Tomato Cream Cheese Bagel (Provided photo — Yvona Fast)

“There are only two things that money can’t buy — that’s true love and home-grown tomatoes.”

— John Denver

In our North Country, August begins the season for home-grown tomatoes.

If you’ve only eaten tomatoes at a restaurant or bought tomatoes at the supermarket, you’re missing out. They do not come close to the flavor of home-grown tomatoes. In fact, one problem with institutional food is all of their tomatoes are shipped in and refrigerated. That is why I take my tomatoes out of the salads at restaurants and other eateries.

Tomatoes originated in Mexico and spread around the world in the 1700s. Today, there are millions of varieties of hybrid and heirloom tomatoes! When Mom was gardening, she used to get a catalog, Totally Tomatoes. One of her favorite varieties was the Russian Galina (an early-season, prolific yellow-orange cherry tomato with great flavor and texture.) Other short-season tomatoes Mom grew were the Early Girl (a round hybrid variety), the Juliet, a sweet, juicy plum-shaped tomato resembling a Roma, and the sweet-spicy Brandywine heirloom. Sungold is another popular variety of ultra-sweet, fast-ripening cherry tomatoes that continues producing through the summer.

My gardener-friend Paul Gutman, who sells some of his surplus produce at a farm stand on Averyville Road, says that there is a big difference between hybrid varieties of tomatoes and heritage or heirloom varieties. According to Paul, the most popular commercial variety is Jet Star. They are round, red, and travel well. But they don’t compare in flavor and texture to heirloom tomatoes.

There are hundreds if not thousands of heirloom varieties. Not all are red; some are yellow, some orange, some a dark brown. Others are green when ripe. And not all are round. In fact, some are just plain ugly — but their flavor is superb.

Paul does not buy seeds from catalogs — he saves the seeds from his heirloom tomatoes to start next spring. One of his favorite heirlooms is the Cherokee, which was grown in Monticello, New York, by Thomas Jefferson. Another is a yellow tomato, Lemon Boy.

Kids and grown-ups alike love the little tomatoes that you can pop in your mouth like candy. The larger tomatoes are great sliced on sandwiches or chopped into salads.

We no longer grow tomatoes, but a second-best is to get ’em from a local farmstand or the farmers market. And whatever you do, never refrigerate them.

Straight off the vine from your garden or local grower, homegrown August heritage tomatoes come in all colors, shapes and sizes. They need little tampering. Use them in all types of salads and sandwiches because — as John Denver asks — “What’d life be without homegrown tomatoes?”

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Easy Tomato Salad

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Ingredients:

1 large tomato

1 medium cucumber

1 / 2 onion, halved and sliced thin

1 / 2 teaspoon salt

1 Tablespoon plain Greek yogurt or sour cream

Directions:

Wash and slice or dice the tomato; wash and slice cucumber thin. Peel and slice the onion into thin half-moon rings. Add salt and a dash of pepper; stir in the sour cream.

Allow flavors to mingle 15 or 20 minutes before serving. Serves 1 – 2.

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Tomato Cream Cheese Bagel

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Ingredients:

1 bagel

1-2 Tablespoons cream cheese

Half a dozen or more cherry tomatoes, halved

Salt and pepper

Basil leaves and/or sliced black olives, optional

Directions:

Halve and toast bagel. Spread with cream cheese. Top with halved cherry tomatoes or sliced tomatoes. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Garnish with fresh chopped basil and/or olives or feta, if desired. Serves 1 or 2.

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Author of the award-winning cookbook “Garden Gourmet: Fresh & Fabulous Meals from your Garden, CSA or Farmers’ Market,” Yvona Fast lives in Lake Clear and has two passions: Writing and cooking. She can be found at www.yvonafast.com and reached at yvonawrite@yahoo.com or on Twitter: @yvonawrites.