PICK OF THE PATCH

Amy Goldman has grown 1,000 varieties of tomatoes in the past five years. Here are some of her favorites, with comments from her new book, "The Heirloom Tomato."

Black Cherry: The flavor is "excellent; fruity and well balanced."

Wild Sweetie: "Tastes like candy; kids go wild for it."

Matt's Wild Cherry: "Savory, fruity, juicy."

Blondkoepfchen: "This yellow tomato is incomparable."

Costoluto Genovese: "Fair to good, acidic."

Zapotec: "Surprisingly good."

White Beauty: This pale yellow fruit is "excellent," with a soft, meaty texture.

Burpee's Gold: "Honey sweet."

Aunt Gertie's Gold: "One of the greats."

Red Rose: "Very sweet and rich ... as good as a tomato gets."

Pruden's Purple: "Compares favorably to Brandywine but is an earlier and heavier cropper."

McClintock's Big Pink: "Far more productive" than Brandywine.

Great White: "Better than all other whites."

Red Brandywine: "Perfection, high sugar, high acid."

Antique Roman: "Beefy, savory."

Super Italian Paste: "Meaty and juicy."

Purple Russian: "A tomato worth living for."

Hungarian Heart: "Savory."

Japanese Oxheart: "Without peer."

Goldman lists 81 specialty seed sources in North America, including Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds (1-417-924-8917, www.rareseeds.com); Johnny's Selected Seeds (1-877-564-6697, www.johnnyseeds.com); Tomato Growers Supply Co. (1-888-478-7333, www.tomatogrowers.com); Totally Tomatoes (1-800-345-5977, www.totallytomato.com); Seed Savers (1-563-382-5990, www.seedsavers.org), and D. Landreth Seed Co. (1-800-654-2407, www.landrethseeds.com).