Where did the term "Heirloom" plants begin? The term "Heirloom" applied to plants was apparently first used by Kent Whealy of Seed Savers Exchange, who first used "heirloom" in relation to plants in a speech he gave in Tucson in 1981. He had asked permission to use the term "heirloom" from John Withee, who had used the term on the cover of his bean catalog. John said sure, that he had taken it from Prof. William Hepler at the University of New Hampshire, who first used the term "heirloom" to describe some beans that friends had given him back in the 1940s. The Importance of "Heirloom" Tomatoes. In the past 40 years, we've lost many of our heirloom varieties, along with the many smaller family farms that supported heirlooms. The multitude of heirlooms that had adapted to survive well for hundreds of years were lost or replaced by fewer hybrid tomatoes, bred for their commercially attractive characteristics.
Amish Paste This heirloom tomato was discovered in Wisconsin, although its origins are in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in the heart of the Amish Country. The tomatoes are teardrop or heart-shaped with a brilliant red-orange color. The Amish Paste tomato has a gentle balance of acid and sweetness. When it is sliced fresh the juicy flesh sparkles and has a solid texture. The Amish Paste is eaten fresh or in sauces..
Andrew Rahart s Jumbo Red Andrew Rahart, who lived in New York, collected seeds from an immigrant whose family came from Italy. This family heirloom is direct from Italy and after taking legacy in New York, this heirloom beefsteak was passed down from Andrew through his son John. Tomatoes have a deep rich tomato flavor and turn red when mature.
Aunt Ruby German Green An Heirloom beefsteak variety from Ruby Arnold of Greeneville, Tennessee who passed away in 1997. Slightly flattened, this one pound fruit ripens to ("lime jello green") with a slight pink blush that extends to the inside. Fruit weighs from 12 to 16 oz, and has the smoothest shape of any large green tomato. Superb, fruity sweet and slightly spicy taste. Large green beefsteaks ripen to pale green with a tint of yellow that extends inside the flesh.
Beam s Yellow Pear This famous pre-1800's tomato variety is also occasionally known as Beam's Yellow Pear tomato and is similar to the Red Pear tomatoes, except that it differs in color. These are just like the little yellow pear tomatoes that your grandmother once grew in her garden when you were a child. Fortunately, the Yellow Pear Tomato is very much alive today and has remained popular for many decades. Their excellent color, unique shape and luscious taste, low in acid, it has a sweet lingering flavor.
BeefMaster Plant produces enormous yields of large meaty 2 lb beefsteak tomatoes. Tomatoes turn deep red when mature. Excellent for salads or sandwiches. Suitable for home gardens and market growers
Black from Tula This is a Russian heirloom from Tula. Largest of the black tomatoes with 3-4", slightly flattened, oblate, dark brown to purple fruit with deep green shoulders. A beautiful dusky brown to mauve black colored beefsteak tomato that features an outstanding, salty flavor with a semi-smoked taste that is unlike any other tomato out there! For a truly wonderful black tomato this one is sure to please
Black Zebra This stunning, perfectly round 1½" to 2" fruits with tender, deep dark red to caramel colored skin beneath vertical dark green and mahogany streaks is the favorite tomato of Amazing Terry. Don t be fooled, the Black Zebra has opulent, rich flavors with hints of smoke and sweetness. This this is one of our favorites for looks and taste
Box Car Willie The tomatoes are smooth, bright-red fruits with an orange tinge sometimes red in color with dark orange undertones. The fruit is extremely juicy, and they have that good, old fashioned flavor! This slightly flattened New Jersey variety by Joe Bratka's father was most likely named for the country western singer. The Box Car Willie is a staple in many home gardens. Good resistance to disease and cracking.
Brandywine Pink Old Amish potato-leaf heirloom dating back to 1885. This pink-skinned tomato is considered by many to be the best tasting of all. A distinctive potato leaf variety, sometimes tomatoes have a rough shape. Named after Brandywine Creek in Chester County, PA. Large, vigorous vines produce 8-12 ounce, deep-red fruits in clusters of 4 to 6. Excellent, robust, old-fashioned tomatoey flavor. A must have for any tomato lover.
Brandywine Red Years ago, seed saving was done by individuals who understood that the greatest thing they could pass on to the next generation was some of the treasured food plants that had sustained life and had proven their value. One such pioneer was a man named Ben Quinsenbury, who lived in Vermont. The Brandywine was Ben s favorite tomato. The Brandywine has always placed as one of the top three favorites. Ben died at the age of 95, passing on his legacy. An old heirloom variety that won Grand Prize in 1907. A wonderful low-acid tomato with abundance of sweet flavors. Probably the first heirloom to achieve "cult status" within the growing popularity of heirloom tomatoes.
Caspian Pink Originally grown in Russia between the Caspian and Black Seas. According to sales literature, it is an heirloom discovered in Russia by a Petoseed Company employee shortly after the cold war ended. It has large, kind of flat (oblate) shaped, pink fruits weighing up to eleven ounces when the plants are pruned. The fruits ripen from the bottom of the plant up. Taste is mild and sweet. Thought by some to be "Queen of the Pinks". One of the best known and best-tasting Russian tomatoes. This tomato is perfect for cooler climates
Cherokee Purple Believed to have been grown by the Cherokee Indians in Tennessee in the nineteenth century. Craig LeHoullier stabilized this rogue heirloom from and developed a great following among celebrity chefs because of its exceptionally rich tomato flavors and wonderful chocolate mahogany color. The fruit is purplish red, fading to green at the stem with a dark red interior. A very popular market variety because of it's rich, complex and sweet flavors. One of the best tasting heirloom tomatoes.
Dr. Wyche s Yellow Numerous stories surround this great tasting tomato. It was said, that at one time, Dr. John Wyche owned the Cole Brother Circus and used the elephant manure to fertilize his heritage gardens, another story says lived in the mountains and fertilized his garden with manure from a nearby zoo. Undoubtedly one of the best tasting yellow tomatoes to be found. A beefsteak heirloom that produces slightly flattened, smooth, blemish-free, golden-yellow fruit with a meaty interior and few seeds. These glowing tangerine-orange fruits are larger and sets this variety apart from other yellow heirlooms.
Druzba A Bulgarian heirloom introduced in 1995. (Druzhba means friendship in Bulgarian.) Original seed sent to SESE by Carolyn Male. Bright red with a high acid content - giving it that robust real tomato flavor! Produces big harvests of smooth, blemish-free, round, deep-red, juicy, 10-ounce fruits. Good disease resistance.
Earl of Edgecombe New Zealand family heirloom, made available by Carolyn Male in the late 1990s. The story says that when the 6th Earl of Edgecombe died in the 1960's, the heir to the title of 7th Earl was a relative in New Zealand who was a sheep farmer at the time. When he traveled to England to claim the title, he brought this tomato with him. The smooth, beautiful 3-inch round, orange, mango-colored fruits are perfectly globe-shaped, growing in clusters of two or more. Flesh is smooth, meaty and marvelous, with sweet, rich flavor, rather tropical and fruity. Firm, meaty and exceptionally flavorful.
Early Girl "Early Girl" is the earliest of the slicing tomatoes. It produces dark red, 4 to 6 ounce fruits in abundance. The Early Girl tomato is a medium globe type hybrid popular with home gardeners because of its early fruit ripening. The ripe fruit is about the size and shape of a tennis ball, it has a bright color and good flavor. Other varieties taking roughly the same amount of time as Early Girl include Sasha's Altai and Stupice.
Eva Purple Ball From the Black Forest region of Germany. This delicious German heirloom dates back to the late 1800 s, and has pink fruits that are perfect globes, each weighing 6 to 8 ounces. The sweet, juicy flesh of this variety is delicious! Each round, 2 to 3-inch, blemish-free, pink-purple fruits. A big producer for Hanson s Farm.
Georgia Streak A popular heirloom from Georgia, producing an abundance of bi-colored, golden yellow fruit with brilliant red streaks inside and out. This very forward sweet, robust, fruity flavor fruit is rich gold blushed with a delicate pink. As if that wasn't enough, the real surprise is inside - the firm flesh is streaked with red! Large, globe-shaped fruits weigh 1 to 2 lbs., and have a sweet, yet hearty, flavor.
German Johnson Thought to be one of the four parent lines of "Radiator Charlie's Mortgage Lifter." This regular leaf variety is an heirloom variety from North Carolina and Virginia. The tomatoes are meaty, very flavorful, have very few seeds, and turn pink with yellow shoulders when mature. The flavor is excellent. A wonderful tomato.
Green Zebra Developed in 1985 by tomato breeder Tom Wagner, this is an unusual and exquisite tomato chosen by Alice Waters for her restaurant, Chez Panisse, in Berkeley, California. Small to medium tomatoes with various shades of yellow to yellowish-green stripes and a sweet zingy flavor. The 2-inch round fruit ripens to a yellow-gold with dark-green zebra-like stripes. The flesh is lime-emerald in color that has an invigorating lemon-lime flavor. A great tomato for brightening up salads and other tomato dishes.
Japanese Black Trifele Russian origin. In Russia the Trifele varieties of tomatoes (of which there are several colors) are highly prized and command hig prices. This short potato leaf plant yields prolific quantities of 6 oz. fruit that looks like a beautiful mohogany-colored Bartlett pear with greenish shoulders. Very tasty flesh with a meaty core that produces luscious fruit all summer long. A work of art sliced out on a plate and a wonderful flavor that possesses an extrordinairy rich and complex flavors. The Black Trifele is one of the blackest varieties available and is resistent to cracking.
Juliet Plum Sweet plum cluster 1999 All-America Selections winner. A larger sister variety of Santa, Juliet rates as the most disease resistant in our trials. Deep red, shiny fruits, delicious, rich tomato taste. Good crack resistance, vine storage, and shelf life.
Limmony Limmony Liana also known as "Wonderlight", and translates as Lemon Vine is one of the first Russian varieties popularized in the US. This open pollinated heirloom tomato from Russia was originally collected by Kent Whealy of SSE from an elderly Russian seedsman who sold his garden seeds at the Kalitnikovskiy Bird Market in the Eastern sector of Moscow. Light yellow beefsteaks with a luscious big tomato flavor, tangy and sweet, juicy, rich, with citrus overtones. Unlike most yellows this one is loaded with lots of luscious, big sweet tangy flavors.
Marvel Striped Gorgeous yellow-orange fruits are streaked with stunning ruby red and have a sweet, fruity taste that is absolutely delicious. Originally from Oaxaca, Mexico, its large harvests on vigorous vines make Marvel striped a garden staple. Plants produce large yellow fruit with dark red, almost crimson colored stripes and a lightly sweet flavor. Largest of the bi-colored tomatoes. May get over 4-inches and 2 pounds. Sweet, mild fruity flavor.
Mortgage Lifter An extraordinary tomato with an extraordinary story. Developed by M.C. Byles of Logan, West Virginia in the 1930 s. Radiator Charlie as he was known, had no formal education or plant breeding experience. "Radiator Charlie" earned his nickname from the radiator repair business he opened at the foot of a steep hill and each spring trucks would often overheat from driving 200 miles to buy these seedlings. He created this variety when he crossed German Johnson, Beefsteak, English and Italian varieties, selecting the largest specimens and developed a stable variety after six years of pollination. He then sold his tomato plants for one dollar each (in the 1940 s) and paid off the six thousand dollar mortgage on his house in six years. This tomato remains very much in demand in the Mid-Atlantic states.
Oxheart Orange The Orange Oxheart tomato is a family heirloom from the Virginias region discovered around 1925. This fruit has a deep orange skin, which hides a dense, orange flesh. The Oxheart is appropriately heart-shaped and can grow to a large size, often weighing in at one pound or more. The meat of the tomato is dense with a rich aroma.
Pineapple Tomato A deep orange-scarlet tomato with gold and yellow shoulders. This bi-colored, slightly flattened, yellow beefsteak has a red blushing and streaks on the outside. The flesh has an elegant flavor that is wonderfully mild with tropical fruity-sweet flavors. An heirloom garden favorite that grows up to 2 lbs, known for an interior of a few seeds and a red star-burst in the center. This is a show stopper.
Red Zebra Can you just imagine a plate of black, green, and red zebra tomatoes? This variety gets our vote for both beauty and substance - the best looking and best tasting of all striped tomatoes available on the market today! Fruits are dark red inside, and brighter fire engine-red outside, with skins streaked by dramatic, golden stripes. Juicy and flavorful, with large crops of 3 fruits on strong, productive plants.
Rutgers Improved Rutgers was developed by the Campbell Soup Company in 1928 from a cross of Marglobe (known for disease resistance) and the J.T.D (bred by the Campbell Soup Company for the condensed tomato in a can). The variety was later refined by Rutgers University in 1943. Rutgers Improved is a Rutgers-type tomato with additional disease resistance. Once considered the most popularly grown tomato, it's now making a strong comeback and the blood red fruit has that good old fashioned flavor.
Sun Gold Tomato Ahhh, sun gold tomatoes, three magnificent words in the plant kingdom that should be crowned as the king of cherry tomatoes. A positively luscious, bite-size golden beauty overflowing with an abundance of fruits - thin-skinned, with a juicy flesh that holds its oh-so-sweet, fresh-from-the-vine flavor. Sun golds are not just any ordinary variety of cherry tomato.