CHERRY TOMATOES
More small-fruited tomatoes, about an ounce each. Most cherries do well in the desert, and even thrive in pots. Try:
Aunt Ruby's German Green Cherry- GREEN
Cherry, 1", 1 oz. Pale greenish yellow, with dark green shoulders and a pink blush on the blossom end. Nearly neon green gel around the seeds. Superb, fruity, sweet, slightly spicy, perfect balance of acid and sugar. Soft and melting, buttery texture, juicy as a melon. Best for fresh eating. Indeterminate, regular leaf, low yield. Green when ripe, amber when overripe. Mid-season crop. A selection front Aunt Ruby's German Green Tomato (an esteemed heirloom on the Slow Food USA Ark of Taste). First offered by Aravaipa Heirlooms in 2012.
Beam's Yellow Pear - YELLOW
Pear, 1½" long, 1 oz. Yellow. Mild but excellent flavor. Indeterminate, large bushy plants, regular leaf. Mid-season crop (71-75 days). Good container plant. This strain of Yellow Pear won taste trials in 1998 at Seed Savers Exchange. Use whole or slice in half lengthwise for salads. First offered by Aravaipa Heirlooms in 2010.
Margaret Best Yellow "Tommy Toe" - YELLOW
Cherry, 3/4" to 1". Translucent yellow skin with yellow flesh, 3 locules. Acidic and mildly sweet. Indeterminate, early season, regular leaf variety. This has proven to be quite dry-heat tolerant and extremely prolific in Arizona's desert scrub! Very rare heirloom from RAFT's Chestnut Nation. Grown for years by Margaret Best of Haywood County, North Carolina (mom of Dr. Bill Best of the Sustainable Mountain Agriculture Center in Berea, Kentucky). First offered by Aravaipa Heirlooms in 2010.
Negro Azteca - BLACK
Cherry, 1 oz. Purple-black. Sweet, complex flavor. Indeterminate, mid-season crop (75 days), Prolific. Said to be an Aztec heirloom. Uncommon variety. First offered by Aravaipa Heirlooms in 2010.
Nichols Heirloom - RED
Cherry, ½"-1½", 1 oz. Pink. Tasty. Indeterminate, prolific. Great volunteer. Produces until frost. Tolerates desert heat, drought, and poor soil. Likes full sun! Heirloom originally from Tucson. This was "a Tucson family project involving seed saving and replanting for over 40 years." First offered by Aravaipa Heirlooms in 2010.
Punta Banda - RED
Cherry, 1"-1½". Red. Tart. Meaty, thick-skinned. Good fresh or sun dried. Fleshy. Semi-determinate, bushy, prolific despite heat stress, water stress, and poor soil. Mid-season crop. From the Sonoran Desert, from a plant found growing on a footpath on the Punta Banda Peninsula in Baja California, Mexico. First offered by Aravaipa Heirlooms in 2010.
