Just before leaving home a few days ago for my Vermont vacation, I picked my first mortgage lifter tomato, and carefully packed it away for the trip north. Not having a scale handy, I’m guessing the weight at least a pound and a half, maybe two. It was easily the biggest tomato I’ve ever held in my hands; I’ve never grown one even half this size.

Mortgage lifters were named in the 1930s, reportedly by a radiator repairman who crossbred tomatoes in hopes of developing the biggest tomatoes in town. When he succeeded, he began selling his plants for one dollar each and paid off his mortgage in six years. One dollar each! That one dollar would be equivalent to $16.12 in 2010 dollars!

I love my heirloom tomatoes, but would I pay $16.12 for a single plant? (With my tomato growing track record, not likely.)

Mortgage Lifters are easy to grow, indeterminate plants that just grow, and grow and grow. The tomatoes are sweet, not acidic, with very few seeds and are perfect for slicing. I used six-foot wood stakes to support my heirlooms, requiring use of a step ladder to pound into the ground. Mortgage lifter vines must be well-tied to support the large fruit. This plant, along with the three other heirlooms that share a raised bed filled with compost and cow manure, are the full height of the stakes now. The mortgage lifter plant is laden with fruit and I’m hoping for a great crop.

Although strangely shaped, my first mortgage lifter was a beautiful tomato, deserving of a special, but simple recipe.

This is a beautiful summer salad, utilizing  heirloom tomatoes from the garden or farmers market, fresh basil, sweet corn and an aged sheep cheese.

The cheese I used was Bonnieview Farm’s Coomersdale, a semi-hard sheep cheese, similar in flavor to a pecorino. It’s made from a recipe originally from the Pyrennes. Bonnieview Farm is a 400-acre sheep dairy here in Craftsbury, Vermont, right down the road from where I’m staying for a couple of weeks.

More on Bonnieview Farm, its cheeses and sheep later—for now, here’s a simple and delicious summer salad to enjoy.

Mortgage Lifter Tomato, Corn and Sheep Cheese Salad

• 1 or 2 large heirloom tomatoes (mortgage lifter was perfect, but I’ve had this salad made with three or four different heirlooms on one plate)
• fresh basil
• 1 ear steamed sweet corn
• olive oil
• white wine vinegar
• salt and pepper

Slice tomatoes about a half inch in thickness and arrange on a platter. Cut the corn from the cob and sprinkle on top of the tomatoes. Chop the basil and layer on the tomatoes and corn. Grate or shave the cheese on top and drizzle with olive oil and vinegar. Season with salt and pepper and enjoy.

It’s best served with all ingredients at room temperature.

What’s your favorite heirloom tomato recipe?