Tomatoes that we grow

Without a doubt, the Pink Brandywine is at the top of our list. It is sometimes confused with the Red Brandywine but has a noticable color difference.

Lower in acid than most tomatoes its full flavor profile make it unbeatable.

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History

The history of the Pink Brandywine tomato traces back to at least the 1800s, with its origins linked to a family in Tennessee who allegedly cultivated and saved its seeds for over 80 years. The variety gained modern prominence in 1982 when Ohio gardener Ben Quisenberry submitted seeds to the Seed Savers Exchange, having received them from Dorris Sudduth Hill of Murfreesboro, Tennessee. This event marked a pivotal moment in the heirloom tomato revival, rescuing the variety from near-extinction and sparking widespread interest among gardeners and chefs.

Although the exact origins remain uncertain, the name "Brandywine" is thought to derive from Brandywine Creek in Chester County, Pennsylvania, where similar tomatoes were first listed in seed catalogs as early as 1889. The Pink Brandywine is now recognized as the original strain of the Brandywine family, prized for its large, pinkish-red fruits, dense flesh, and exceptional flavor, and it stands as a cornerstone of heirloom gardening.

The Amish Paste tomato is an heirloom that we recently started growing and will continue to grow as seedlings and as plants for our needs.

Much like a roma, it has a meaty texture, very few seeds, and a sweet flavor that is milder and less acidic than many other paste tomatoes. While classified as a paste tomato, its excellent eating qualities make it suitable for both fresh consumption as a slicer and for canning, sauce-making, and preserving.

The plants are known for good yields and are best grown with support, such as staking or caging, due to their height and vine structure.

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History

 The Amish Paste tomato is believed to have originated in the 1870s with a group of Amish in Medford, Wisconsin, which is home to the oldest Amish community in the state. Although discovered among the Amish in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, its roots are traced back to Wisconsin. The variety gained wider recognition when Tom Hauch of Heirloom Seeds acquired seeds from the Amish in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, in the early 1980s. It was first distributed nationally in the 1987 edition of the Seed Savers Exchange Yearbook, introduced by Thane Earle of Whitewater, Wisconsin. The variety was later commercialized by Tom Hauch in 1990. It has since become one of the most popular heirloom paste tomatoes, noted for its productivity, sweet flavor, and versatility in cooking.

Cherokee Purple tomatos are a big favorite in the gardens of East Tennessee. Their unique color and vibrant flavor is certainly appreciated.

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History

The Cherokee Purple tomato is an heirloom variety with a history rooted in the Tennessee River Valley, though its exact origins are uncertain. The modern history of the cultivar traces back to 1990 when John D. Green of Sevierville, Tennessee, sent a packet of tomato seeds to Craig LeHoullier, a North Carolina tomato enthusiast and seed saver, along with a handwritten note.

Green stated that he received the seeds from a neighbor, who claimed the seeds had been passed down through her family for over a century and originally came from Cherokee Indians.

LeHoullier, impressed by the tomato's unique flavor and appearance, named the variety "Cherokee Purple" to honor the story and its distinctive dusky red, almost purple coloring.

We came across the Gardener's Delight a few years ago. While not fans of cherry tomatoes, these are just a bit larger and have a wonderous flavor.

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History

 The Gardener’s Delight tomato originated in Germany, where it was first introduced in the 1870s under the name Benary’s Gartenfreude, Hochzucht, which translates to Benary’s Gardeners Delight.
It has also been known by several other names, including “Jung’s Sugar Lump” and the French “Délice du Jardinier,” though its most popular nickname remains “Sugar Lump”.
While long considered an heirloom variety, recent observations have indicated changes in fruit characteristics over time, leading some to question its classification as a true heirloom, though it is still widely recognized as an open-pollinated, non-hybrid variety.
The variety was officially introduced by Ernst Benary in the 1950s and has since become a favorite among gardeners worldwide for its sweet flavor, prolific yields, and reliability.
It has earned the Royal Horticultural Society’s Award of Garden Merit, a recognition reaffirmed after trials in 1998, highlighting its consistent performance and quality

The German Pink became a staple in our garden after we saw how large and tasty they are. It is certainly one to add to your yearly garden assortment.

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History

The German Pink tomato is a Bavarian heirloom variety that traces its origins to the duchy of Bavaria prior to the Franco-Prussian War of 1871, when Germany was divided into various territories. It is believed to have descended from the Brandywine tomato, with generations of seed saving and selective breeding—favoring large fruit or attractive color—leading to the development of distinct varieties with shared ancestry.

The tomato was brought to the United States in 1883 by Michael Ott, the great-grandfather of Diane Ott Whealy, who later co-founded the Seed Savers Exchange. Ott arrived in West Union, Iowa, on November 3, 1883, and is thought to have planted the seeds the following spring, marking the tomato’s debut in America.

This variety, along with 'Grandpa Ott’s’ Morning Glory, became the foundational seed collection for the Seed Savers Exchange, established in 1975 by Whealy and her husband Kent Whealy.

The German Pink tomato is thus celebrated as “tomato number one” or “the tomato that started it all” at Heritage Farm, the organization’s home in Northeast Iowa.

Its introduction helped ignite the heirloom seed movement in the United States, and it remains a prized variety for its large, 1-2 pound, beefsteak fruits with a sweet, balanced flavor, few seeds, and excellent versatility for canning, slicing, juicing, and freezing.

We added the Mortgage Lifter to our yearly tomato planting due to it's large size. Properly cared for, thes tomatoes can grow to be HUGE!

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History

The Mortgage Lifter tomato is an heirloom variety with a storied history originating in West Virginia during the Great Depression. It is most famously associated with Marshall Cletis Byles, known as "Radiator Charlie," a mechanic from Logan, West Virginia, who developed the tomato in the 1930s. Byles aimed to create a large, flavorful beefsteak tomato by crossbreeding four varieties—German Johnson, beefsteak, an Italian variety, and an English variety—over a six-year period using hand pollination with a baby syringe. He began selling seedlings for $1 each in the 1940s, and the demand was so high that people traveled up to 200 miles to purchase them. The profits from these sales enabled him to pay off his $6,000 mortgage within six years, giving the tomato its name.

Although some sources mention other individuals, such as William Estler of Barboursville, who reportedly developed a tomato with the same name earlier, the most widely recognized and celebrated origin story centers on Byles and his "Radiator Charlie's Mortgage Lifter". The variety remains popular today for its large, meaty, pinkish-red fruits weighing 2 to 4 pounds and its rich, sweet flavor.

Along with the Amish Paste tomato, Roma tomatoes and their derivatives yearly prove that they are indeed one of the best sauce tomatoes that can be grown.

They are kind of an heirloom tomato but that is sometimes up for discussion.

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History

The Roma tomato, also known as the Italian plum tomato, is a determinate hybrid variety developed in the United States in the 1950s through breeding efforts at the USDA's Agricultural Research Service (ARS) in Beltsville, Maryland. It was created to meet the demands of industrial agriculture, particularly for processing, canning, and mechanical harvesting. The development was led by ARS scientist William Porte, who aimed to produce a variety with firm, meaty fruit suitable for processing, high solids content, and resistance to diseases like fusarium wilt.

The original Roma was bred by crossing the Italian San Marzano plum tomato, the Pan America variety, and the Red Top tomato and was first released to the public in 1955. Quickly gaining popularity in the canning and paste industry due to its low moisture content, dense flesh, and uniform ripening, which reduced juice loss and supported mechanical harvesting.

Although the Roma tomato is named after Rome and has roots in Italian plum tomatoes from the Lazio region, it was not developed in Italy but rather in the U.S. as a response to post-World War II industrial demands for durable, machine-harvestable tomatoes. The name "Roma" reflects its association with Italian plum tomatoes but does not indicate its origin.

The San Marzano tomato, developed in Italy in the late 19th century, served as a key genetic ancestor, influencing the Roma’s elongated shape, firm texture, and suitability for sauces and preservation. The Roma tomato's distinctive torpedo shape is attributed to a genetic mutation in the SUN gene, which causes uniform fruit elongation. Over time, the original open-pollinated Roma evolved into hybrid variants like Roma VF, which were developed to enhance disease resistance, particularly to verticillium wilt, in addition to fusarium wilt.

These improvements ensured the variety's continued dominance in U.S. tomato processing through the late 20th century. The Roma tomato's compact, determinate growth habit, producing a single large crop in late summer, made it ideal for both commercial farming and home gardening. Its meaty texture, low water content, and balanced flavor profile of high sugar and acidity make it especially suitable for sauces, pastes, roasting, and canning. Despite its name, the Roma tomato is a 20th-century American innovation, not an heirloom variety from Italy, though it was officially recognized as an heirloom tomato by 2005.

True Black Brandywine tomatoes fall into the category of "That's a neat tomato!"

Sometimes, "neat" plants fall through the cracks when we're growing other vatrieties. The True Black Brandywine will certainly be on our seedling list in the future.

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History

The True Black Brandywine tomato was developed in the late 1920s by Dr. Harold E. Martin, a dentist and amateur plant breeder from Westtown, Pennsylvania. It is believed to be the result of a controlled cross between the Red Brandywine and the original brown Beefsteak tomato, also known as Fejee Improved, which is likely now extinct.

Dr. Martin did not release the variety to seed companies or widely share the seeds, maintaining a high level of secrecy around his creations. The seeds were eventually passed down through the family of William Woys Weaver, a famed seed collector and food writer, whose grandfather was a gardening friend of Dr. Martin. Weaver discovered the seeds in his grandfather's collection and, after a decade of stewardship, officially released the variety in 2008 under the name "True Black Brandywine". This release brought the rare heirloom variety to a wider audience, preserving its unique history and flavor profile.

For whatever reason, yellow tomatoes have never appealed to us but we will likely start adding these to our planting schedule.

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History

The Yellow Brandywine tomato originated from a natural mutation within heirloom Brandywine lines and was first documented in 1991. It was cultivated by Charles Knoy of Indiana, who sent seeds to Barbara Lund of Ohio. Lund then passed the seeds on to Craig LeHoullier, a tomato expert, in 1991. LeHoullier subsequently shared samples with Rob Johnston of Johnny’s Select Seeds, which led to the variety becoming commercially available to the public.

The exact origins of the mutation before Knoy are unknown, and there is no evidence linking the Yellow Brandywine to the original Red Brandywine or other historical strains. The name "Brandywine" itself is derived from Brandywine Creek in Pennsylvania, a name associated with the original Brandywine tomato, though the Yellow variant's direct lineage to that specific location remains unconfirmed.

The variety has since gained popularity as a prized heirloom tomato known for its large, golden-yellow, beefsteak-style fruit and intense, sweet-tart flavor. A later strain, known as the Platfoot strain, was developed by Gary Platfoot of Ohio and is noted for producing smoother fruit and better yields than the original Knoy strain.

This is one of our favorite tomatoes.

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History

The Abe Lincoln tomato is an heirloom variety introduced in 1923 by the W.H. Buckbee seed company of Rockford, Illinois, named in honor of the 16th President of the United States, who was from Illinois. It was developed as a large, flavorful, and disease-resistant tomato, with Buckbee's catalog famously calling it "the Giant of all tomatoes" and noting reports of clusters weighing up to 7 pounds, with individual fruits reaching 3 pounds.

The variety gained popularity among home gardeners and market growers for its dependable yields, rich flavor, and resistance to early blight and alternaria stem canker, remaining a favorite even as hybrid tomatoes emerged in the mid-20th century.

Despite its initial promise, the Abe Lincoln tomato faded from widespread cultivation but was preserved by seed savers and heirloom enthusiasts, with two distinct strains now recognized: the original 1923 variety and a later, earlier-maturing strain introduced in the 1970s.

We've grown the Black Beauty with mixed results but will be adding it back into the mix of seedlings this year.

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History

The Black Beauty tomato is a relatively recent heirloom variety developed through selective breeding. It was created by Brad Gates of Wild Boar Farms in Napa, California, by crossing the Pink Berkeley Tie-Dye and Indigo Apple tomato varieties. This cross was part of a broader effort by plant breeders, including those at Oregon State University (OSU), to develop tomatoes with high levels of anthocyanin, the antioxidant responsible for the dark purple to black coloration.

The Indigo Rose tomato, developed by OSU in 2012, was the first of its kind with significant anthocyanin in the fruit, paving the way for subsequent varieties like Black Beauty. While some sources suggest a historical origin in Ukraine, the modern Black Beauty variety is a product of 21st-century breeding, not a naturally occurring heirloom from that region.

It was introduced as the "World’s Darkest Tomato" and has since gained popularity for its unique appearance and rich, complex flavor.

This is one of our favorite tomatoes.

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History

The Ananas Noire tomato was one variety that fell into the realm of "Too strange to not grow".

We had limited success; however, it was a year where life interrupted most everything. They will be grown again this year.

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History

The Ananas Noire tomato, meaning "black pineapple" in French, originated in Belgium in the late 1990s as a result of a natural cross between a pineapple tomato and an unknown black tomato variety. It was discovered by Belgian horticulturist Pascal Moreau in a field of pineapple tomatoes, where the chance cross-pollination produced a unique fruit with striking, multicolored characteristics. Moreau further developed and stabilized the variety, leading to its official release to the seed market in 2005.

While some sources reference a Caribbean origin tied to Guadeloupe and the legend of L’Ile Des Tomates Noires, the most consistent and documented history points to its emergence in Belgium through natural hybridization.

Brad's Atomic Grape tomatoes are a bit larger than a typical cherry tomato. When ripe they tend to go from purple through green to yellow.

They are a very tasty variety.

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History

Brad's Atomic Grape tomato was developed by breeder Brad Gates at Wild Boar Farms near Napa Valley, California, and was first introduced in the early 21st century. The variety gained national recognition when it was awarded "Best in Show" at the 2017 National Heirloom Expo in Santa Rosa, California, a prestigious event highlighting heirloom and sustainable farming practices.

Following this accolade, Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds partnered with Gates to promote the tomato, contributing to its status as one of their most popular cultivars. Known for its unique multi-colored, striped appearance and complex sweet-tart flavor, the tomato is also valued for its productivity, disease resistance, and ability to hold well on the vine.