Photo by Lyric East
In January’s article, we looked at heirloom corn and how the term heirloom is defined. As summer’s heat brings flavor and life to fruiting crops like cucumbers, peppers and squashes, it’s time to explore stories of heirloom tomatoes in Appalachia.
Tomatoes are both a special summer treat at farmers markets and a long-time staple food of people living directly with the land. I primarily interact with tomatoes in the latter manner, growing 100 feet of paste tomatoes each year for canning. Between plain tomato sauce, barbecue sauce, pickled green tomatoes and various salsas, I can hundreds of jars of tomatoes every summer to last until the next year’s harvest.
Tomatoes come in a plethora of shapes, sizes and colors. Paste tomatoes refer to varieties that have a lower water content (less juicy), thin skin and thick flesh—making them more suitable for sauce making. Slicer-type tomatoes are the go-to for tomato sandwiches or other fresh recipes, and cherry tomatoes are perfect to keep little hands snacking.
Barnes Mountain Pink tomato. Photo by Christina Gordon
Fellow growers in the mountains have spent years in dedicated service to keep alive heirloom tomato varieties of all types that are particularly adapted to mountain growing. After relocating to Burnsville in 2014 from the hot, dry conditions of Georgia, Christina Gordon of Fun Frolic Farm came across a special variety of slicer tomato called Barnes Mountain Pink (BMP) that thrived in the cooler, damp microclimate she was new to growing in along the South Toe River.
After a few seasons of falling in love with the BMP, Gordon switched to growing only that variety, and came to realize how rare it was. “In 2020, the farmer I had originally gotten the seeds from stopped farming. I had not followed my own advice to always save my own seed and when I went online to buy seed it was not available anywhere. I called the farmer and they had about 20 seeds left so I drove down south of Hendersonville and picked them up,” she recalls.
This initiated a multi-year process of diligently saving seed and sharing plants to keep the variety alive. After establishing her own seed supply and growing enough to produce plants to share, Gordon brought her BMP plants to the Asheville Herb Festival. They have done this each year since 2023 and now have a small following with customers returning each year to get their Barnes Mountain Pink tomato starts. “I tell everyone the story and to save their seed,” says Gordon.
Another grower, Two Trees Farm in Canton, provides both heirloom tomato starts and fruits to the Haywood’s Historic Farmers Market. “One of the varieties we really love is Mortgage Lifter, which is originally from West Virginia like me,” says Sara Martin, co-owner of the farm. “They say it is called Mortgage Lifter because the farmer paid off his mortgage with the profits from his tomato. They are big, beautiful red tomatoes—meaty and flavorful like a real tomato should be. We also like a whole category of Russian heirlooms as they seem to be able to tolerate the colder nights up at our elevation. Those include a fabulous pink slicer called Gypsy (don’t love the name on that one since it is a pretty loaded moniker, but the tomato is fabulous). We also love a German heirloom called Reisentraube; that is always in our mixed cherry tomato boxes.”
Ellen Rubenstein Chelmis, an avid home-grower, advocates for her favorite variety. “Garden Peach,” she says. “It’s so different from all the rest, with its fuzzy, pale yellow skin, indeed peachy appearance, prolific presence in the garden and surprisingly good tomato flavor. It holds and earns a permanent place in my ever-changing tomato growing repertoire.”
With nearly endless varieties to choose from, finding the perfect tomato for you just means an exploration of personal taste, assessment of culinary goals and consideration for the qualities of where you’re growing.
When you’ve found your favorite tomato, you should certainly celebrate with a proper tomato sandwich, perhaps one of the most contested simple meals. Should it include anything but tomato and mayonnaise? White bread or whole grain? The included recipe offers flexible options that can be swapped in or out, depending on what you have on hand. All the farmers I’ve spoken with enjoy the same rotating cast of accoutrements as I do, with the common consensus being: keep it all as local as possible.
Shop for local heirloom tomatoes with Two Tree Farms at Haywood Historic Farmer’s Market this summer. Find your favorite and then search for plants in the spring at Asheville Herb Fest and other plant sales. Lyric East is an artist, writer and owner of Wild East Farm. Find her photos and quarterly publications at WildEastFarm.com. Her farm-grown foods are available weekly at the RAD Farmers Market and the North Asheville Tailgate Market.
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The Adaptable Tomato Sandwich
Ingredients
• 2 slices of fresh, locally grown heirloom tomato
• 2 slices of your favorite fresh bread (I recommend local sourdough focaccia from Hightop Bread)
• 1 tbsp mayonnaise, preferably homemade
Optional Add-ons
• 1 tbsp garden pesto
• A small dollop of local sauerkraut from Serotonin Ferments (squeeze to remove excess moisture)
• 4 slices local bacon from Dry Ridge Farm
• 2 pieces of local lettuce
• Sprinkle of microgreens from Wintergreens Farm
• Pinch of salt
Instructions
Toast your bread just enough that it makes an audible sound when you scratch it with your fingernail. You want a nice crisped surface that won’t get too soggy with the tomato, but for the bread to still have fluffiness inside.
Once toasted, spread the mayo on one side of each slice. Spread pesto in the same manner, if using.
Add tomato and any other accoutrements onto one slice of bread, mayo side up. Salt tomato, if desired.
Slap the other slice of bread, mayo side down, on top and you’ve got yourself a tomato sandwich!
