tips and tricks
POMME D’AMOUR
While difficult to grow in Reno-Tahoe, tomatoes are a garden staple.
WRITTEN BY CHRISTINA NELLEMANN
PHOTO BY CHRIS HOLLOMAN
Those glorious, fragrant orbs of summer don’t only come in red. You’ll see deep purple, Grinch green, zebra striped, pink, or sunny yellow. Tomatoes are, hands down, the most popular produce grown in a backyard garden, and even in our challenging climate, these nightshade relatives can flourish. The key is to know which type you are growing.
The right varieties
Heidi Watanabe of Watanabe Farm in West Sacramento grows 30 varieties of tomatoes and delivers to Reno restaurants such as Dish Cafe & Catering. She includes Green Zebra, Black Zebra, and Garden Peach among her favorites. Watanabe’s advice for growing in our higher altitudes is to stick with the determinate varieties.
“Determinate varieties of tomatoes ripen all their crops at or near the same time,” she says. “These work best for the Reno-Tahoe area, when frost threatens later in the season. Keep in mind, 36 degrees (F) is danger; 32 degrees is dead.”
Determinate varieties include Roma, Celebrity, Orange Blossom, and the bright yellow Taxi variety. However, some indeterminate varieties such as Big Boy, Early Girl, and cherry tomatoes still are fan favorites during our short summers. These will grow and produce fruit at various times until killed by frost. With some yearly growing seasons lasting well into October, it can be a good idea to experiment and grow a little of both types for your kitchen table.
“There is nothing better than those fresh tomatoes from your garden,” says Cheryl Skibicki, AmeriCorps VISTA leader at Urban Roots, a mostly K-12 student garden education nonprofit organization in Reno.
She boldly prefers Big Boy, Beefsteak, and Purple Cherokee tomatoes.
“I personally like cherry tomatoes,” says Blaine Pickett, Urban Roots farm manager. “The Yellow Pear are sweeter than most.”
“Yes, even when they’ve fallen on the ground, I pick them up and eat them anyway,” adds Skibicki.
Tomatoes’ foes
Urban Roots grows different varieties of tomatoes in hoop houses and a hydroponic greenhouse built out of an old bus — affectionately named BusAqua. Pickett says the biggest danger to tomatoes in the Reno-Tahoe area is our unpredictable frosts. Tomatoes also are subject to aphids and sometimes a micronutrient problem in the soil that can lead to blight.
Pickett recommends planting tomatoes with asparagus and marigolds to deter aphids. At the beginning of a plant’s life, add nitrogen to the soil to grow healthy plants, but lay off on the nitrogen as they get larger, or you will just end up with leaves and no fruit. Increase potassium in the soil for larger crops.
During these tomato conversations, the Purple Cherokee kept popping up like an excited toddler. This indeterminate heirloom variety from the Cherokee tribe is a consistent taste-test winner, but like any heirloom, it can be tricky to grow here. In Reno, Great Full Gardens Café & Eatery’s menu is sprinkled with its own Purple Cherokee tomatoes, grown by Pat Gallagher of Fenway Hydroponics in Reno.
“The Purple Cherokee is not the easiest to grow in our area,” says Gino Scala, owner of Great Full Gardens. “But when you cut into it and see the dark hues — it’s such a wow factor.”
So when those frost dangers hover on the horizon, the wow factor still can be added to your table with a more subdued hue: Pick them early and enjoy some Southern-style fried green tomatoes.
Christina Nellemann enjoys growing (and eating) her own tomatoes in Washoe Valley. The tender babies get their start in a greenhouse and don’t come out until mid-June.
Recipes
Fried Green Tomatoes
(courtesy of Bob Kink, chef at The Mustard Seed, Reno. Serves about 4)
4 large green tomatoes (Heidi Watanabe recommends they have a slight pink tinge)
2 cups milk
½ tablespoon sugar
2 cups cornmeal
2 cups all-purpose flour
Pinch of salt
Pinch of garlic salt
Cajun seasoning (optional)
½ cup oil for frying
Slice green tomatoes a little more than ¼ inch thick (¾-inch slices will be too thick). Add milk to a bowl and sweeten with a pinch or two of sugar. In a separate bowl, combine cornmeal and flour, then season to taste with salt, garlic salt, and Cajun seasoning.
Dip tomato slices in milk. Then roll slices in breading mixture.
Deep fry or panfry until golden brown. Serve on plate of wild greens and drizzle with ranch dressing.
Purple Cherokee Caprese
(courtesy of Gino Scala, owner of Great Full Gardens Café & Eatery in Reno. Serves 3 to 4)
Place this dynamo salad on a beautiful platter for eye appeal.
1 pound Purple Cherokee tomatoes, medium-sliced
Mixture of wild greens, arugula, lettuce, or spinach leaves
Balsamic vinegar reduction (recipe below)
Small balls Buffalo mozzarella
Fresh, whole basil leaves
Place tomato slices on wild greens or salad, drizzle with balsamic reduction, and top each tomato with one whole basil leaf and ball of mozzarella.
For Balsamic reduction: Add squeeze of lemon and squeeze of orange to 1 gallon good quality balsamic vinegar. Bring to rolling boil on stovetop, reduce heat, and stir until thick and syrupy.
