar and flavor (the panzanellas, the tomato carpaccios, the quick cook sauces, the no-cook sauces! We will miss you!). And that’s the disappearance of every best chance to get your kids to eat as many anti-oxidant and vitamin loaded tomatoes as possible.
My wife smartly bought two. As a farewell. We don’t expect them to be amazing. We’re just happy they’re still here for now. We’ll probably slice them thinly and throw them on a pizza, before we enter a season of slicing little South American cherry tomatoes in half.
Goodbye, heirlooms. It was a great run. See you next summer.
—Hugh
