Recollections of luscious tomatoes come to mind as summer begins today. Mine only show promise, green and small but I’m hopeful.

These are my heirloom black cherry tomatoes from another year. I grew them from saved seed this season. My little neighbors call them explosion tomatoes because they explode with flavor in your mouth.

‘Early Girl’ is a reliable performer here at the coast, especially when we have cool, foggy weather.

And my favorite tomato, the heirloom Cherokee Purple. The Specialty Produce website describes it in this way.

Cherokee Purple tomatoes get their name from their skin, which boasts rich, dusty shades of purple and pink with shoulders that are often green. Its flesh is a deep rose with wet and red, sometimes green, pockets of seed. The Cherokee Purple tomato’s flavor consists of a rich combination of mostly sweet, and some acidic, notes. Despite the relative sweetness of the tomato its flavor is in no way saccharine. Rather, it is balanced, complex, and slightly smoky.

I hope your summer begins pleasantly and unfolds gloriously.

Homegrown tomatoes, home grown tomatoes.
Wha'd life be without homegrown tomatoes?
Only two things money can't buy—
That's true love and homegrown tomatoes.
—John Denver, Home Grown Tomatoes