Brandywine. Speckled Roman. Chocolate Stripe. No, this isn’t the new Martha Stewart paint collection. These are just a few of the many juicy heirloom tomatoes that Carl Hills grows at Kimball Fruit Farm in Pepperell, MA.

You might ask “What exactly is an heirloom tomato?” “How are they different from regular tomatoes?” “How do they differ from each other and what’s the best way to prepare and eat them?” We had these very questions which is why we consulted an expert. There’s nobody more qualified than Carl Hills to answer these questions. We visited him recently at his farm, on the kind of summer day you dream about, to get a walking tour of his acres of heirlooms. Watch our new Heirloom Tomato video. Carl is fascinating and will teach you things about heirlooms you’ll take with you forever. And be sure to watch Carl’s profile to learn about him and his family farm.

What you’ll see when you watch the video is that heirloom varieties cover a lot of territory. You’ll find tomatoes as small as a golf ball and as large as your head (seriously). Red ones, green ones, yellow and orange ones. Some perfectly round or oval. Others kind of bulbous and funky looking.  Cut into any of them and it’ll make you sigh.  So beautiful, juicy and absolutely delicious.  Makes you wish summer would never end.

We hope you enjoy the video as much as we enjoyed our time with Carl at Kimball Fruit Farm. It was truly a memorable experience and we learned so much. Thank you, Carl.

Here are some great ways to put your heirlooms to good use:

• Tomatoes 3 Ways (roasted w/ gratin top, bruschetta in a parmesan tuile cup & simply seasoned)
• Make a Lovely Tomato Rose Garnish (one of our most popular videos!)
• Learn to Core a Tomato so you don’t waste a thing
• Make Roasted Tomatoes you can use for weeks on pizzas, in salads, sauces, etc.

If you get the chance, visit Kimball Fruit Farm sometime. Kimball’s is to tomatoes what the Willy Wonka Chocolate Factory is to candy. It’s a tomato lover’s fantasy. In addition to tomatoes, peaches, corn and berries, they have acres and acres of apple trees that will be ripe and juicy around mid-September.

Thanks to Chris Crandall from In Season for introducing us to Carl.

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Is August the most incredible month for farm fresh ingredients or what? We feel obliged to stuff ourselves with blueberries, corn on the cob, squash, tomatoes – whatever we can get our hands on that’s fresh off the vine. Because, as we all know, this wonderful window of time is sadly short-lived.

The question is…what do you do with all these wonderful farm fresh ingredients? The answer is…not much. Simple preparation is all it takes to heighten the flavors of your fruit, produce and even farm fresh milk and cream.

We are thrilled to bring you some great ideas from two talented heroes: this year’s Best of Boston Personal Chef JJ Gonson as well as Veteran Personal Chef and Nutritionist Polly Crowninshield.

JJ helps you get started by walking you through the Farmers’ Market and showing you what to look for when Buying Squash and when Selecting Your Stone Fruits (plums, peaches, etc.). She then treats you to some recipes and techniques you’ll carry with you from here on out – Kosher Dill Pickles, Simple Squash Sauté, a lesson on How to Freeze Blueberries (so you can make heavenly blueberry pancakes in the middle of winter), and Roasted Tomatoes for your pizzas, pastas, or whatever!

In the dairy category, we are proud to bring you Polly Crowninshield who shows you how easy it is to make your own Yogurt and Creme Fraiche. If you’ve never tried Creme Fraiche, you are truly missing out on something special. And since it only takes 2 ingredients to make, we suggest you get thee to a dairy or the supermarket to get yourself some quality cream and buttermilk so you can make and experience your first heavenly batch. Thanks to Polly for her hospitality, for teaching us something new and healthy, and for showing us her wonderful backyard goldfish pond.

We would like to thank our new best friend, Chris Crandall, from In Season for introducing us to Polly. Chris is working with farms all over New England to bring their produce, eggs, dairy and pastas to city folk like ourselves. To us, it’s like Christmas getting a delivery from In Season. Doorbell rings, you run down, nothing there but a bag of goodies. You can expect to see some more great hook-ups from Chris. We don’t want to give anything away but make sure you come back to the site often to see what we bring you from the farms!

We would also like to thank the Central Square Farmers’ Market for all the farms who let us bother them with our endless questions. We encourage you to support your local farmers! Doesn’t get any fresher than what they bring you – unless you grow your own.

Savor the summer and all its sun-kissed fruit and produce, my friends!