Multi-Colored Tomatoes

 

Part of The Zebra Collection

Yellow Zebra, Green Zebra, Black Zebra, Valhalla, Blood Gulch and more Yellow Zebras.

Photograph courtesy of Krystal Elser.

 

 

Berkeley Tie Dye ($6.25) 80 days. This rare and wild exotic fruit with big bold luscious flavors looks just like its name implies -- with spectacular streaks and swirls of green and yellow and red and orange and green dappling inside and out. From 8 to 12 ounces, Berkeley Tie Dye is another fabulous variety from tomato breeder Brad Gates of Wild Boar Farms here in California. 

 

A portion of the proceeds of Berkeley Tie Dye will be donated to TACA, Talk About Curing Autism in the names of two very winsome young fellows.

 

 

 Big Rainbow ($4.95) 75 days.      (BB) Big it is...2 lbs. or more, sweet and voluptuous, fruity, juicy, rich tri-colored tomato, dappled red, orange and yellow, inside and out. Just enchanting. Big Rainbow is a best seller, and among my all-time favorites. Heavy, juicy and gorgeous, growing singly or in pairs, it takes me 2 hands to pick. A prize worth every luscious bite.

 

 

New for 2010!  Big Zebra ($4.95) 85 days.      (B) This spectacular fruit is the largest of the Zebras.  Weighing up to 2 pounds, the ripe fruits are orange-red and green on the outside and dazzling green and pink on the inside.  Growing abundantly on a huge plant, these tomatoes are absolutely loaded with deliciously robust flavors. A real show-stopper when ripening the colorful fruits of Big Zebra will astonish passers by and become a showpiece in your garden.

 

 Black Zebra ($4.95)   80 days. 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.

Black Zebra has opulent, rich flavor with hints of smoke and sweetness, a big favorite around here which somehow disappear mysteriously from the plants as soon as they ripen.

 

 

 

New for 2010!      Blood Gulch ($6.95)    85 to 90 days. Wow! This tomato is my new favorite. Cut into this magnificent fruit to reveal the deepest, darkest, blood-red flesh I've ever seen in a tomato. Decadent and delicious! A deep reddish-purple with luminescent green streaking, this 2 to 3 ounce fruit is an offspring of a pure platinum-silver tomato with darker silver stripes.  This beautifully bizarre and stunning tomato is descended from that silver tomato discovered by Krystal Elser in a patch of Black Zebras.  Krystal saved 8 seeds, 2 germinated. Grown out and stabilized, two delightful varieties resulted from that silver pearlescent fruit. Blood Gulch and Valhalla , also available this season. This is how a lot of the heirlooms came about. Mother Nature at her best! Blood Gulch was named after The Blood Gulch Chronicles as Krystal is a Halo fan.  A Laurel's exclusive.

 

 

 

This photograph of Blood Gulch is the property of Krystal Elser or Elser's Country Farms and used here with her very kind permission. www.elserscountryfarm.com

 

 

Brown Derby (Elser's) ($6.25) 75 days.  My absolute favorite discovery this season, no contest. Combining the sweet succulence of the black tomatoes and the tangy spiciness of the greens, this is a spectacular cross of my all-time favorite, Paul Robeson, and the legendary Aunt Ruby's German Green.

It arose about 5 years ago in the garden of Maria & Darrell Elser of Elser's Country Farm in Yucaipa, California and they have been selling it to adoring customers at their Southern California heirloom tomato farm stands for several years. The flavor is tantalizing--tart and sweet, a perfect combination of tang to sweetness with plenty of juice and a rapturous brown and green color. When Amazing Terry and I first tasted it in August, our eyes got wide, we grinned and  stared at each other with the 'Oh-my-God-this-is-incredible' look.  I could barely believe my mouth.

Elser's Brown Derby has become a much sought after favorite at Maria and Darrell's Farmer's Market stands  where customers arrive early to get their hands on one of these treasures. I had to scramble to get this one. True story. I picked it up, another customer implored me, but I did not budge, wouldn't give it up. I wanted it for the photograph because it was so beautiful. Then we ate it.

 (This fruit is not related to Tom Wagner's Brown Derby line, arose independently from that line and was named without knowledge of it.)

 

 

  Chocolate Stripes (5.25) 78 days.     This big beautiful yummy 4" fruit was among the top 3 favorites at TomatoFest 2007.  A stunning mahogany with swirls of deep olive-green inside and out, similar to Black Zebra, and a flavor that stands up to the best of the blacks.  Smokey, rich, earthy and sweet, with a silken texture, Chocolate Stripes is taking the tomato world by storm. Growing on a really big plant and standing up to cooler weather, it continues to produce well into fall.

 

 

New for 2010! Georgia Streak ($4.95) 85 days. Sweet and fruity, this gorgeous tomato is a stunning golden yellow with brilliant streaks of red inside and out. The flavor is divine, the color is rapturous. Rich sweet juicy and meaty, its heady tropical nuance backed by a very forward and robust finish and will delight you. A gourmands treasure! From 1 to 2 lbs., this tomato from the great state of Georgia will become a favorite in your garden year after year.

 

 

 

    Green Zebra ($4.95) (E) 72 days. Visually enchanting, abundantly productive, this 2-inch round fruit ripens to a beautiful amber gold with dark green zebra-like stripes over the amber background. Inside, the flesh is beautiful, sparkling green. Another wonderful variety from Tom Wagner, it is gorgeous to behold, tangy and deeply sweet with lingering flavors, like fine wine.  This exquisite tomato was chosen by chef extraordinaire, Alice Waters, for her restaurant, Chez Panisse in Berkeley, California. In my top 5.

 

  Dagma's Perfection ($4.95) (E) 72 days. As described by Gary Ibsen, renowned tomato expert, gourmet, author, connoisseur, and owner of Carmel TomatoFest, who named this extraordinary tomato for his lady love. "This vigorous and abundant plant offers a bountiful harvest of medium-sized, 3" 12 oz., light yellow beefsteak fruits with beautifully delicate red striping. Deliciously flavorful with lingering sweet overtones of tropical fruit and subtle hints of lime, it is firm, juicy and elegant in the mouth. An enchanting tomato...delightful and jewel-like, just marvelous. "

Dagma's Perfection is a best seller.

 

 

  Product Image Hawaiian Pineapple ($4.95) (B)   90 days. A huge, breathtaking and much sought after golden-orange beefsteak with fruit that grows up to 1-1/2 lbs. When fruit is ripe it has a luscious, very rich, sweet pineapple-melon like flavor and heady tropical fragrance. Add the unusually high production of this plant, and it makes my top 10 list. A real knock-out and a top-seller. 

 

 

  Hillbilly ($4.95) (BB)  (E) 78 days. This old time heirloom from the hills of West Virginia, growing to 2 lbs., has stunning yellow and red dappled skin with sunset-hued rainbow stripes inside; makes gorgeous slices. Very sweet. Another top vote getter at TomatoFest in Carmel, California. This one has sold out early every year.  

 

 

 

   Flammée ( Flah MAY) AKA Jaune Flammée (Zsahn FLamme, Zs-pronounced as in Zsa Zsa)($4.95)  (E) 70 days. Very prolific and stunningly beautiful, Flammé is an unforgettable tomato. Intensely orange with a reddish blush on the blossom end, these flame-colored 2 ounce globes have a rich, tangy and exciting flavor that literally bursts in your mouth. Cut open to reveal a deep red interior, this fruit reminds me of a blood orange with its spectacular contrasting colors. Fruits of Flammé appear to glow on the vine against a backdrop of deep green foliage. Just marvelous.

 

 

 

    Laurel's California Gold ($4.95) 80 days. 

This very sweet, delicious new variety arose in my garden in the summer of 2001. I walked out to the garden one golden summer morning, saw the fruit and yelled "You're yellow!"  This is one of the best tasting fruits I've ever had. Fruity, sweet with tropical overtones, it's among my favorites.

 

We expected it to ripen deep pink from a Brandywine-Cherokee Purple cross called 'Brandokee', developed by Keith Mueller, but from one of the plants we got this magnificent yellow-golden fruit with pink streaking here and there and a winsome blush on the blossom end. I took one bite and was hooked.

Sweet as it can be with just a touch of tang, Laurel's California Gold is juicy and rich with a tender skin and rich, fruity, tropical flavor. Weighing from 12 to 16 ounces it measures about 4" across. It was first nicknamed 'Blondokee' by Keith, after my hair color and its parent plants. I asked Amazing Terry to give it a permanent name; he decided on 'Laurel's California Gold'...(garsh). Growing on a big hearty-vined regular-leaf plant, it really is very sweet and satisfying--a beautiful, delicious tomato!

 

 

  Marvel Striped ($4.95) (B) (E)     75 days. This big splendid heirloom variety has become a gardeners' favorite among the bicolored tomatoes because of its beauty, size, and taste. Gorgeous  yellow-orange fruits are streaked with stunning ruby red and have a sweet, fruity taste that is absolutely delicious. Tomatoes weigh about 1 lb., although they often grow to 2 lbs. or even more. Originally from Oaxaca, Mexico, its large harvests on vigorous vines make Marvel Striped a garden staple.

 

 

 

 

Northern Lights Northern Lights ($4.95)    (VE) 60 days. An absolutely striking tomato. This big, heavy 4-5", 10 oz. gorgeous yellow-orange beefsteak, with a red blush on the blossom end and spectacular red patterning in the center, is reminiscent of the Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights, for which it is named. The flavor is sweet, intense, tangy and luscious. This marvelous tomato, only about 60 to 65 days from plant out until ripe fruit, bears beautiful tomatoes right through the cold weather up until the first frost. 

 

 

Pineapple   Pineapple ($5.25) 80 days. This huge, sumptuous 2 lb. bi-color yellow and pink fruit has a spectacular interior.  Cut open, it reveals a stunning red starburst in the center.  Sweet, fruity, tropical and complex flavors make Pineapple a top seller. Shown here with my friend Dagma Lacey (of Dagma's Perfection fame, another fabulous tomato), it is a heavy producer of big, beautiful tomatoes on a large unruly plant.

Photos by Gary Ibsen.

 

 

 

 

Striped German ($4.95) 80 days. Wow. I can't say enough about this tomato. Its bold yet nuanced tropical flavor, sweetness, fragrance and creamy juicy nectar have blown me away time and again. When I have one in front of me, ready to slice it open, I experience a feeling  of anticipation that can only be described as, well...passionate. These startlingly beautiful 1 to 2 lb. tomatoes are sparkling shades of red-yellow-pink-peach, a veritable rainbow in your hand. Gives me goose bumps just thinking about it.

 

 

 

New for 2010!      Valhalla ($6.95)     85 to 90 days. This rare and gorgeous deep pink and yellow zebra-striped fruit arose a few years ago in the garden of Krystal Elser of Elser's Country farm.  Descended from a pure silver tomato with darker silver streaks found in a patch of Black Zebras, its stunning pearlescent hues give way to elaborate flavors with sweet citrusy notes and a background of melon. Marvelous! Its sister fruit, Blood Gulch, is deep reddish-purple with green streaking and is also new for 2010.  Bountiful on the vine, Valhalla will give you loads of 2" fruits and produce up until frost. Truly a delightful new variety for your heirloom garden. A Laurel's exclusive.

This photograph of Valhalla is the property of Krystal Elser of Elser's Country Farms and used here with her very kind permission.  www.elserscountryfarm.com

 

 

 

 

  Vintage Wine ($5.25) 85 days. A gorgeous deep pink tomato with golden streaks, Vintage Wine is a stunning, pastel hued, 1 lb. tomato with elaborate, elegant, sweet delicious flavors. Growing on tall potato-leaf plants, this very prolific and exquisite tomato is for the discerning tomato lover. Producing loads of scrumptious fruit, Vintage Wine will be a spectacular addition to your garden. Another fine selection from Tom Wagner.

 

 

New for 2010! Yellow Zebra  ($5.25)     72 days. Look at this fruit! This dazzling tomato was such a surprise for me this summer during my tomato tastings.  I saw it relaxing on the table there and hollered "Hey there, who are you?!"

I found it a local farmer's market and one bite convinced me to include it this year. The tantalizing appearance just blew me away. Its bright zingy flavors have a perfectly balanced sweetness with plenty of juice. High productivity, long shelf life and incredible beauty make Yellow Zebra more than a new discovery.  It's a new favorite! The same size and shape of Green Zebra, bigger than a gold ball, smaller than a handball. Fabulous!

 

 

 

Go Back: See available varieties