The Biggest Tomatoes!

These plants produce fruit from 2 to 6 lbs.

 

                The Biggest Tomatoes 

1884 ($8.95)  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. 

 

 

 

    

Black Mamba $8.95 78 days  

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 ($8.95) 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.

 

 

  Gigantic, delicious 4 lb. treasures!

 

Cuostraleé ($8.95) (Pronounced Koh struh LAY)  85 days.  

 

Gigantic fruits, superb, classic tomato flavor on a rugged plant that's strong enough to support these huge tomatoes.

 

They get heavy as they ripen (we call it a 'stake breaker'), so use the strongest tomato cages like our TomatOH! Helpers.

 

Humongous brilliant-red 3 to 4 lb. tomatoes.

 

Very easy to grow, disease resistant and a reliable producer, in my top 10 favorites for stunning size and marvelous flavor!

 

Always use sharp blades to harvest tomatoes this big -- and cut the stem above the fruit leaving a part of the stem attached. This keeps air from entering the fruit at the stem scar. Your tomatoes stay fresh longer on the counter.

 

BONUS!  Cuostralee loves hot weather and will grow easily and wonderfully in all gardens.

 

 

  New for 2025!

Greek Rose ($8.95)  82 days.

 

We custom-grew this plant for one of our favorite Texas customers, Marilyn 'Mama' Schulz, this past season -- and grew a couple plants for ourselves. 

 

This big 4" 12 to 16 oz. tomato from Crete drew WOW's from our quick-to-volunteer tasting crew, with the flavors that a big tomato has to have to make it onto our list. Big plant!  Give it extra room and good support.

 

Rich, fragrant and juicy, sweet and meaty. The ruffled ribs appear only on the top half, a fascinating trait.

 

 Of all the special-order plants we custom-grew this season, this is one of the best ever!

 

An old-time tomato, I'd simply not gotten around to growing it for the past 30 years.  SO glad we grew it for Marilyn!

 

Not just a gorgeous tomato, Greek Rose has fabulous flavors stand up to any big red ruffled tomato we've ever tried

 

 

 

   

Green Giant  ($8.95 )  70 to 80 days 

 

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.

 

 

  

A Laurel's All-Time Favorite!  

 

Marianna's Peace (9.95) 80 days. One of our top 10 sellers  -- along with Paul Robeson, Apricot Brandywine, Tati's Wedding and Druzba....

 

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 and lots of tomatoes.

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. 

For those who want the best; these plants are precious. A Marianna's Peace plant makes a delightful and treasured gift for any tomato lover.

 

 

 

 

Polish  ($8.95) 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, heavy, brick red to dark pink, this plant produces 1 to 3 lb. fruits growing in 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. You'll 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 very heavy and unruly.

 

 

 

 

Red Mamba ($8.95) 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 tomatoes!

 

Some fruits are round, some are heart-shaped. All are big, delicious and juicy!

 

"I remember saying, "What are you guys doing here?" The exact shape and size as Black Mamba, but this gorgeous red color.

 

Their flavor was heavenly! Made the best dang tomato sandwich I ever had. Classic old time, rich yummy tomatoes with a sensuous mouth-feel and exquisite flavors that explode in your mouth!

 

My guess is that, with the help of a bee or a summer breeze, Black Mamba may have crossed with Tati's Wedding or Queen of the Sea -- they were in adjacent rows for a couple of seasons. The seeds I saved produced this marvelous cross in 2021. But we'll never know....

 

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

 

 

 

   A Laurel's Favorite

 

Tati's Wedding (TAH-tees) ($8.95)  80 days.  

 

Tati is a pet name for Tatiana.

 

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. 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 named it, so Dan called it Kazbegi Red. After hearing this beautiful story, I couldn't resist naming it for beautiful 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 8 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