
by Connie Oswald Stofko
Heirloom tomatoes may look weird to you. They’re purple or creamy yellow or even striped. And that’s why some people like them.
“From that angle, they’re really fun,” said Jen Weber, retail manager at Mike Weber Greenhouses, 42 French Rd., West Seneca.
You can buy heirloom tomatoes now at Mike Weber Greenhouses, and if you want to plant them now, go for it, Weber said. She has checked with Western New York farmers and they are planting their tomatoes now and the plants aren’t covered.
Heirloom tomatoes are the old fashioned varieties of plants that were grown generations ago. They were open pollinated; that is, one variety was in a garden near another variety and they mixed to form a new variety.
“It happens naturally,” Weber said. “They’re like those little volunteers that come up in your garden. The seeds from those have been saved.”
Some gardeners like the heritage and folklore associated with heirloom vegetables. You can exhibit your heirloom vegetables at the Fall Festival featuring the Agricultural Fair to be held Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 4 and 5 at the Genesee Country Village and Museum, 1410 Flint Hill Rd., Mumford.
In creating modern varieties of tomatoes, hybridizers didn’t leave things to chance. They crossed particular varieties of the heirloom plants to get plants until they got the traits they wanted, such as a tomato with a nice red color.
They got plants that are more resistant to disease, too. That’s one drawback of the open pollinated heirloom tomatoes that you should be aware of. Because they’re not as resistant to disease, they’re harder to grow, Weber said.
Still, people like to try them just to see what they taste like, she said.
Weber noted that seed companies are creating new varieties of tomatoes with odd colors. Even though those varieties are hybridized and not open pollinated, some people consider them heirloom tomatoes because they look like heirloom tomatoes.
Check out some of the heirloom tomatoes that are available at Mike Weber Greenhouses.






Heirlooms can’t be beat when it comes to flavor!
The heirlooms are my favorite in taste and texture. Not always the best looking tomato, but a tasty one.