Our Heirloom Tomatoes, Peppers and one Cool-Looking Watermelon

Thanks to Marian Parsley for the inside dope on so many of the Heirloom and unusual varieties of vegetables.

Peppers

• Bhut Jolokia (Hot) is one of the world’s hottest peppers.  Its 3″ fruit grows skyward, not down.  Ornamental, with high yields, too.  To 40″ tall.
• Comstock Purple (Hot) is a cross between Tasmanian and Jwata.  Upright, producing elongated purplish fruit with the same heat as cayenne peppers,.  Grows to 24-36″.
• Serrano Del Sol (Warm to Hot) is a Southwestern-style chili.
• Sunny Border Black (Hot)  produces black fruit that stays black till fall.  Same heat as Jalapeno.  Grows to 24-36″.
• Trinidad 7 Pod (Hot) is “outrageously hot”, according to the grower.  Its fruits are red or yellow or both.  Great in stews, salsas, and sauces.
• Orange Bell (Sweet)  is an orange, medium-sized Sweet Bell, extra sweet when ripened.  Compact plant, so excellent in containers.  Known for flavor and disease resistance.
• Ubatuba cambuci (Sweet) is an Heirloom Brazilian pepper that looks like an umbrella.  Squat, wide fruit turns from yellow to orange to red. Likes staking.  Grows to 36″.

Tomatoes

• ‘Amish Paste’ (Heirloom) is a favorite with home gardeners – sweet, meaty and flavorful.  Indeterminate.
• ‘Abe Lincoln’ (Heirloom) has a sweet taste and produces right up until frost.  Great for tomato juice.
• ‘Arkansas Traveler’ (Heirloom) produces a large bounty of dark pink fruit, which is sweet, even in the worst heat.  Tolerates high humidity, too.
• ‘Amanda Orange’ (Heirloom) produces a huge fluted orange fruit that’s so sweet, it’s almost tropical.  Indeterminate.
• ‘Black Prince’ (Heirloom) produces medium-sized deep garnet fruits with a rich flavor.  Indeterminate.
• ‘Boxcar Willie’ (Heirloom) is a slightly flattened Jersey-type fruit that resists cracking.  Indeterminate.
• Comstock Sauce and Slice (Heirloom) is great for pastes – meaty with few seeds – and in salads and sandwiches, too.  Must be staked.  Grows to 36″.
• ‘Evergreen’ (Heirloom) is very productive, with fruits that are green, then yellow.  Great for salads, or frying up as fried green tomatoes.  Indeterminate.
• ‘Garden Peach’ (Heirloom) produces meaty fruits that are mild and sweet.  Peach-shaped and -colored, it’s a pretty novelty.  Indeterminate.
• ‘Hillbilly Striped’ (Heirloom) is a huge bicolor with rich, sweet flavor.  Great slicing tomato.  Indeterminate.
• Principe Borghese is a popular Italian Heirloom.  Compact, so great for containers.  Small, plum-shaped fruit. Heavy producer, widely used for sun-dried tomatoes.  Best given support.  Determinate.
• Tomatillo Purple is the primary ingredient in salsas.  Tart, and the size of cherry tomatoes.
• Tomatillo ‘Verde’ looks like a regular tomato, except it’s green.  Used in salsas, dried, or baked in pies and preserves.

Watermelon

• ‘Moon and Stars’ (Heirloom) produces massive fruits – 25 to 30 pounds each and its thin rind is a pretty dark green.  The flesh is a sweet pink.  How cool-looking are they?

Photo credits:  Mixed heirlooms by Southern Pixel. Heirloom tomato salad by Lucy Crabapple.