I had the opportunity yesterday to visit a research project conducted by Michigan State University and a local commercial grower. The objective was to encourage commercial growers to raise Heirloom and determine the most productive and most marketable varieties.
The farm we visited has been growing Heirlooms for 3 years he is growing 64 varieties this year on about 7 acres. They are looking at average yield per plant, average marketable yield per plant, and unmarketable yield per plant, alos marketable yield by weight.
The consumer needs to be educated about Heirlooms. The farmer we visited sells most of his in his market on the property. Most consumers are looking for the perfect tomato, red, round and blemish free. Many won't even consider the purples, greens and yellows. The education process has been ongoing and has begun to show some success. Many of his customers are beginning to try some of the "non-traditional" tomatoes and are very positive to the good flavors.
One thing that they are working on is that heirlooms don't transport very well. If picked at their prime they tend to damage easily. They need to be sold to consumers close to their source.
He mulches with black plastic and uses drip irrigation to water. He has a unique staking system to keep the fruits off the ground and expose more of the foliage to the sun.
It was a very interesting couple of hours which concluded with a
tasting.
Some pix
