Tim Stark, an accidental tomato farmer, began growing tomatoes in 1996 and now operates on 12 acres in Pennsylvania. He transports a wide selection of tomatoes to upscale New York restaurants. Stark emphasizes that ugly tomatoes, which may split or crack, often provide the best flavor. In his first year, Stark was fortunate to have a bountiful crop of around 60 varieties, capturing the interest of both restaurants and customers. His initial success allowed him to continue farming, and he now enjoys recognition in the culinary world.
Stark trucked 100 varieties of tomatoes from his farm in Pennsylvania to the Union Square market in Manhattan. His tomatoes are sliced and diced and stacked on dinner plates of the finest restaurants in New York.
Stark tells NPR that it's the ugly tomatoes—the ones that tend to split and crack and get beaten up a lot—that taste the best. 'The uglier, the better,' he says.
In 1996, he started growing tomatoes on a whim, growing several thousand plants in his fourth-floor walk-up. That's when tomatoes took over his life, as he describes in his new book, Heirloom.
Stark considers himself lucky because his first year was surprisingly smooth. 'We had an incredible crop of, say, 60 varieties of tomatoes.' He notes that no one was growing that kind of variety at that time.
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