Southern Indiana roadside farm stands and stores selling locally grown produce have an overabundance of tomatoes right now, with all sorts of varieties — yellow and red, hybrid and heirloom, cherry and Roma — overflowing from cardboard boxes at rural stands.
“In talking to our vendors, it’s a good tomato year,” said Bobbi Boos, who oversees stock at Bloomington’s Farm Stop Collective.
This plethora of tomatoes begs the question: Why so many? Hot summer temperatures and ample rain.
One grower’s view
Chester Lehman is harvesting tomatoes from 600 plants at his Olde Lane Orchard in Daviess County.
The key to big-scale success, Lehman said, is a hot summer, periodic rains and planting hybrid tomato varieties that are heat-tolerant and able to withstand dry spells. Flavor-packed heirloom varieties are harder to grow and are not faring as well this summer.
His 2026 bumper crop contains two kinds of hybrid tomatoes: BHN 589, a high-yield flavorful beefsteak that resists cracking and BHN 871, an orange low-acid slicing tomato that sometimes weighs close to a pound.
He said it’s been a great summer for his tomatoes and for his fruit trees as well. He has tomatoes in the kitchen ready for canning “if I can ever get to them,” he said.
What’s the difference between hybrid and heirloom tomatoes?
Hybrids are grown from seeds that are crossbred for high yield and disease resistance. Their flavor is mild. They are bright red or orange and round with thick skins. They have a long shelf life and are durable for transporting.
Heirlooms are grown from open-pollinated seeds saved year to year. They are more prone to skin cracking and disease such as blight. They are not uniformly round and can be various shades, including purple and dark green. They have complex flavors and a short shelf life.
Does the high supply mean lower prices?
It depends where you do your shopping. A random sweep around farm stops, roadside stands and locally run stores around Bloomington had prices ranging from $1 per tomato to $4 per pound. Prices and selection were best at roadside stands that were often unmanned. Most had honor cash boxes and took cash app payments.
Should tomatoes be stored in the refrigerator?
No. It makes them mushy and robs them of flavor. Store tomatoes on the counter, stem side down.
The ultimate question: Is a tomato a vegetable?
Botanically, it’s the fruit of a flowering plant. But since they aren’t sweet like a traditional fruit and are served as part of savory dishes, some consider a tomato a vegetable. An 1893 U.S. Supreme Court decision in a Tariff Act case determined the tomato is a vegetable.
Here’s what the ruling said: “As an article of food on our tables, whether baked or boiled, or forming the basis of soup, they are used as a vegetable, as well when ripe as when green. This is the principal use to which they are put.”
What should I do with all of these tomatoes?
We suggest making a tomato pie.
Laura’s tomato pie recipe
Ingredients
- One pie shell
- Four large tomatoes, peeled and thick sliced, salted and drained for a long time in a colander and then squeezed of all juice
- ½ cup mayo
- ½ cup sour cream or plain Greek yogurt
- 1 cup freshly grated cheddar cheese
- 1 cup freshly grated Mozzarella cheese
- 10 fresh basil leaves, thinly cut
- Green onions, very thinly sliced
- Black pepper, to taste
Instructions
Bake the pie shell. Make sure the tomatoes are juiceless and place them in the baked shell, layered with basil and onions. Mix together the mayo, sour cream/yogurt and cheese. Spread over the top to the edge on all sides. Top with fresh-ground pepper. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes or so. Let cool completely on a wire rack before cutting.
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FPI News reporter Laura Lane covers pressing issues throughout the state and how local communities are tackling those challenges. Reach her at or laura.lane@fpinews.org
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