Red Varieties for 2016

 

1884   (78 days) A great old-time favourite said to have been discovered by James Lyde Williamson near Friendly, W. Virginia in the flood debris from the Ohio Rover in 1884. Seed from this heirloom produce vigorous, regular leaf tomato plants that yield 1-2 lb. dark pink, flavourful fruit. A good choice when you want a relatively early maturing full size tomato. Indeterminate.

 

Abe Lincoln   (87 days) This American heirloom produces good yields of large, meaty dark red tomatoes. A multipurpose tomato that resists cracking.

 

Aker’s West Virginia   (85 days) A fast growing favourite with seed savers. The reason- wonderful old time flavour that is bold and intense. Attractive flattish 10-20 oz. beefsteaks are deep red and are a real joy to eat. Plants are also productive, very hardy with great disease resistance.

 

Amish Paste (80 days) Amish heirloom discovered in Wisconsin. A large paste variety that is extremely tasty and excellent for canning, sauces and salsa. Is also excellent eaten fresh. Meaty with few seeds. Indeterminate.

 

Andrew Rahart’s Jumbo Red (80 days) This beefsteak has exceptional taste and aroma; a great slicer that is very dense and meaty. Andrew Rahart lived North of New York city and collected seeds from the local immigrants. This one is a mainstay. Indeterminate.

 

Anna Russian (65 days) Heart shaped fruit are a sweet and juicy pinkish red with very high yields. Fruits average about 1 lb. Indeterminate.

 

Baxter’s Bush Cherry (60 days) Very tasty 1″ bright red cherry. Great for snacking or salads. Vigorous and productive. Determinate growth habit with eliminated the need for staking. Works well in the topsy turvy tomato growing systems. Determinate.

 

Bear Claw (85 days) Extremely large pink beefsteak tomatoes with good flavour—perfect for a great tomato sandwich. Indeterminate.

 

Beaverlodge Slicer (55 days) Very early, with a wonderful sweet/tart taste. Plants are loaded with smooth blemish-free fruit. Perfect for containers or hanging baskets. Determinate.

 

Beefsteak (90 days) A very old standard variety. Fruits are large, meaty, ribbed and deep scarlet . Weights average 12 oz. Fairly soft skinned for easy slicing. Indeterminate.

 

Bonny Best  (70-80 days)  An America  old-timer introduced in 1908 in Alabama with wonderful old-fashioned flavour. Produces an abundance of 6-10 oz. red fruit on a medium-sized plant. A great slicer. Indeterminate.

 

Box Car Willie (80 days) Perfect round red, medium to large tomatoes, extremely tasty and dependable. We first grew this tomato in a drought year, and it did wonderfully. A favourite of many. Indeterminate.

 

Brandywine, Pink (Sudduth strain)  (90 days) Considered the original Brandywine tomato. Similar to the red version except this one has the characteristic potato-leafed foliage. Same great taste for this large pink fruit. Indeterminate.

 

Brandywine, Red (Landis valley strain)(80 days) One of the most famous heirlooms (1885, Amish), the winner of many taste tests with bright tangy flavour. Large beefsteak type, up to 1 lb., ideal for slices, salads and sandwiches. Not a heavy producer. Long vines. Indeterminate.

 

Brimmer (85 days) Prize winning large plants produce 8 oz pink/purple, meaty fruit. A low acid tomato with a good tomato flavour balance. Indeterminate.

 

Brookpact ( 60 days) This early red is good for those with limited space. Plants tend to be small and neat but produce lots of large 6-10 oz fruit.

 

Caspian Pink  (80 days) 1900 heirloom. This is the variety that beat Brandywine in recent taste tests!! Originally from Russia, 11 oz fruits. Great for slicing or dicing in a salad. Ripens from the  bottom up so it is best to pick while still under-ripe. A balanced taste, sweet, succulent and juicy. Indeterminate.

 

Chadwick’s Cherry (72 days) An heirloom variety that has been grown for over 100 years. Plants produce high yields of small 1” red cherry tomatoes which grow in clusters. Sweet-tart flavour. Perfect for snacking or salads. Indeterminate.

 

Droplet (60 days) Very productive small red fruit; about an inch long with a point on the bottom. Perfect for salads, can easily be grown in large pots. Determinate.

 

Druzba  (74 days) An old Bulgarian heirloom – Often considered one of the finest heirlooms available, this variety is a heavy producer of 4” smooth, blemish free, juicy, dark red fruits that have a sweet yet tart flavour. A bonus is its early maturation and its disease resistance; a highly adaptable tomato which makes it a wonderful all-round choice for fresh eating or canning. Indeterminate.

 

Ethel Watkins Best ( 69-80 days) Round red, perfect fruit, 4-8 oz., juicy with an excellent sweet refreshing flavour. We love these in a salad and on bread. A favourite on our farm. Indeterminate.

 

Ernie’s Plump (80 days) An Italian saucer tomato that cooks down to the reddest, richest, most flavourful sauce ever! But just as delicious straight out of the garden. 8-12 oz fruits are a most unique shape: “plump” double pears with a tiny blossom scar. Extreme producer. A very popular plum type.

 

Federle  (85 days)A long narrow paste tomato with very few seeds that does extremely well in drought conditions. Rich and full tasting, it is one of our staple tomatoes for sauces, salsas and canning. Indeterminate.

 

Gardener’s Delight (70 days) Large red cherry tomato with good yields in clusters on a large plant. Very sweet and juicy. Indeterminate.

 

Gigantesque (75 days) This rare Russian variety was originally from the Ukraine. The regular-leaf plants produce a heavy yield of 1-2 lb orange-red, beefsteak tomatoes with a meaty flesh with very few seeds and a wonderful robust flavour. Indeterminate.

 

Gilbertie Paste (85 days) A long, narrow paste tomato with thick meaty flesh that is perfect for sauces, salsas, canning and grilling. Full rich taste. A favourite in our garden. Indeterminate.

 

Glamour  (74 days) Very popular old variety originally marketed by Joseph Harris Co., Rochester, New York in 1957. Strong, medium to large-sized firm tomato with good taste and crack tolerance.  Interesting habit of growing large leaves that bend down to support the plant. Indeterminate.

 

 

Harbinger (55-60 days)  Terrific flavour, reliable, lots per plant of medium-sized, thin-skinned  fruit. Introduced 1910. Does well in cool areas. Indeterminate.

 

Hungarian Giant (85 days) This popular variety produces deep scarlet giant 1-1/2 to 2 lb fruit with a nice strong tomato flavour – the perfect choice for your big fat tomato sandwiches. Indeterminate.

 

Hungarian Italian (75 days) An excellent producer of dark red paste tomatoes. Heavy yield and fruit keep well off the vine. Indeterminate.

 

Italian Heirloom (70-80 days) This classic Italian heirloom produces tomato plants that yield 12-16 oz., beautiful, red, meaty, slightly pear-shaped tomatoes with all the rich, complex, sweet flavours with good acid balance. Indeterminate.

 

Ludmilla’s Red Plum (80 days) Orginally for Kazakhstan, this wonderful heirloom was grown by a lady named Ludmilla for over 50 years. The 6-10 oz. fruit are red and very tasty, with the wispy foliage typical of long paste tomatoes. Great for canning or slicing. Indeterminate.

 

Kalinka  (50 days) A Belarussian tomato that is very early and productive. The red blemish free fruit are medium size and are produced in clusters. This nice flavoured regular leafed tomato is popular for fresh eating and early canning and a good variety for container growing. Determinate.

 

Manitoba (60 days) Developed in Manitoba, this 6 oz bright red tomato is very smooth with a slightly flattened appearance. Bush-like plants are very productive yet stay relatively small.  Resistant to cracking. Good for the topsy turvy tomato growing systems. Determinate – so does not need staking.

 

Mariana’s Peace (75 days) Large pink heirloom with Czechoslovakian origin.Tomatoes are oddly shaped and incredibly tasty. Does well in drought conditions in our garden. Indeterminate.

 

Matt’s Wild Cherry (60 days) A very sweet tiny tomato. Grows wild in eastern Mexico. This vining plant will sprawl sometimes 6 ft so this variety requires space or trellis support. Some blight resistance. Indeterminate.

 

Moneymaker (69 days). An old English heirloom; produces 4-6 oz globes that are intensely red, smooth and of very high  quality. This variety grows well in hot humid climates and greenhouses,  sets  in most any weather. Produces up to 60 fruits per plant. Flavourful and becoming rare. Indeterminate.

 

Mortgage Lifter (71 days) Large (1-2 lbs), meaty and vigorous red beefsteak. Original ‘Radiator Charlie’ strain. Legendary tomato developed in the 1930s by M. C. Byles of Logan, West Virginia. It is said that he sold his remarkable plants for $1.00 each  and paid off his mortgage in six years. The fruits are very large, pink, over a pound each and one of the best beefsteak flavours available. A good slicer with few  seeds. Plants are highly productive and disease resistant. Indeterminate.

 

Nips  (77 days) The provenance for this tomato reads like a travelogue. Originally given to a seed saver by a nun at the Ursuline Convent in Saskatchewan who received it from a family who had immigrated from the Dakotas in the 1950’s and at one time had stayed in the convent before moving to Nipawin. This is one of those tomatoes that may have originally had another name and acquired its present name from its travels from seed saver to seed saver. Since this is the only history we have, its name has been taken from Nipawin. An unusual, large 8-10 oz tomato that is oxheart type but shaped like a pear. The fruit is meaty and juicy with a nice tomato taste. We grow this tomato every year and use its heavy yields for sauces and canning. Indeterminate.

 

Polish Linguisa  (73 days) Polish immigrants brought this variety to New York in the late 1800s. Regular leaf vigorous plants that yield 10 oz. 2″ diameter sausage shaped fruit that are bright red, meaty and very sweet for a paste tomato. Good for sauces, salads, fresh eating, drying or freezing. Will produce until frost. Indeterminate.

 

Red Fig (75 days) A tomato that yields hundreds of small pear-shaped red tomatoes with a wonderful sweet flavour – perfect for snacking or in salads. This heirloom has been grown since the 18th century. Derives its name from the traditional manner of processing with a sugar syrup, then dried and stored as a substitute for figs. Indeterminate.

 

Rideau  (70 days) This very recent heirloom was originally developed at the Experimental Farm in Ottawa from 2 very old heirloom parents and introduced in the early 60s. A heavy producer of gorgeous round red fruit that vary in size from 5-10 oz; this tomato is crack resistant and especially good for canning or fresh eating. The flesh is meaty yet juicy with a nice sweet tomato flavour. Indeterminate.CG

 

Rose (80 days) Strong leafy plants bear beautiful large meaty beefsteak tomatoes that are smooth and incredibly tasty (some say they rival Brandywine for taste). Showed strong blight resistance in our garden this last year. Long yielding this tomato is great in salads and for canning and sauces. Indeterminate.

 

Saint Pierre (74 days) A good yielding French heirloom which produces round, medium-sized fruit, renowned for its super flavour. Produces well in cool weather and drought.  Indeterminate.

 

San Marzano (78 days) This Italian heirloom traced back to the 1700s is perhaps the best known paste tomato in the Italian community. A compact and prolific producer of bright red, 3 inch fruit over a long season, this plum type tomato has heavy walls with few seed so it’s great for tomato sauce. The San Marzano tomato is reputed to be the only tomato that can be used for sauce on a true Neapolitan pizza. Indeterminate.

 

Scotia (60 days) This Canadian-bred small bush variety produces heavy yields of medium-sized fruit in short season areas. A beautiful early tomato with a lovely sweet flavour. Popular for using the unripe tomatoes to make the famous Maritime Green Tomato Relish. Determinate.

 

Siberian (55 days) This small tomato variety sets fruit early. Bright red juicy fruit  with weights from 2-5 oz. Good for topsy turvy tomato growing systems. Determinate- so needs no staking.

 

Sicilian Saucer (75 days)  Huge heavy red tomato, up to 2 pounds, slightly flattened shape. Thick, juicy, meaty flesh. One slice is all you need for your sandwich. A well-behaved plant that does not require staking. We have won the “largest tomato” prize at the fair with this tomato. Determinate.

 

Siletz (Russian Siletz) (52-75 days) One of the best early tomatoes. Dwarf, determinate plants produce unbelievable yields of perfectly shaped, 8 oz fruit that are loaded with old-time sweet tomato flavour. Perfect for the home or market grower. Determinate.

 

Stupice (50-60 days) A 2 inch plum shaped fruit which grows in clusters. A Czechoslovakian heirloom which is good for eating fresh, in salads or for drying. Very early and continues to produce all season. Excellent flavour. Indeterminate.