We spoke last week of Mr. Custis and the remarkable Turkish Cucumber that he received from the notable English collector Peter Collinson.
Several years later, in 1743, Mr. Collinson wrote to him about another rare fruit that was first making its appearance in English gardens: “Apples of Love are very much used In Italy too putt when Ripe into their Brooths & soops giving it a pretty Tart Tast. A Lady Just come from Leghorn sayes She thinks it gives an Agreeagle Tartness & Relish to them & she Likes it Much. They Call it Tamiata. I never yet Try’d the Experiment but I think to do It.”
The tomato, as it is better known today, has since been adopted by several notable gardeners about town and we have recently received seed to make the experiment ourselves.
We have consulted Robert Squibb’s The Gardeners Calendar written for the Carolina’s in 1787 and his advice is to support them with sticks: “Your tomatoes will now begin to run: they, being of a procumbent growth, should have sticks to support them.”
Fruit supported on top of table
Taking the hint from his rather meager instructions we have constructed a stick table that first supports the stems as they grow through the lattice and then, after the stems have fallen back onto the table due to the great weight of foliage and fruit, it supports and displays the fruit for ease of gathering.
It is true that some of the earliest fruit forms beneath the table but it is only a few and they can be reached without undo inconveniency while the bulk of the crop is then held on top of the table where they can be conveniently harvested.
Geeta says
Great, Tomatoes are one thing that has eluded us so far, somehow can’t keep them from splitting. We’ve got broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, peas and lettuce in now, with green beans, cucumbers and cherry tomatoes (we can grow those!) on deck. Good luck with the garden this year!
Two Questions:
What type of shrub or tree do you get the sticks from?
Are there plans out there anywhere on constructing these? I would like to create them for my own colonial style garden.
Thank you.
Dear Gary,
I received the seed for the Amazon tomato from the noted food historian, Dr. William Woys Weaver. He obtained the seed, through a friend, from the seed bank in Gatersleben, Germany who, in turn, obtained the seed from the Mexican national collection in the 1950’s. The name “Amazon” apparently originated with the Mexican collection. One may suppose that it was so named because the original source was from that area of South America but that I have not been able to ascertain. The shape, however, accords very well with the imagery we have for the 18th century fruit and likely represents the form of the first “multicell” tomatoes.
Cordially yours,
Wesley Greene
Gary Bennett says
Thank you so much for all of your help today. And telling my wife and I about your 18th century tomatoes. I have tried to look up information on the Amazon variety but have been unsuccessful. Were they original seeds from a long lost Heirloom variety?