The Biggest Tomatoes!

These plants can produce fruit from 1.5 to 5 lbs.

1884 ($7.95  ) (B)    (HG) (E) 78 days.

 

1884 is a superbly flavored old-time tomato which grows on a strong vigorous plant and produces big luscious 1 lb. to 2 lb. deep dark pink fruit with luxurious flavor and sets fruit readily in hot weather. The original seeds were discovered in 1884 by James Lyde Williamson in the debris after the big Ohio River flood of 1884 in Friendly, West Virginia. This grand fruit has taken top mention year after year in tomato tastings all over the country. Easy to grow and very productive. 

 

 

  

 

Bear Claw ($7.95) 75 days       

             

The Bear Claw tomatoes in the photographs weighed 2.14 lbs, 2.9 lbs and 3.5 lbs. Always a winner in Big Tomato contests with fabulous flavor to boot!

 

Bear Claw is a huge fruit with incredible flavor. The plants grow very big and very fast -- like being in a time warp.

Huge plants. Stems like tree trunks. Give it extra support!   

I plant Bear Claw in a huge 30 gallon pot by a palm tree. As it grows, we lash it to the tree trunk. Palm trees make excellent tomato stakes. J

 

The first tomatoes reach about one pound. After that, with proper care, they get bigger and bigger producing lots of deep crimson fruits with incredible flavor.

 

PROPER CARE:

1. Plant in deep rich soil.

2. Feed every 2 to 3 weeks without fail, using a granular organic fertilizer like our Happy Frog.

3. Water moderately but deeply.

4. Be sure all of the soil volume is damp but not soggy.

5. Spray every week with our Monterey Neem to control bugs and disease spores.

 

Photograph 1 by Dianna Theyssen of Ingalls, Indiana.  Used here with her kind permission.

 

 

 NEW FOR 2024!

Classic Beefsteak ($8.95) 78 days   

 

Here is the original old time classic tomato from which subsequent big tomatoes got the description "beefsteak".

 

Why 'Beefsteak?"  Cut a big, thick slab from the center of a big tomato, lay it out on a plate, look at it carefully... it's the shape of a juicy steak. And that' the origin of its name!

 

Beloved for more than 100 years, Classic Beefsteak plants are big, hearty and lush producing 4 to 5 inch brilliant, bright red tomatoes with sweet delicious flavors and great disease resistance.

 

These big beauties give you meaty, thick, fragrant slices for your tomato sandwiches and salads. 

 

Great for canning and sauce, too.

 

Photograph copyright: Tomatofest.com Gary Ibsen 1999-2024

 

 

 

    

Black Mamba $7.95 78 days      (B)   

Black Mamba is a big, bodacious, purple/black beefsteak tomato. Elaborate smoky flavor with touch of sassy tang make this one an irresistible delight in your tomato garden.

A natural 'surprise' cross of Lucky Cross with an unknown black variety, Black Mamba's flavor is rich, sweet and luscious and the plants produce big crops of stunning, irresistible tomatoes. 

Really meaty and full-flavored, Black Mamba is also a fabulous choice for sauce!

From the garden of the late, beloved, old-timey tomato grower Millard Murdock.

 

 

 

 

Chocolate Stripes ($7.95  )   (B) 80 days.

 

After removing it from the list in 2009, I was bombarded by horrified customers who could not live without it and were freaked out by not seeing it. So it's back for good. Sorry.

 

Among the largest of the black tomatoes, this one was among the top 3 winners of TomatoFest 2007. Reaching 2½ lbs., ripening to mahogany with dark olive green stripes, these fruits have enormous old-time tomato flavor and an appearance similar to Black Zebra, but huge!

 

 A plentiful harvest, stunning beauty and out-of-this-world taste make Chocolate Stripes a rare treat in your garden.

 

Be sure not to over-water when the fruits are getting ripe because they will crack! Seriously. Be careful. Test the soil, if it is barely damp, turn off the hose and back away.

 

 

 HUGE AND YUMMY!

Cuostraleé   ($7.95)  (PRON: Koo strah-LAY)     85 days.

Big, hearty, prolific plant, with beautiful huge red beefsteak type tomatoes, up to 4 lbs. I have to use both hands to pick them. Gigantic fruits have a superb, classic tomato flavor. 

Very easy to grow, disease resistant and a reliable producer, in my top 10 favorites. Another hot weather favorite which will grow easily and wonderfully in all gardens. © Photograph property of Terroir Seeds and Underwood Gardens

 

 

German Johnson ($7.95) 85 days (BB)       2 lbs!

A huge, prolific plant originally from Virginia and the Carolinas. Grown for more than 90 years, it is one of the four parent lines of Radiator Charlie's Mortgage Lifter; the flavor is enchanting.

If you've ever wondered what tomato might embody the legendary, classic flavor profile of all that is Heirloom Tomatoness, this is your huckleberry.

Most of the old-time German tomatoes, including German Johnson, Old German, German Queen, German Giant and more, are not necessarily from Germany but from Mennonite farms in the Southern United States.

German Johnson is the quintessential old-time Mennonite tomato.

Smooth skin, no cracking or splitting, the big, leafy, robust plants produce huge, gorgeous pink 1 to 2 lb. beefsteak type tomatoes. A creamy texture, sweet and luscious, along with high production make German Johnson a top tier choice in your heirloom garden. Similar to Brandywine Pink but produces much more heavily, easily 10 times more than Brandywine.

A hugely popular farmers' market tomato. A wonderful sandwich tomato with good disease resistance. German Johnson is a winner in every way.

 

 

   

Green Giant  ($7.95 )  70 to 80 days  (E) (BB)  

 

Yes, it's ripe!

Occasionally a tomato comes along which deserves very special attention. This is one of them. I have not been this impressed by the flavor of a tomato for many, many years -- not since I tasted Brown Derby.  Intense, deep lingering flavors, you will understand when you taste it. So don't pass it up. Call me on the day you first bite into a big, beautiful ripe one. 310 534 8611

 

On a flavor scale of 1 to 100, Green Giant is a 100 +. Beautiful, early ripening. Unforgettable. 

 

We had the immense pleasure of tasting Green Giant for the first time at the 2007 TomatoFest in Carmel, California where it captured the hearts of tasters and garnered a great deal of attention.

 

It arose originally in the garden of Reinhard Kraft of Germany in 2000 when he planted 30 seeds called 'Green Giant' from a friend in Canada. 29 of them grew out regular leafed except for one which had big potato leafed foliage. Reinhard cultivated that one, selecting the best fruit for several seasons, and continued to save seeds. Yay, Reinhard! My original seeds were from my buddy Cynthia Sandberg, owner of Love Apple Farm in Ben Lomond, CA.

 

 

 

Marianna's Peace (7.95) 80 days. (BBB) (HG)      

 

One of our top 3 sellers.

 

The sugary nectar of this huge 5" tomato's creamy, dense, deep pink-red flesh is intensely rich, with perfect sweet-acid balance and sublime, complex flavors reminiscent of the finest of the "old-fashioned" tomato flavors. 

 

This big, beautiful irresistible up to 2 or 3 lb. deep pink-red fruit is the talk of the tomato world and has found its way into Top 10 favorite tomato lists of gourmands worldwide. It is perfection and one of the 3 finest tasting tomatoes in existence.

Marianna was from a family of farmers in Bohemia, Czechoslovakia. During World War II, in May of 1945 when she was 17, Russian soldiers came to her school and forced Marianna and all her schoolmates into a truck to be taken to Siberia. During the journey, she and a few others escaped by jumping from the moving truck, but Marianna was shot in the leg just as she crossed the Czech border. With the help of her friends, she was able to continue on to the town of Weiden, Bavaria. She lost all contact with her parents and brothers for the next ten years, but after a long and diligent search with the aid of The Red Cross, she finally found them in 1955. 

Before he died, her father gave her a little bundle of the seeds. 

Marianna married, and in 1957 moved to Washington State with her husband where they raised four children.

The legacy of these seeds reaches back to the early 1900's and year after year the tomatoes borne from this marvelous heirloom continue to be treasured for their outstanding taste and beauty. Incredibly sweet, creamy, with dense flesh, rich and luscious, reminiscent of the finest of those "old-fashioned" tomato flavors, the memories of which are the stuff of dreams for all tomato lovers. 

In the photograph, our customer Honey Piazza with a Marianna's Peace from her garden.

 

Polish  ($7.95) 75 - 85 days.

 

As many of you know, when I am selecting varieties for your garden, I have thousands of heirlooms to consider. It takes me months and often years to grow out and test these tomatoes until I'm sure you get only the best from me.

 

My criteria are:

 

Fabulous flavor, excellent texture, reliable production and gorgeousness.

 

Huge, brick red to dark pink, heavy 1 to 3 lb. fruits growing in extraordinary clusters of 3 to 5 huge tomatoes, all with superb flavor.

 

Polish are sweet, rich, meaty and juicy with exquisite flavors. Just breathtaking.

 

There are many heirloom tomatoes with 'Polish' in their names. But I have chosen for you the classic Polish. Don't miss it. You will love me for it.

 

This beautiful, disease resistant, potato leafed plant gets big! Give it extra support -- when it's loaded with tomatoes it will be heavy and unruly.

 

 

 

Red Mamba ($7.95) 80 days.

 

In a patch of Black Mamba plants, we were stunned to see several plants producing huge, gorgeous, deep red and pink 2 pound round or heart-shaped tomatoes!

 

"I remember saying, "What are you guys doing here?"

 

The flavor was heavenly! Classic old time rich yummy tomatoes with a fabulous mouth feel, flavors that explode in  your mouth!

 

Made the best dang tomato sandwich I ever had. I don't know if the tomatoes had crossed last season or if this was a spontaneous color mutation or what?

 

But we loved it so much we grew them out, saved seeds and here it is for you: Red Mamba!

 

 

 

    

 

Tati's Wedding  ($7.95 ) 80 days. (BBB)     

 

This big luscious beauty -- the most flavorful variety I've come across this season and my top pick for 2017, was discovered by my customer Dan Stein of New York as he drove through the Kazbek mountains in the Caucasus of Georgia, south of Russia. He was there on a special day, his friend Tatiana's wedding, when he stopped at a roadside produce stand and discovered this fabulous tomato.

 

The farmer had not name it, so Dan called it Kazbegi Red. After hearing this beautiful story, I couldn't resist naming it for Tatiana, whose nickname is Tati. 

 

These tomatoes are luscious, meaty and silky with big sweetness and just enough tang to make it the perfect all purpose tomato and one of the juiciest I've ever eaten.

 

So productive, you'll get dozens of delicious tomatoes in varying sizes and shapes on the same plant, from 5 oz. up to 16 oz. or more.  This is one of the most delightful traits of the heirloom tomatoes.

 

The tomato in the photograph weighed 16 ounces and was grown this season by my customer and friend Barbara Kraus of Rancho Palos Verdes, CA. After our Tati's Wedding plants were demolished by rampaging raccoons, Barb came to my rescue and grew out some plants in her garden.

Without Barb we would not have any photographs or seeds or plants of this incredible for you!  Yay, Barb!

 

Homepage: www.heirloomtomatoplants.com