Prima Donna Heirloom Tomato Plant Produces ONE Fruit

Every day Foodie treks out to the veggie patch to munch superlative tiny round orange "cherry" tomatoes right off the vine and every day she glances at the magnificent outflung leafy green arms of her "Brandywine" tomato plant. It's huge, healthy, exuberant, and bearing ONE and only one fruit about 3 inches in diameter. The typical differently colored ribs of said heirloom fruit are starting to show.   Foodie hovers over the one fruit of the damned thing's loins wondering whether to set up a scaffold around it, or insure it through Lloyd's of London,  or place a net under it, in case of severe wind or whatnot from Mother Nature.
Now the words of one vendor at the local Farmers Market begin to make sense--"Those pesky heirlooms are a real pain to grow...." 
Hey--it's the desert here! Be grateful you have anything at all,  Foodie ! ( Right?) ( Maybe we didn't add enough compost....)

Comments

[KathyF]

I'm not sure who it was who said, there's a reason they don't grow heirlooms any more...

[Foodie]

Was it Yogi?

[Cynthia Clampitt]

Maybe it is because you're in the desert -- but it is likely also related to the reason heirlooms of all kinds have faded in popularity. However, if you'd like someone to discuss it with, Aggie Nehmzow of Chicago, also known as the Tomato Lady, grows 75 varieties of heirloom tomato in her small, urban backyard, and speaks to many local groups and schools on how and why to do it. (I've met Aggie through Slow Food and Culinary Historians in Chicago -- she's very active in area food groups.) If you'd like, I can get her contact info for you -- though you may already know and be talking with hundreds of people who are growing heirloom tomatoes -- but just in case you don't, I would be glad to get her contact info for you.

[Foodie]

Yes, please do send/post Tomato Lady's info! Thanks.

[KathyF]

You know what? I remember getting a book from the Albuquerque library that was all about tomatoes. Had some interesting stories in there. Maybe you could find it? It was worth it, for the stories alone.

It might have been Didi Emmons, author of Vegetarian Planet, or maybe she was talking about quinoa.

[Macky]

From what you've described I would say your soil probably has too much nitrogen and to little potassium. Both minerals are needed but its a tricky combination. Potassium helps the tomato plant bear more fruit and nitrogen gives it its robust leafiness.

[Jilara]

Different tomatos are better adapted for different conditions. I've had heirlooms that staggered under a load of tomatos, and one ("Big Red") that had *one* tomato. My worst bearers have generally been hybrids, though. It's soil (pH, nutrients, trace elements) and climate, along with variety, I'm sure.

[Foodie]

Thanks all for your info--can you suggest any heirlooms that are bountiful just in general?

[Gardening aid]

I've just taken over the garden of my parents as my mother died. In the garden have been some vegetables like tomatoes, onions, cucumbers and basil growing yet. There are also tulips and roses. Do you have any suggetstions what I could grow there else?

Ken