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The Biggest Tomatoes! These plants produce fruit from 2 to 6 lbs. Great for Big Tomato contests and impressing the neighbors.
Big Zac
is back for 2010!
Big Zac was developed by Minnie Zaccaria of New Jersey, a kind and kindred spirit, who has been growing big championship tomatoes for more than 20 years and has won the biggest tomato contest 7 times. Minnie, shown in the photograph with a 5.2 lb. Big Zac fruit, worked tirelessly to create this humungous fruit by crossing the largest heirloom tomato varieties she could find and finally came up with this amazing and yummy whopper of a tomato.
Radiator Charlie and his big tomatoes in a newspaper photograph from 1964. This gigantic legendary heirloom from Logan, West Virginia developed by M.C. 'Charlie' Byles in the 1930's, is huge, sweet, juicy, delicious and prolific, with splendid old time tomato flavor. The meaty pink-red fruits weigh at least a pound, averaging 2½ lbs. and reaching up to 4 lbs. A very prolific plant which continues to bear fruit right up until frost, it also keeps very well.
Marshall Cletis Byles, who much preferred to go by MC or just Charlie, owned a garage specializing in radiator repair. He developed Mortgage Lifter over a six year period by crossing German Johnson, Beefsteak and 2 other really big varieties, all chosen for their huge size and grand flavor. He sold the resulting plants for a dollar each (in the 40's), and was able to pay off his $6000.00 house mortgage in only 6 years with the profit from his plant sales. "I didn't pay but six thousand dollars for my home, and paid most of it off with tomato plants", said Charlie in a tape recorded interview with his grandson which aired recently on National Public Radio. Charlie's repair shop was at the bottom of a steep hill so travelers whose radiators over-heated during the climb had to coast back down to Radiator Charlie's for repair. Other folks heard about these huge luscious tomatoes and came from hundreds of miles to buy the plant. As my customer John in Virginia says, "It's just not a real tomato garden without Mortgage Lifter." Charlie Byles lived to be 97 years old. Here is a link to the story, in Radiator Charlie's own voice: http://www.loe.org/shows/segments.htm?programID=06-P13-00027&segmentID=6
Our deepest thanks to Jeff McCormick, founder of Seed Saver's Exchange, for keeping Charlie Byle's tomato seeds and so many other great heirloom varieties alive and thriving for gardeners worldwide. Without Jeff's efforts many of these grand old family heirlooms would have been lost forever.
Luscious, full-bodied and tangy, rich and sweet, its flavor is equal to its enormous size. Very meaty, Zogola stands up to heavy rains and drought, and is very disease resistant, extremely reliable and easy to grow. As Carolyn Male describes it: noble, strong, and wonderfully full bodied...just superb.
Go Back: See available varieties Homepage: www.heirloomtomatoplants.com |
Amana Orange
($4.95) 
Beefsteak (AKA
Red Ponderosa or Crimson Cushion)
($4.95)
(BB)
85 days. Here is the
original beefsteak heirloom tomato. Beefsteak will conjure memories of how real
tomatoes taste.
Huge, fragrant, delicious red fruits, up
to 2 pounds or more on a big vine, this amazing plant will need extra support to keep up with
the giant, juicy, sweet and scrumptious old-time tomatoes. A
classic.
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. 
Cuostraleé ($4.95)
German
Giant ($4.95) (BB)
(E) 75
days. German Giant, an old family heirloom, produces humungous deep pink smooth tomatoes with
huge luscious flavor. Sweet and juicy with a rich lingering aftertaste, it
reaches 2 lbs-3 lbs. in only 75 to 78 days. Very productive with potato-leafed
foliage, this fine old favorite is scrumptious!
Neves Azorean Red
aka NAR. (Pronounced Neh-ves Ah ZOR
ee uhn) ($4.95) 75 days. Boy are you in for a treat! This terrific,
boldly flavored, 1 to 3 lb tomato is produced on a big hearty plant
with a large central stem branching out into loaded branches of big
beefsteak tomatoes so delicious they have become the talk of the
tomato world. I have been custom growing this variety for
certain very discriminating customers for the past couple of years,
and now that the world is catching on to this spectacular fruit, it
could become the ultimate sandwich tomato or to show off your
special tomato salad. This one packs quite a flavor punch--not for
sissies. Featuring great disease resistance and an excellent
production right up until frost, we heartily thank Anthony Neves who
brought the seeds home with him from a trip to The Azores, a
Portuguese archipelago in the Atlantic about 900 miles west of the
mainland.
Omar's Lebanese ($4.95)
(BBB)
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 feel anticipation that can only be described as,
well...passionate. These startlingly beautiful 1 to 2 lbs or more.
tomatoes are sparkling shades of red-yellow-pink-peach, a veritable
rainbow in your hand. Gives me goose bumps just thinking about it.
Zogola ($4.95)
80 days. (BB)