Scott,

Heirlooms often have irregular shapes, it's part of why they "fell out of fashion" - they weren't consistent and easy to stack on store shelves. I grow heirlooms all the time and my best advice is to make absolutely sure you have enough lime in the soil - keeps them from getting blossom end rot, keep them watered - if they dry out or wilt between waterings it stresses them horribly, and make sure they are well-fed. Tomatoes are very heavy feeders. If you are an organic grower this means LOTS of manure and compost, if not it means a high quality tomato food. I have never heard about cutting back on watering. Any stress you put on your tomatoes makes them prone to disease even with strong varieties. Many heirlooms are NOT disease-resistant, which is another reason they aren't used for mass production.

My rewards for following my own advice? Three ribbons - one for each year I entered them at the State Fair. :)

-Marie