The Return Of A Lost Jersey Tomato

[Dover]

WHEN heirloom tomatoes became popular in the 1990s, Jack Rabin became acutely uncomfortable.
“Everyone was going gaga over them. My farmers were trying to grow them, and we’d walk out in the field and just see horticultural garbage,” said Mr. Rabin, a longtime agricultural extension agent with Rutgers University in New Brunswick, N.J. who works with about 800 growers around the state. “Every time it rained, they would crack open or turn into water bags. They burned in the sun or developed fungus you could taste,” he said. “It was painful to watch, and the yields were a nightmare.”

Since 2001, Mr. Rabin has been the head of the Rutgers tomato project, responsible for identifying tomatoes that farmers can grow successfully and consistently. It is an awesome charge in a state where “Jersey tomato” is as prideful a phrase as “Jersey girl.” It is even more so this year, as Mr. Rabin helps to bring back to market a lost variety that was once virtually the definition of the Jersey tomato.

But what’s so special about the Jersey tomato? ...cont'd


http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/23/dining/23toma.html?em&ex=1217044800&en=07f2eb815aaa6011&ei=5087%0A

[LiberalEsto]

1. Oh how I miss NJ tomatos!

I lived in New Jersey from age 3 to 38, and planted tomatoes any time I had a bit of land for a garden.

Having lived in Maryland for the past 18 years, I can honestly say there's something lacking in the tomatoes I've grown here. Maybe it's the toxic waste in NJ soil, maybe there's some subtle difference in climate, who knows? When we visit my father-in-law in New Jersey, we always bring home a huge bagful of local tomatoes from the Red Top or Green Top markets on Route 70.

As a Rutgers alumna, I can loyally vouch for Ramapo and Rutgers tomatoes. But my all-time favorite is red Brandywine.