You can get yourself a tomato at the grocery store any day in any month throughout the year, if you can even call them tomatoes.
Those who grew up on real home-grown tomatoes know better. The sweet, juicy, burst of tomato goodness right from the garden is simply unequalled. Pick them warm right off the plant and enjoy, especially if you brought the salt shaker out with you. They are a meal all by themselves.
But grocery store tomatoes? Why aren't they even close to the real thing?
A scientist from the University of Florida thinks grocery store tomatoes can actually be made good.
Harry Klee says tomato flavor has been neglected for decades. That's because growers are paid by the pound and they want tomatoes that grow fast, last a long time, and resist disease.
To ship tomatoes long distances, you do need all those things, but Klee thinks that science can create a variety of tomato that will taste good, too. He thinks a good grocery store tomato is five years away.
To that end, he has collected and grown lots of heirloom tomato varieties that taste fantastic, but maybe have a low yield or are hard to grow. Klee wants to use these varieties to develop new kinds of tomatoes that will be grocery store gems: easy to grow, high yields and great-tasting.
Thousands of people are helping in this effort by growing his new tomatoes. If you have a garden, you can be part his research and grow some of his best candidates. Go to: https://hos.ifas.ufl.edu/kleelab/new-garden-cultivars/
