You Say Tomato, I say "Early Girl Tomato"

Everything you wanted to know about Early Girl tomatoes but were afraid to ask!

Okay, thanks to Lorraine and Jerri, I no longer am ambivalent about tomatoes. In fact, I think I'm now obsessed with tomatoes. But not just any tomato. The "Early Girl" Tomato. So much so, that I now find myself in search of not only Early Girls*, but "DRY FARMED Early Girls." This I learned the hard way.

I trekked to the Marin County Farmer's Market on yesterday in search of some Early Girls. Forget about the rising cost of gasoline and bridge toll, life is short - I get my thrills where I can.

I was amazed at how many people knew what "early girls" were. All I said to one vendor selling cheese was, "Do you know where the Early Girl Tomatoes are?" And four people responded, "OH, they're three rows over. There's a bunch of people selling them." After scouting out the different booths which were selling Early Girls, I settled upon on with a nice woman vendor who was not only happy to let me sample the Early Girls, she let me sample the Pineapple Tomatoes - another story - another blog.

So, I buy a sack of early girls, bring them home, wash them, slice them and pour on my favorite Stone House Olive Oil and Balsamic Vinegar. Very good. However, there was something missing and I couldn't quite put my finger on it.

So, I call Lorraine this morning and I say, "Hey, those early girls are really good. Thanks for turning me on to them." And then Lorraine further explains that not just any old early girls will do - they must be dry farmed. . .and they can be found at the Ferry Building Farmers Market on Thursdays.

Here's what Wikipedia says about these little red rubies:

*The Early Girl tomato is a medium globe type F1 hybrid popular with home gardeners because of its early fruit ripening. Early Girl is an indeterminate variety. It is tall growing and needs support as the plant grows. Fruit maturity claims range from 50 to 62 days from transplanting, which appeals to growers in climates with shorter frost-free seasons. (However, the plants of this variety are not particularly cold-tolerant.) Plants are reliable and prolific.

The ripe fruit is about the size and shape of a tennis ball -- very much a standard tomato -- and weighs 4 to 8 ounces (~130g). It has a bright color and good flavor, but is usually replaced at the table by later-producing varieties which are considered better tasting. Open-pollinated alternatives that take roughly the same amount of time as Early Girl include Matina, Sasha's Altai, Silvery Fir Tree, and Stupice.

The Early Girl VF hybrid is verticillium and fusarium wilt (strain I) resistant. The VFF hybrid is resistant to fusarium wilt strains I & II. The patent holder of the Early Girl variety is Monsanto Corporation following its 2005 acquisition of vegetable and fruit seed company Seminis, Inc[1][2][3]. An open-pollinated version has also been bred, although it is not widely available.

(Wikipedia)

And here is what the CENTER FOR AGROECOLOGY AND SUSTAINABLE FOOD SYSTEMS says about "Dry Farming:

“Dry farmed” means the plants that produced your tomatoes
have not been watered since May 2, when they were transplanted
into the field. Their roots grew deeper to follow the
moisture as the soil dried down. The idea behind dry farming is
to produce a tomato with more concentrated flavor, and save
water to boot.


So. . .tip of the day - Early Girls. . .Dry Farmed.

Bonjour!! :)