Ananas Noir  80 days.  (Pronounced Ah-NAH-nahs-NWAR)  aka Black Pineapple ($4.95) We have been growing Ananas Noir as a special order for a very discriminating local tomato maniac. From Belgian grower Pascal Moreau, Ananas Noir is French for Black Pineapple. This big, unruly sprawling plant will give you a heavy crop of round, dark-purple 1 to 1½ lb. tomatoes with enticing green shoulders. The interior color is a prism of deep purple, pink, chartreuse and red hues. Loaded with full-bodied flavors, its smoky sweetness gives way to a surprising tang bursting in your mouth. Ananas Noir is a magical combination of fragrant tropical sugar and sassy enticement.

 

 

  Black Cherry ($4.95) F/C (Ch) (VE) 65 days. A perfectly round cherry tomato with classic black tomato flavor, sweet, yet rich, smoky and complex. Fruit picks easily from the stem and is produced in abundance on vigorous, tall plants. These cherries are irresistibly delicious: look like a  black cherry, taste like a sweet cherry-- a unique addition to the color and flavor spectrum of cherry tomatoes for your garden, along with Sun Gold, Green Grape, Snow White, Crazy and Reisentraube and our other cherries, it makes an arresting display for any table. Just outstanding. These guys got eaten moments after the photograph was taken.  :)

 

  Black Ethiopian ($4.95) 80 days. This spectacular tomato has an exquisite flavor-- just knocks me out.  Be prepared for extremely heavy production of deep reddish brown-bronze 5 oz. luscious plum shaped tomatoes, sweet, rich and tangy--just ambrosial. Black Ethiopian's exceptional production and splendid flavor have made it highly prized in the tomato world.  We are proud to be offering it for the first time.

 

 

 

 

Black From Tula ($4.95) (E) 70 days. Big, splendid, 10 to 12 oz. fruits with a beguiling color: deep dusky reddish-mahogany, with slightly green shoulders, and a sweet, lingering, ambrosial flavor. As a bonus, this Ukrainian variety offers a bountiful production. Pictured on the cover of  '100 Heirloom Tomatoes for the American Garden', by Carolyn Male. 

 

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    Black Krim ($4.95) 75 days (E) This much sought after Russian variety is unique and unforgettable, originally from Krim on the Black Sea in the former Soviet Union, Black Krim has a superb smoky sweetness with a delicate lingering touch of tang in a 4-6" slightly flattened, mahogany-colored fruit with lovely, deep green shoulders. Setting fruit at higher temperatures, it is superb and very easy to grow. (It is not the same variety as Noir de Crimeé).  

 

 

 

  Black Plum ($4.95) 75 days. F/C  (E) (P-S) This marvelous plant offers a very heavy production of rich, sweet, fruity, elongated, mahogany plum-shaped 3" fruits that fall into your hands by the dozens as you pick them. This one is outstanding eaten fresh, or sliced in a salad, with a rich smoky sweetness and a delicate touch of tartness to its creamy flesh, it makes a fabulous and perfectly balanced sauce or paste and is becoming a great favorite for canning. I like it fresh off the vine for straight-up garden snackin'. First place winner at the TomatoMania tasting of 2002.

 

 

 

Black Prince ($4.95)    (E)  (SM) 70 days. One of the most intensely 'tomatoey' flavored heirlooms, rich and juicy, a smaller plant, very prolific, easy to grow, it loads up in only 70 days with clusters of gorgeous 6-8 oz. deep, dark mahogany-red fruits the color of rubies at midnight.

 

 

 

 

Black Ruffles  aka Tim's Black Ruffles ($4.95)   85 days. In dazzling jewel-like shades of deepest dark purple, with the sweet smoky flavor of the finest black tomatoes, Black Ruffles is a cross of Black Krim and Zapotec Pleated. The depth of color in this luscious fruit is unequaled in the tomato world. Reaching up to 3-4" across and up to 12 ounces, it's amazingly prolific and produces like crazy right up until frost--its unique coloring and magnificent flavor make it real show-stopper.

Seeds of this exquisite black pleated tomato were sent to me by my sweet friend Lisa Von Saunder, owner of Amishland Heirloom Seeds in Pennsylvania. Lisa has graciously let me use her photograph here.

Check out her unusual vegetable and flower seed varieties: www.amishlandseeds.com 

 

 

 

Black Sara ($4.95) (E)    78 days. A fabulous New Jersey heirloom tomato! Flavor is out-of-this-world. The fruits are luscious: 3-inch pink-purple fruit with dark green shoulders and beautiful, unusual deep slate-purple streaks throughout the fruit. Marvelous flavor with a sweet and earthy background that lingers in your mouth.

 

 

 

 

 

  Black Sea Man ($4.95) 75 days (D)    So many customers have gone wild over this tomato that I have decided to include it for 2009 as one of our premier varieties. A Russian tomato, the smallish determinate plants produce an enticing mahogany color fruit with olive green shoulders when mature.

Inside, the flesh is deep dark red with a beautiful hint of dark green and loaded with full-bodied, complex, intense, creamy tomato flavors.  Wonderful for medium sized (10 to 15 gallon) containers, Black Sea Man has entered the running for the best black tomato in the world.

 

 

 

 Black Zebra ($4.95) F/C   85 days. This stunning, perfectly round 1½" to 2" fruit 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.

 

 

   Blue Fruit ($4.95) 76 days.     Astonishing color and sublime flavor make this 2”- 3” round, purplish-gray, almost blue tomato a rare and wonderful surprise for your garden. Averaging about 8 ounces, with all the enticing flavor of the legendary black tomatoes, its unmatched color makes it a real delight. Growing on a potato-leafed plant, Blue Fruit is rich and smoky, easy to grow and very prolific.

 

 

 

 

 

   Brown Berry (4.95) 72 days. The first brown cherry tomato, Brown Berry yields an exceptionally large crop of chocolate colored 1" cherry tomatoes. Semi-sweet, elaborate flavors finish with a fine hint of tang just over its fruity sweetness.  Wonderfully juicy and a great snacking tomato!  Adds another layer of color and flavor to your cherry tomato presentation.

 

 

 

 

Carbon ($4.95) 78 days. This big hearty plant produces a prolific harvest of gorgeous 10 to 14 oz, beautiful deep purple/brown tomatoes, many darker than the photograph here, making carbon among the darkest of the black tomatoes with delicious, rich, sweet complex flavor. Because of its high production and outstanding award-winning flavor--it placed first in a Cornell University tasting--it is in great demand in the tomato loving community and among market gardeners whose customers are in search of the finest black tomatoes.

 

 

 

  Cherokee Purple ($4.95) (HG) (E) 75 days. A legendary and beautiful tomato, at least 100 years old and said to be grown by the Cherokee People. 12 oz. deep dark dusky rose-purple, deep red inside, with sweet, rich and smoky, luscious flavor. Cherokee Purple is a garden staple, in everyone's favorite list for a good reason-- disease resistant, reliable and easy to grow, and great one for your heirloom or heritage garden. Seeds were sent to Craig Lehoullier by JD Green of Tennessee who got them from a neighbor whose family had grown them for more than 100 years.  In 1990 Craig named it Cherokee Purple.

 

 

Cherokee Chocolate ($4.95) 75 days.    This gorgeous tomato is sweet, rich and luscious, with a very distinctive dark chocolate mahogany hue, and brownish-black shoulders. 12 ounces and plentiful on the vine; this  stunning beauty which arose as spontaneous 'rogue' tomato in Craig LeHoullier's garden several years ago. Craig stabilized it and now this 4-inch beefsteak variety has developed a great following among celebrity chefs because of its exceptionally rich color and flavor.

 

 

 

   Chocolate Amazon aka Amazon Chocolate ($5.25)

80 days. This exceedingly rare, beautiful and incredibly delicious variety is the first tomato that I can say rivals my all-time favorite, Paul Robeson. Everyone who tastes it goes mad with tomato love and says it is the best tasting tomato they have ever tried, bar none. The flavor of this deep chocolate-brown tomato, as described by Lisa of Amishland Heirloom Seeds, " a distinctive, winey, smoky, rich taste and fabulous color."  Lisa was the first to offer seeds of Chocolate Amazon which were sent to her by her Ukrainian friend, Sergey. Double the size of most other black tomatoes, reaching 1 lb. or more, extremely prolific and pumping out sweet, luscious, juicy tomatoes right into the cooler weather, Chocolate Amazon is in our top three discoveries for your 2009 garden. Lisa's beautiful photographs are used with her kind permission.

 

 

 

  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 olive-green inside and out, and a flavor similar to Black Zebra 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.

 

Japanese Black Trifele  AKA Japanese Black Truffle ($5.25)      (SM) 80 days. Japanese Black Trifele, which translates to truffle, is a medium sized, juicy 3 to 4" inch long 6 -8 ounce pear-shaped, deep purple-black tomato with pretty green shoulders. In Russia the Trifele varieties of tomatoes--of which there are several colors--are highly prized and command high prices. Growing on a short potato-leafed plant, it's the size and shape of a Bartlett pear and among the darkest hued and finest flavored of the black tomatoes.

The skin is smooth and crack resistant and production is huge. Flavor is deep, chocolaty, smoky and rich, just wonderful. Took their picture and ate 'em.

 

 

   Paul Robeson ($4.95) (VE)  (HG)       65-70 days. This is my all-time favorite tomato and our top seller.

It is a gorgeous, dark and dusky-hued fruit with intensely sweet earthy taste with a hint of tanginess, a luscious velvety smooth texture, beautiful skin, rich with juice. You will love it. The seed was made available by Marina Danilenko, a Moscow seedswoman. 

This luxurious tomato is named for Paul Robeson (1898-1976), the elegant, renowned and charismatic operatic singer, law school graduate, champion athlete, film star, stage actor, and boundlessly brave champion of civil and personal rights throughout the world. This marvelous plant will give you its perfect 3"- 4" fruit in only 65 days from planting. Incredible; a symphony. I do believe this is the finest tomato in existence. 

 

 

New for 2010!    Purple Prince ($4.95) 75 days.    From Virginia, this beautiful, luscious tomato gives you armloads of big yummy 10 to 12 ounce irresistible deep purple  tomatoes with outstanding flavor. At sunset when the light hits them they take on a jewel-like glow, like a sunset at midnight and glow purple on the vine. Heavy in the hand, rich with juice, a sinful pleasure.

 

 

 

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