Our tomato garden is almost at the tipping point — the point at which the rate of ripe fruit outpaces our ability to consume them. Truth be told, we are giving away bowls full of colorful cherry tomatoes every couple of days to eager friends and eating garden-grown bruschetta every third day (non local wheat…haven’t figured out how I’m gonna fix that dilemma).

We planted seven starts (4-inchers) on April 1st, and one more on May 7th (see photo to right, taken at planting). I knew that come mid-summer we would be awash in too many tomatoes, but I wanted the variety, we had the room, and there are certainly more worries in the world than too many home-grown tomatoes (though by the end of picking the onslaught of ripe cherry tomatoes on Tuesday I was starting to get annoyed with how darn many were ripe and had to be picked!).

The cherry tomatoes (a Sun Gold and a Sweet 100) were the first to set fruit, and oh goodness did they set fruit! For the past month we’ve had a steady stream of all-you-can-eat cherry tomatoes (the first full harvest went straight into my famous pasta salad).

For the past two weeks, the first heirloom Caspian Pink has been taunting with impending ripeness. It didn’t disappoint and was lovely with fresh basil, mozzarella, salt, pepper, and (Ken’s secret ingredient) Paul Newman’s light balsamic. This week we expect several more (photo to the left). There are probably 30 tomatoes on this plant right now, which surprised a friend of ours who had grown relatively unproductive heirlooms in the past (I’ll blame his green thumb, not the heirloom varietals!).

The Early girl was actually one of the last to set fruit, but each fruit ripens much more quickly than the larger heirlooms. Plus, it’s a short little plant that is almost hidden behind the vigorous growth of the Sweet 100, so I’m surprised when I see fully ripe tomatoes hiding back there.

The one I am on countdown for is the Cherokee Purple. The plant growth was much slower; it’s still pretty short and skinny compared to it’s neighbor the gargantuan Caspian Pink. It’s set out a good amount of fruit, and, like the Caspian, is slow to ripen.

The beefsteak and brandywine (non-heirloom) were so slow to set fruit, but they now have a hefty amount of green fruit on the vine. The Brazilian Beauty, which got the late planting, is a tiny little plant at about 3′ tall, but now has a half dozen neat small, oval tomatoes that are beginning to ripen. I planted it late to prove a friend wrong — he was insistent that April 1st was too early and our plants (already huge and leafy by Cinco de Mayo) were gonna suck. So I planted one late just to compare its vegetation growth and fruit output. He was wrong.

If you only grow one tomato plant, I recommend the highly productive and über-yummy Sun Gold. (See photo to the right.) This cherry tomato variety kicks ass. Each branch puts out at least a dozen tomatoes, the plant is spindly and needs a tall trellis or cage to keep it’s spidery vines off the ground. It would do great in a container, especially if you were handy enough to hook it up to a little drip system on a self-timer to keep ‘er well watered. The little tomatoes are like candy, so sweet and with wonderful complex flavor. When ripe, they turn a bright bright orange and a slight tug releases them from the vine into your hand. They are everything a home-grown tomato is supposed to be.

Time for a salad!