Wabi sabi tomatoes

Are you familiar with wabi-sabi? It is a traditional Japanese view that, in part, accepts imperfection. I lovingly refer to my often unusual looking vegetables as franken-fruit. Thankfully, my perfectly imperfect tomatoes are often as delicious as their blemish free counterparts.

Did you know twenty percent to forty percent of food is wasted because it doesn’t conform to the aesthetic standards of the food industry or the consumers? An interesting article by Berkeley Energy & Resources Collaborative asks “where do the stubby cucumbers and knobby carrots go?” Nowhere apparently. Small cucumbers, bananas that don’t curve the right way and apples with protrusions “never make it to store shelves”. Check out their article on the ugly and the beautiful. http://berc.berkeley.edu/ugly-beautiful-nutritious/

If your tomatoes look like they have undergone major surgery, then been stitched back together you might be dealing with zippering. This develops when flower parts stick to young fruit and it typically happens when fruit set occurs during cooler temperatures. Yes, it’s been hot lately, but it’s probably your larger fruit that is exhibiting this weird manifestation. Meaning -- it was a lot cooler when the fruit set back in June.

Concentric and vertical cracking of tomatoes is due to fluctuating soil moisture levels. And, tends to happen just as the tomatoes are beginning to ripen and your desire to eat said tomato is rapidly increasing. See photos of concentric and vertical cracks in this online article from North Carolina Cooperative Extension: https://pender.ces.ncsu.edu/2013/06/what-causes-tomatoes-to-crack/. Also in this article, the author states “side splitting and cracking up are terms you want to hear in reference to a joke you just made, not about your tomatoes”. Isn’t that the truth?

The big question is: can you eat these perfectly imperfect tomatoes? If your problem is due to zippering, then most likely. They just look a little strange. If a small completely enclosed hole occurs along the zipper, this is fine too.

If your problem is cracking or splitting, your chances of enjoying the tomato have diminished a bit. If the splitting tomatoes are ripe or close to it, then harvest immediately. If the green tomatoes are the ones affected, they will most likely rot before they ripen. Remove them to the compost pile or make fried green tomatoes: https://lenoir.ces.ncsu.edu/2014/07/what-is-a-green-tomato-unripe-red-or-its-very-own-variety/

In any of the above scenarios, if the tomato starts to develop black spots, soft mushy brown spots, ooze or smell bad, by all means please don’t eat them. Toss the tomatoes into the compost pile to help fertilize next year’s garden. In which case, you could end up with a few volunteer tomato plants along with the fertilizer. I had dozens of surprise tomato plants this year due to my delayed weeding early in the season. Much to my delight, these unexpected plants are performing quite remarkably.

If you are experiencing issues with some of your vegetables, utilize this diagnostic tool to kick start your search for a cure. http://vegetablemdonline.ppath.cornell.edu/

Kelley Rawlsky has an M.S. in horticulture and is the director of Bringing People and Plants Together, an organization dedicated to bringing horticulture education and therapy to the community. For more information: PeopleAndPlantsTogether@gmail.com or follow us on Facebook.

Article originally published in Broomfield Enterprise - Sept 17, 2017