When someone mentions “Transylvania,” you probably think of vampires. So it might surprise you that I think of tomatoes.

Recently, Seed Savers Exchange was offering an heirloom tomato for sale called the “Emmy.” These tomatoes are yellow in color, and said to be full of tomato flavor.

And yes, the tomato originally grew in Transylvania. The seeds were carried into Germany toward the end of World War II by Emmy, a native Transylvanian. In 1979, Emmy gave some seeds to an American gardener who has been growing them in Oregon ever since.

Seven years ago, she kindly gave seeds to the Seed Savers Exchange, and this heirloom tomato is now available to the public. I’ll certainly be buying them.

Heirloom tomatoes are sometimes called “antique.” They are not hybrids (the result of breeding between two different types of tomatoes), but open-pollinated, with both “parents” having the same DNA.

Heirlooms almost always self-pollinate, so the resulting seeds produce plants identical (called “true to type”) to the parents. Repeated collecting, sowing and passing of these seeds down to succeeding generations results in heirloom plants.

Heirloom tomatoes have become increasingly popular among gardeners due to their unique qualities, including distinctive flavors, colors and shapes. Others grow them because of their link to times-gone-by — their history.

There is concern that heirloom plants, including tomatoes, will disappear because of the availability of hybrid seeds and plants. Growing and collecting the seed is one way to prevent their demise.

Heirloom tomatoes are grown outdoors only in season and generally do not keep well. (The exception to this are those grown hydroponically. I am presently growing Grandpa’s Minnesota Heirloom Cherry Tomato.)

Enjoy these tomatoes while you can, or, can and freeze them. (Never refrigerate any type of tomato because it ruins the texture and the taste.)

Since there are so many types of heirloom tomatoes one cannot help but to find favorites, some for making sauce, some for eating fresh, some for making tomato paste.

You can purchase grafted heirlooms from Territorial Seed Company. In single grafted tomatoes the heirloom tomato plant is grafted onto a non-heirloom plant which has greater disease resistance. An example of this is the heirloom Legend.

There are even double-grafted tomatoes, including Brandywine and Grande Marrano, which are grafted onto non-heirloom tomato plants.

You can find the seeds in catalogs from Seed Savers Exchange, Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds or Burpee.

Write to Carol Ann at carolann2@roadrunner.com.