Green zebra tomatoes look great on the plate

Zebras have stripes not to camouflage against hyenas or lions, which can only make out the stripes when very close, but to confuse attacking flies. Horses wearing zebra-pattern covers are attacked only one-fourth as much as unstriped horses. Humans have striped skin as well, but it is only visible under ultraviolet light. We know about striped human skin thanks to the observations of German dermatologist Alfred Blaschko, who noticed that often his patients’ skin eruptions such as rashes and moles followed along invisible lines. These stripes are formed when skin cells divide and expand.

So if zebras and gardeners have stripes, why not tomatoes? Enter the Green Zebra tomato (Solanum lycopersicum).

Green Zebra tomatoes ripen to a chartreuse green with lime-green or orange stripes. These colorful tomatoes are on the small side, about an inch or two across. They are borne in clusters that ripen one tomato at a time for a long harvest season. As each tomato starts to ripen, it changes to more of a yellow or orange, still with stripes. These are a hit with kids in the garden.

Not only do Green Zebra tomatoes look great on the plate, they also have a distinctive old-fashioned mix of tangy and sweet taste that is a bit astringent.

A group of zebras, called a “zeal of zebras,” needs grass for support, but Green Zebra tomatoes need poles or other strong supports. This is because as indeterminate tomatoes, they keep growing all season, and unpruned vines can reach over seven feet tall. You can prune the plants to keep them shorter.

This is a very high-yielding tomato that will grow crops from midseason until killed by frost in late fall. It is possible to direct seed Green Zebra tomatoes right into the garden after the soil has warmed up. Tomato seeds germinate best when the soil temperature stays above 70 degrees F. You may find that direct-seeded tomatoes grow fast and often catch up with transplanted tomato plants.

Seeds forGreen Zebra tomatoes are widely available including from Seed Savers Exchange (www.seedsavers.org) or High Mowing Seeds (76 Quarry Road, Wolcott, VT 05680, phone 802-472-6174).

To start them indoors four to six weeks before your last frost, use a good potting mix and give them lots of light either from a window or under grow lights. Plant tomatoes in rich garden soil in direct sunlight. If using transplants, bury them fairly deep so that roots will grow from the buried stalks. You can even lay the tomato plants sideways so more of the stalk will root. Ideally your soil should have a pH between 5.5 and 7.0.

Water tomatoes at least once a week if there is no rain. Avoid overhead watering, which can encourage disease, and simply apply water to the base of the plants. If any tomatoes develop blossom end rot, it can be treated by giving the plants a feeding of calcium. Make your own calcium supplement by soaking eggshells in water for several days and using the strained water on your tomato plants.

Plant Green Zebra tomatoes and you will be rewarded with delicious, uniquely beautiful tomatoes for salads, sandwiches or just popped right into your mouth. Green Zebra tomatoes make colorful sauces and salsa, where of course their stripes disappear, but like the stripes on your skin, you will know they are still there.