A vegetable by any other name

I have always liked Farmer's Markets. Although I am not a vegetarian by any stretch of the imagination, I don't think I have met a vegatable I did not like. Going out to the Joliet Farmer's Market with JJCs Chef Michael McGreal opened up vegetables that I have never even seen before. Like Petit pan squash...I have yet to try them, but they are on my list. I took the opportunity of my trips to Joliet and to the New Lenox Farmer's Market to buy veggies you don't find in a store, like suntan peppers. The idea is that suntan peppers are left on the vine to ripen. So, a green pepper might not be green all the way around. Places where the sun hit the pepper directly, for example, turn orange or red. I bought one or two of these. They taste the same, but psychologically, I cannot bring myself to buy loose, non vine ripened vegetables, especially tomatoes, now that I know what I know.
During my trip to the Joliet market, Chef McGreal told me about the modern ripening of tomatoes. Basically tomatoes are picked when they are green (which is very tasty to fry up, but I digress) and then brought to a warehouse, where they are chemically ripened with a gas. The gas changed the color of the tomatoe, but not the taste...which is why the tomatoes you buy at a store do not taste the same as the ones in your garden.
I am intrigued by heirloom tomatoes and am going to begin looking for them. I will let you know what I think when I find them.