Medium Size Red Tomatoes

 

Anna Russian ($4.95)    (VE)  ((HG) 65 days. This was the very first heirloom tomato I ever tasted and one of the finest of the oxheart tomatoes.

The plant has very delicate, wistful foliage as do many of the Russian varieties. Don't let that fool you! Anna is easy to grow and bears heavily during hot and cool weather.

 

Years ago my mom brought me some perfect heart-shaped Anna Russians from her garden. She had gotten the seeds from a friend. I tasted; I swooned. From 8 to 12 ounces, the fruits she brought had grown in beautiful clusters of 2 or 3--I wouldn't be without it.

 

Still in my top 5 favorites after all these years, Anna Russian is always among the first few plants I set out in my home garden every spring in a little Tomato Love ceremony. Its perfect heart shape in colors ranging from pink to red make it very special indeed.

Anna Russian seeds came to Craig Lehoullier from Brenda Hillenius of Oregon, who got the seeds from her grandfather, Kenneth Wilcox. Years earlier he had been given the original seeds from a Russian immigrant friend--a genuine example of the intriguing history these grand old tomatoes carry with them.

 

 

 

 Bisignano Bisignano #2  ($4.95)   (E)  (P-S) 75 days. This superior old-fashioned Italian tomato is a family favorite of the wonderful tomato loving Bisignano family of New York, NY. Known for its outstanding rich flavor, perfect for fresh eating, fabulous for sauce, Bisignano produces 3 distinctly different medium-sized bright red fruit shapes on each plant: plums, pears, and perfectly round fruits. Extremely productive, it's a classic garden staple and a top favorite of tomato growers worldwide

 

Bloody Butcher ($4.95) F/C (EE)   58-60 days. This marvelous early ripening fruit has an unmatched, spectacular deep red hue--juicy with an intense lingering flavor. The 2-4 ounce round red 2 to 3" fruits have a rich silky texture and grow in great abundance on potato leafed vines. With its bountiful harvest month after month, the strong depth of flavor in Bloody Butcher has made it a favorite among tomato gourmands worldwide. 

 

  Brandywine Red, Landis Valley Strain ($4.95)   ((HG) (E) 78 days. This old time legendary and very special strain of Red Brandywine is named for Brandywine Creek and comes from Chester County Pennsylvania where it originated in 1885. These big, vigorous vines produce 8 -12 ounce, deep bright-red round fruits in clusters of 4 to 6. Outstanding, prolific, robust, with intense tomato flavor which stands up to its legendary 100 year history. Among my favorites. 

 

 

Carmello ($4.95)       (E) 75 days. An extremely popular French tomato. This one has become a great favorite among my customers. A very reliable and bountiful producer of heavy, juicy, 8 oz. red fruits with immense flavor, this plant is among the most prolific ever bred, and produces so many fruits; you will be giving them away by the basketful. The Carmello plant in my garden proved to be disease resistant, and produced through late December with night temperatures about 42 degrees. The flavor alone puts it in my top 10. Wait 'til you see all the tomatoes on this plant; bring the big harvest basket. The photograph above, and at the bottom of the Growing Tips page, is of a Carmello fruit which grew into 'twins'-- 2 fruits connected to each other at the stem, and grown from one blossom.  

 

 

 

Costoluto Genovese Costoluto Genovese ($4.95) F/C (P-S) (E) 78 days. A big beautiful and classic Italian heirloom, the deeply fluted, ribbed intensely-red 8 oz. fruits are mouthwatering and utterly scrumptious.  This stunning tomato has a splendid, complex old-time flavor which makes it a perfect choice for sauce and fresh eating.

 

 

 Dona Tomato Dona ($4.95) (E)        75 days. This delightful French heirloom was carefully bred for discriminating French market customers, for whom great flavor and superb quality are mandatory. The bright red fruit is perfectly round and lovely with a sweet, juicy and slightly tangy aftertaste. The heavily producing plants yield 6 ounce fruits and shows very good disease resistance.    

 

Fireworks ($4.95) 50 days (EE)      Ripe in only 50 to 55 days, this lovely bright red tomato, very large for a quick maturing variety, has splendid rich, sweet juicy flavor which runs deep for a super-early tomato. Fruits are 3", 6-9 oz., round, with a very distinctive slightly pointed tip, are heat resistant, cold tolerant and delicious.  

 

   

Goose Creek ($7.95) 75-80 days.      (HG) (E)

This delectable historical family heirloom is one of the rarest plants we offer and our top seller. The flavor and color run deep in Goose Creek, a stunning, deeply red fruit, round or slightly flattened, sometimes lobed, with occasional gold streaks or speckling, faintly visible in the photo. Juicy, very sweet and intensely tomatoey as if injected with concentrated tomato flavor, it is ambrosial. I've rarely tasted a tomato to compare. Averaging 6-7 ounces, with very few seeds; it has now made my top 3 list. 

 

This family treasure comes to us from my dear friend and edible landscape expert, Jimmy Williams, owner of Hayground Organic Gardening in California whose home garden is an enchanting escape. Jimmy and his Native Island Gullah-Geechee family are descendants of slaves brought in bondage from The Caribbean to the coastal islands of the Southern United States to grow rice for plantation owners.

The Gullah are still keepers of a fascinating culture of food, language and beloved traditions--a most extraordinary and delightful people.

The seeds of this sublime fruit have been passed down through generations since the 1800's when Jimmy's great-great grandmother, a young Caribbean slave, smuggled them with her aboard ship. When the ship docked at Charleston near Goose Creek, South Carolina, she had the treasured seeds with her, hidden deep in her skirt pocket and planted them that first spring. Jimmy's grandmother, Elouise Watson, shared this precious heirloom with him more than 45 years ago, assuring Goose Creek 's place in his family's garden for generations to come. Among its extraordinary qualities: A very high fruit yield and very few seeds. 

Along with being very heat tolerant, it shows remarkable cold-tolerance along the cooler coastal areas where the fruits continue to set and ripen through November and December. It is a wonderful choice for growing in containers.

 

Goose Creek has two distinctly different and superb flavors during two phases of its growth: when partially ripe and still showing some light green at the shoulders it has a brisk citrusy taste balanced with a fine, lingering touch of sweetness, and again at full red ripeness when it develops an intensely rich, earthy sweet flavor and luxurious, silken texture. 

Very prolific, this exquisite variety has been featured recently in Fine Cooking Magazine,  The Los Angeles Times Magazine, and Visiting with Huell Howser on PBS. This season it will be featured in Sunset Magazine, Mother Earth News, Weekend Magazine and The Victory Garden on PBS

Television.

 

Now available to the home gardener and online exclusively from Laurel's; it is a rare and exquisite selection for your table and your historical garden. A perfect gift for the tomato lover on your list.

 

Note: A portion of the proceeds from your purchase of Goose Creek are donated to Habitat For Humanity.

Goose Creek tomato plant, its fruits, its seeds and its name are protected by copyright and US patent, and are the sole property of Jimmy Williams and Hayground Organic Gardening. Under patent and copyright law, Goose Creek tomato seeds may not be sold, saved to sell, or donated or traded with knowledge of intent to sell, or with intent  to grow and sell plants or fruits or any part thereof, in any way, without the express written permission of Jimmy Williams. All rights reserved. 2009

 

Ramapo, The Real 'Jersey' Tomato  ($6.95) 75 to 80 days

"Even if you’re not from New Jersey, you’ve likely heard about the legendary taste of the Jersey Tomato. Many of us can close our eyes and remember holding a firm deep red tomato, still warm from the sun, with that fresh off the vine smell. The flesh is smooth and juicy and each tangy bite is full of luscious flavor. Is this just a memory or can you still find this tomato? This Jersey Tomato taste comes from a sweetness balanced by tart fruit acids that leave the sides of the mouth and tongue with a memory we strive to recapture every summer. It’s in our memory, and we know it when we get a real Jersey Tomato, but how can we describe it? ", from Rutgers Cooperative Extension

 

 

San Marzano Redorta ($5.25)    80 days. The best of the Italian sauce tomatoes, this big, luscious high-producing Roma type fruit is named for Pizzo di Redorta, (Redorta Peak) one of the highest peaks in the Bergamo Alps of Lombardy, Northern Italy.

At 8 to 10 ounces-- with reports of up to 16 ounces-- and 4" to 6" long, it is a much larger tomato with much better flavor than its cousin, San Marzano. San Marzano Redorta is marvelously rich, extremely productive and good enough to eat fresh, right off the vine.

 

 

Sophie's Choice Sophie's Choice ($4.95) 50 days. (D)  (VSM)  (EE)    From Canada, this succulent family heirloom is unique among the super-early producing plants. The slightly flattened round red fruits are borne in clusters of 3, quite large for an early bearer, with firm-when-ripe great flavored fruits from 6 to 8 oz.  Sophie's Choice is a very small compact determinate plant.

This little shrub of a plant reaches about 18 to 20" tall and bears loads of delicious tomatoes. It tends to fall over with its heavy fruit burden, so be sure to give it some support. With its very high fruit production, tenacious growth habit and sweet refreshing taste, it's a fun and rewarding plant to grow. Very disease resistant, it is one tomato plant which requires more water than other varieties during early growth.

 

Stupice ($4.95)   (EE)   (Stoo-PEECH-kuh) 52 days. A great tomato! For me, this is the absolute very best tasting super-early cold-or-hot weather variety and among the first I plant each season. Big flavor, sweet and luscious.  Stupice is a 3 to 4 oz. red round fruit, first to ripen and very high yielding. Produces quickly, heavily, reliably early and continuously throughout the season. Even when fruits are smaller as the season wanes, they maintain their marvelous flavor becoming even sweeter with colder weather. A garden staple.

 

  Sunmaster ($4.95) (H) 72 days. (E)  This yummy specialty tomato is a very heat tolerant hybrid variety which produces delicious bright red 7 to 8 oz., sometimes up to 12 ounces, rich, full-flavored tomatoes in only 72 days. The fruit sets best during high heat, when days are 87º to 97º and night temperatures are 73º to 82º. Very disease resistant. Photo courtesy of my tomato buddy, Char Conley.

 

 

 

Super Sioux ($4.95)    (E) 72 days. Super Sioux is known as the outstanding hot weather tomato. Beautiful 4-6 oz. scarlet globes, huge production of juicy, sweet, meaty red fruit with a fabulous old-time earthy tomato taste.  Superb for canning and fresh eating and very disease resistant.

 

 

Homepage: www.heirloomtomatoplants.com