Flavor Gardening: Choosing the best vegetable varieties for taste

摘要

In the more than 30 years of growing vegetables both commercially and for my own kitchen, I have been governed in my choice of vegetable varieties by one thing - flavor. Oh, I select some tomatoes and corn for earliness, some cabbage for storing or greens to be bolt resistant, but if a vegetable doesn't have superior flavor, then I grow it only once. The tastiest varieties are often open-pollinated (meaning non-hybrid) heirlooms. Some are centuries old, and all were grown for their quality alone, notfor looks, shelf life, or how well they tolerate shipping from California. Take tomatoes, for instance. My favorite has long been Brandywine, but this year at The Hermitage we offered Cherokee Purple tomatoes, a Tennessee native, and people showed up atour garden shop just to purchase these plants. We'd sell out every Saturday, so people would stop by our house on Friday for "those Indian tomatoes." It's more purple than red, is not exactly round, and it's too juicy and thin-skinned to ship, but the taste is absolutely memorable.