I have grown a variety of different types of tomatoes, mostly heirloom varieties. With all of the mid-size to larger slicer types, I have had limited success. There could be a multitude of reasons why but this past growing season it became clear to me. I have always had success with cherry and pear type tomatoes.
When I was a child, I would not touch tomatoes. The texture, the explosion of juice in a bite, did not enhance my enjoyment. It wasn’t until I started growing yellow pear tomatoes as an adult that I began to develop a sincere liking of tomatoes. Yellow Pear tomatoes have been my most productive tomato over the past four years. And in each of those growing seasons, you could find me grazing on them straight from the vine. They reminded me of plums I had picked as a child. No, yellow pear tomatoes are not sweet like a plum but there was a more fruity taste, at least in my experience.
This year I have had a tomato revolution in my garden planning. So far, the only tomatoes I will be growing are cherry or pear types. Honestly, I do not personally eat larger tomatoes. For me, those are the ones that II give away to family, friends and neighbors. For now, they will only be able to expect cherry tomatoes as gifts in the upcoming summer.
I have always loved cooked tomatoes and this past Fall, I discovered a YouTube channel with a chef who taught me how to use fresh cherry tomatoes to make a great sauce for pasta. I have since made this dish many times. I decided I would change my garden to reflect my cooking lifestyle. For me this was a revolution. I have included this inspirational cooking video from Mike Green of Pro Home Cooks below. Be careful though, he may inspire you to not only change the way you cook, but change the way you garden as well.
I have made the first three meals in the above video. All were good and easy to make. Other than cherry tomatoes, other items he uses that you can grow in your garden include onions, garlic, lettuce, bok choy, ginger, spinach, basil, parsley, cilantro, avocado, lemons, radishes and peppers. If you liked this video, check out the Pro Home Cooks YouTube channel for many more meal and cooking ideas.
If you decide to cook any of the meals from the video above, tell us about it in the comment section below. Also, let us know if you have any great ideas for using cherry tomatoes.
We’ll be adding more recipes and uses for cherry or pear tomatoes as we discover them.