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I once bought some organic heirloom variety tomatoes shipped from Mexico. I was surprised to find that they were disgusting, flavorless and spongy. I've grown

I once bought some organic heirloom variety tomatoes shipped from Mexico. I was surprised to find that they were disgusting, flavorless and spongy. I've grown the same varieties myself in rich yard soil, and they were flavorful and delicious. I can only imagine that the imported tomatoes were grown in depleted soil using less than sustainable methods. I really wish big ag people would wake the frick up and realize that the benefits of sustainable polyculture go way way way beyond sometimes-higher yields. Permaculture methods strengthen the diverse ecologies that enrich soil in the first place.

mistermann 9y ago
> I can only imagine that the imported tomatoes were grown in depleted soil using less than sustainable methods. This is far from the only explanation. I've bought supposed "heirloom" tomatoes in a high end supermarket before, and they were also disgusting. What you bought probably simply wasn't a proper heirloom tomato.
- jdmichal 9y ago
  All heirloom means is that it grows true from seed. Any other properties of the plant, including taste, are up in the air.
  - mistermann 9y ago
    Where do non-heirloom tomatoes come from if not seeds?
    - grzm 9y ago
      A key distinction is the "grows true", which I interpret as "breed true", i.e., the seeds are non-hybridized. For a bit more detail, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heirloom_tomato#Seed_collecting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heirloom_tomato#Seed_collectin...
      - mistermann 9y ago
        Interesting. As for OP's experience above, a more important distinction is whether the "heirloom" tomatoes sold in grocery store are actually heirloom, according to this definition. I know that in Canada they aren't always.
        macawfish 9y ago
        My point is that you can lead a horse to a stream but if its a drought and the stream's dried up, they couldn't drink from it if they tried. doesn't matter if the horse is genetically more of a pony, stallion, mule, zebra or unicorn. nope, if there's no water, the horse can't drink. These tomatoes were not only spongy (which I'd expect from shipped tomatoes), they just had no taste. http://njfarmfresh.rutgers.edu/documents/tomatosalt2009.pdf http://njfarmfresh.rutgers.edu/documents/tomatosalt2009.pdf I did a little research and found that there are a few more possibilities. Maybe the tomatoes were grown hydroponically. Maybe it was very rainy or they over-watered before harvesting. (https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2012/06/01/154072388/how-to-grow-the-tastiest-tomato-the-secret-s-in-the-soil https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2012/06/01/154072388/ho...) I assumed "depleted soil" because that's a rampant problem, but it could be other stuff too.
jrochkind1 9y ago
Tomatoes don't ship and store well. Especially "heirloom" varieties, which mostly just means (non-hybrid) varieties that aren't of the few currently typically grown for large-scale commercial production. You know why they chose/hybridized the (fairly tasteless/bad tasting) tomato varieties that _are_ currently used for large-scale commercial production? Because they ship and store better.
imtringued 9y ago
Tomatoes are picked unripe otherwise they get damaged dzring transport.

mistermann 9y ago

> I can only imagine that the imported tomatoes were grown in depleted soil using less than sustainable methods. This is far from the only explanation. I've bought supposed "heirloom" tomatoes in a high end supermarket before, and they were also disgusting. What you bought probably simply wasn't a proper heirloom tomato.

jdmichal 9y ago
All heirloom means is that it grows true from seed. Any other properties of the plant, including taste, are up in the air.
- mistermann 9y ago
  Where do non-heirloom tomatoes come from if not seeds?
  - grzm 9y ago
    A key distinction is the "grows true", which I interpret as "breed true", i.e., the seeds are non-hybridized. For a bit more detail, see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heirloom_tomato#Seed_collecting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heirloom_tomato#Seed_collectin...
    - mistermann 9y ago
      Interesting. As for OP's experience above, a more important distinction is whether the "heirloom" tomatoes sold in grocery store are actually heirloom, according to this definition. I know that in Canada they aren't always.
      - macawfish 9y ago
        My point is that you can lead a horse to a stream but if its a drought and the stream's dried up, they couldn't drink from it if they tried. doesn't matter if the horse is genetically more of a pony, stallion, mule, zebra or unicorn. nope, if there's no water, the horse can't drink. These tomatoes were not only spongy (which I'd expect from shipped tomatoes), they just had no taste. http://njfarmfresh.rutgers.edu/documents/tomatosalt2009.pdf http://njfarmfresh.rutgers.edu/documents/tomatosalt2009.pdf I did a little research and found that there are a few more possibilities. Maybe the tomatoes were grown hydroponically. Maybe it was very rainy or they over-watered before harvesting. (https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2012/06/01/154072388/how-to-grow-the-tastiest-tomato-the-secret-s-in-the-soil https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2012/06/01/154072388/ho...) I assumed "depleted soil" because that's a rampant problem, but it could be other stuff too.

jrochkind1 9y ago

Tomatoes don't ship and store well. Especially "heirloom" varieties, which mostly just means (non-hybrid) varieties that aren't of the few currently typically grown for large-scale commercial production. You know why they chose/hybridized the (fairly tasteless/bad tasting) tomato varieties that _are_ currently used for large-scale commercial production? Because they ship and store better.

imtringued 9y ago

Tomatoes are picked unripe otherwise they get damaged dzring transport.