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TOMATOES (Lycopersicon lycopersicon) Tomatoes ( originally called tomatl ) were a curiosity to the early Spanish settlers in Mexico who sent them back to their homeland. By the 16th century, tomatoes had traveled widely throughout Europe, to Africa and the lands of the Moors ( Arabs) . Their odd names give you an idea just how Europeans viewed tomatoes when they first encountered them: Wolf Apple, Pomme d'amour (apple of love), Pommo d'oro (yellow apple). They were even considered an aphrodisiac. Thomas Jefferson, my personal gardening hero, grew tomatoes first as an ornamental in 1781 and later grew them for food. Since the rise of hybrid tomatoes in the 1950's, hundreds of heirloom varieties have unfortunately been lost.
I never fully understood why the tomatoes tasted so much better when I travelled. I can still vividly remember my first "Greek" salad served in a small taverna, in the neighborhood called Anaphiotika, which lies truly at the foot of the Parthenon in Athens. Just slices of the best tomato I had ever eaten, some Greek salty feta cheese, some sliced onion, a few olives and drizzled with olive oil. I did not realize then that I was eating my first "real" tomato, an open pollinated heirloom, not the awful cardboard hybrid ones served in America. It was heaven.
I needn't mention that Italy has made an art form of tomatoes in their cuisine.However, my first pizza in Bologna, Italy did throw me for a loop. There was not the red tomato sauce I was accustomed to, but garlic, olive oil and seafood, including mussels still in their shells on top. I was even at a loss as to how to eat it.
All food in Italy is adored and prepared lovingly. It is scrumptious everywhere from the cheapest little cafe on up. I loved the little tubes of tomato paste that looked just like toothpaste. Italians buy their food fresh, it is never refrigerated in their homes. Every Italian town and city has colorful outdoor markets exploding with produce, always eaten seasonally. In Venice housewives travelled far by water to get to the little markets so they took haggling over food prices to a new level! Italians take freshness, high quality and seasonally grown food very seriously. Like many travelers to Italy, I literally ate my way through the countryside.
When I travelled to Morocco, Tunisia, Senegal, and the former French colony of Guinea in West Africa, I encountered a French/Arab influence in the cuisine. Meals began with fresh sliced tomatoes and other vegetables spread out on plates, never in bowls like we eat salads, prior to the entree. Familiar French cooking was improved upon with African spices and unusual produce and grains.
Tomatoes originated botanically, it is believed, in the mountains of Mexico. They are so indigenous, that I sampled tomatoes in more meals than you can ever imagine, in each country I visited in South America. Peru really had the most varied cuisine but I also ate tomatoes in Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Peru and Mexico. The only place I didn't get to eat them was in Tierra Del Fuego, which barely supports any life much less gardening, since its only 800 miles from Antartica.
I hope you will enjoy the many rare heirloom, unusual and classic tomato varieties I have to offer on this and my other tomato pages which are listed by color. Be sure to have a look at the Belarusian/Ukrainian/Russian Tomato page as well for more Red selections.
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| Red Tomatoes |
NEW RED BRANDYWINE TOMATO ~NEW~Local PA 1885 Heirloom~
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Well, we all know how wonderful the Brandywines are and this is another winner. Unlike the other colors of Brandywine this has regular leafed foliage, not potato leafed. It was introduced in 1885 from Chester County Pennsylvania and was named after the Brandywine Creek that flows through there. It is not, as many believe, an Amish Heirloom. This is the taste we crave in tomatoes ,mellow, creamy, rich, and sweet. It is rumored to have been saved from extinction by the late great tomato collector Ben Quisenberry. The fruit were blemish and crack free for a beefsteak. I got a lot of ranges in size from 8 ounces or more to 3/4 of a pound. If you are a Brandywine lover , then you must add this to your collection. 10 fresh organically grown seeds.
10 fresh organically grown seeds per pack.
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NEW GLICKS 18 MENNONITE TOMATO Genuine Mennonite Heirloom~ Scarce~
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I got my original seeds in a seed trade after I put the word out that I am always looking for genuine Amish and Mennonite ( religious sect similar to Amish) Heirlooms. I don't have much history on this one. I did find out that I. N. Glick started Glick’s Seeds at Smoketown, Pa, near where I live and his seeds were from local sources. This was a pleasant surprise , a nice extremely prolific tomato that out produced just about any other tomato in my gardens. I had scores of perfect , firm, round midsized 10-12 ounce tomatoes of that peculiar orangeish red that you hardly see anymore. I believe this may have been a canner sort as these had more tartness or acid than most these days, and were quite juicy. Just a great all round tomato that kept on pumping out flawless fruit thru thick and thin and never stopped. I yanked the darn plants out still producing in mid November! If you want lots of tomatoes , especially for canning, juicing and processing , then this is the one for you. Get this great old Mennonite heirloom , don't bother with those so called improved new tomatoes out there. I was giving these away by the boatloads. You can't go wrong with this old fashioned beauty. My friend Mike L. up in Vermont is always asking me for " tawt (tart in Vermontese) tomatoes." Mike, this one is for you!
10 fresh organically grown seeds per pack.
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NEW Riesentomate aus Siebenbürgen Tomato- translates from German as " Bunchtomato from Siebenbürgen (Transylvania)" NEW!!! ~Rarest, Weirdest Tomato of All !~ Looks Like Red BRAINS!-
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I absolutely guarantee you have never seen a tomato like this, ever! I had seen a photo of the fruit some years ago and have searched for it ever since. This year I was lucky and was able to acquire 5 seeds of this amazing and nearly impossible to find tomato in a seed trade. I grew it out and it was absolutely show stopping and truly bizarre. Everyone who saw it wanted ( demanded ) it immediately! The fruits look like a mad scientist's experiment to make a brain that is red. They are one fruit covered in these lumps that you can twist off and eat like cherry tomatoes. But it is just one fruit all stuck together all over with these round protuberances. This is the hardest to describe tomato I have ever grown. The only other information I could find had only this to say about it ( my bad translation from German):
"Riesentomate aus red Siebenbürgen -OP- so tortured Fruit that you do not know what is the umbilical point of the stalk. A true futuristic sculpture. Fixed variety".
I researched Siebenbürgen on Wikipedia and found out it translates as Transylvania. You can read tons more fascinating information about all that on their site. Wow, how cool is that, a Dracula Tomato? So this tomato is actually from that fabled, spooky region. Reisentomate translates as Bunchtomato. This is NOT the Riesenstraube ( "bunch of Grapes") tomato, which is a relatively common German heirloom to find these days. I don't know another darn thing about its history. But I do know you will want ( need) this baby. Exceedingly prolific all season long and just so darn much fun. Be the first to astonish your neighbors and get bragging rights for sure with this tomato! I loved to see people's faces when I put these out on a plate. Remember what the Scarecrow said in the Wizard of Oz: " If I only had a brain" . Well, with this tomato, now you do! To the best of my knowledge I am the only commercial source of this tomato seed in the USA.
Very Rare- sorry, only 5 fresh organically grown seeds per pack .
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NEW VOYAGE TOMATO ~ super rare- Looks like Red Brains~Almost identical to "Riesentomate aus Siebenbürgen" Tomato-
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I got the original seed of this tomato also in a seed trade. Except for being slightly larger in size this seemed to be exactly the same as my other " brain tomato" . I had no info on this one either , other than a description which led me to believe it might be the holy grail of tomatoes, the elusive "Riesentomate aus Siebenbürgen" , which I had been searching for, for years. I grew it out and they turned out to be nearly exactly identical. Here is some of what I say in my description of the "Riesentomate":
"I grew it out and it was absolutely show stopping and truly bizarre. Everyone who saw it wanted ( demanded ) it immediately! The fruits look like a mad scientist's experiment to make a brain that is red. They are one fruit covered in these lumps that you can twist off and eat like cherry tomatoes. But it is just one fruit all stuck together all over with these round protuberances. This is the hardest to describe tomato I have ever grown
This is NOT the Riesenstraube ( "bunch of Grapes") tomato, which is a relatively common German heirloom to find these days. I don't know another darn thing about its history. But I do know you will want ( need) this baby. Exceedingly prolific all season long and just so darn much fun. Be the first to astonish your neighbors and get bragging rights for sure with this tomato! I loved to see people's faces when I put these out on a plate. Remember what the Scarecrow said in the Wizard of Oz: " If I only had a brain" . Well, with this tomato, now you do!"
The only difference was the size of the fruit was slightly larger and the vine was slightly shorter. So it may be another tomato altogether. I am just not sure. Order both and you too can do a comparison growout.
Very scarce- sorry, only 5 fresh organically grown seeds per pack .
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AMISH SALAD TOMATO (Cherry Type tomato)
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With a company name like "Amishland Heirloom Seeds" , how could resist the chance to grow a genuine Amish heirloom like this darling cherry tomato? Each fruit was round and all were simply perfect. Every single fruit was a glistening pinkish red color. The plants were literally smothered in fruits, about 2- 3 ounces each. See photo to see the size. These tomatoes kept pumping out all season, and like all the cherry types were extremely prolific. The have good firm flesh. These would be a market grower's dream as they would travel well and are oh so pretty plus deliciously sweet to boot.The vines don't get out of hand, growing maybe 6 feet tall. You can easily pick a half gallon or more fruits per day off of each plant.
10+ of my own fresh organically grown seeds.
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RED RUFFLED TOMATO
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I just love the "ruffled" or "pleated" sorts of tomatoes. This was another kind I grew out this year. As with the pink and yellow ruffled ones, this tomato is a "landrace" type and is semi-wild. It also comes from Mexico, home of of all the grandaddies of every tomato you have ever eaten. Another great and amusing looking fruit that just happens to taste great. It can take the heat , the cold and keeps on pumping out perfect little scalloped beauties all season. These were one of the first to ripen and one of the last to die off after hard frost. Nice sweet flavor too. They even made it through a heavy hail storm that killed nearly every other plant I had. ( the hail storm fortunately was late in the season or I would have no seeds this year at all! ) They tended to have a lot of a range in size between 4 and 8 ounces.
10+ of my own fresh organically grown seeds.
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ANGORA SUPER SWEET TOMATO RARE!!!
- also called " VELVET RED" This might be the most beautiful ornamental vegetable you will ever grow! Guaranteed to turn heads! The unbelievable foliage of this rare tomato is a fuzzy silvery gray color. They truly look just like the plant dusty miller, honestly. No matter how many photos I took, I wasn't able to really show you how very silvery and fuzzy they actually looked. The one inch ( 1" ) red cherry fruit are also covered in a slightly fuzzy silver "fur" as well.
While these tiny fruit are not nearly as fuzzy as the peach type tomatos I sell like " Jaune Peche", they do have a noticeably grey coloration over the red due to this fuzziness. You will love growing these tomatoes to show off to your neighbors and entertain your children. It is like growing little Angora cats in your garden. These tomatoes drew the most comments, stunned looks and questions of anything I grew out this past season. Plus, the name "Angora Super Sweet" says it all taste wise.
10+ of my own fresh organically grown seeds.
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CEYLON RED TOMATO RARE!
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My parents lived for years in Ceylon ( Sri Lanka) long before all the political problems there began , when it was truly an island paradise or the "Isle of Serendip" , as it was once called long ago. This island country was so perfect and beautiful that the word serendipity actually comes from that name. I visited my parents there many times. When I saw the chance to get seeds of a tomato from Ceylon, I jumped at the chance. I know, when I was actually there, why didn't I get them then ? Well, the truth of the matter is I was far younger and not doing heirloom gardening at that time.
So, jump many years to the future, and here I am growing this tomato as a special rememberance and tribute to my parents who both passed away in Sri Lanka. This is a fine ,sweet disc shaped tomato, somewhat like a small pumpkin in shape. Some got that really funny, funky shape you see in the photo like they couldn't decide where or how to grow next. Nice and early, especially as I thought that being from the tropics they would need alot of time and heat to produce. But this was actually one of my very first to ripen tomatoes this season. I got nice red, ripe tomatoes within 2 months from transplant. These are like many of the "land race" wild type tomatoes I have grown. They tend to be small, about the size of a silver dollar around and weigh about 1- 2 ounces each. Nice balance of sweet and tart and very, very prolific. These little beauties were also one of the last to stop pumping out fruit, all the way through October here in my zone 6A garden. So that is one long season of fruiting!
10+ of my own fresh organically grown seeds.
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NEPAL RED TOMATO RARE!
- I have travelled all over the world and one of my most memorable travel stories is when I got the bright idea I wanted to see the sun rise over Mt Everest on Easter morning. Well, easier said than done, but I travelled up the west coast of India where I headed for the hinterlands of Nepal. Mind you, I am no mountain climber so a far off valley with a good view of the Himalayan mountain range was quite sufficient. I found it in Pokhara Valley and did get to visit the first of many Tibetan Buddhist Monasteries I was to see over the years. I did see some amazing religious services and dances there at that time. Mt Everest is actually just a tiny blip higher than any of the other mountains but see with the sun rising over it, I did. I was later to live and work in Kashmir, India where I had a fabulous daily view of K-2 from my window. I was actually considerably closer to the Himalayan mountains there in Kashmir. At any rate, when I saw the chance to grow out a tomato from Nepal, I had to have it and now you will have that chance too.
This is yet another example of the flattened, pumpkin shaped " landrace" wild type tomatoes that I grow and offer to you, the gardener with a sense of adventure. You can see in the photo that they can get some really creative weird shapes as well. Very prolific as all the wild types are and so easy to grow. They require no care other than just staking them off the ground. Very resistant to bugs and disease. Nice combination of sweet and tart and more fruit than you can ever possibly eat. Needless to say, coming from Nepal, this tomato is both early and cold hardy but also took the summer heat well.
10+ of my own fresh organically grown seeds.
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FLASCHEN CHERRY TOMATO EXCLUSIVE!
This was a great seed trade from my German friend Oliver J. The name translates as bottle or flask , and I have no idea why it has such a name for a cute round cherry type tomato. It was very early, one of the earliest I had and kept on producing all summer long until hard frost. Not your typical cherry tomato, as the coloration was almost marbled, with waves of lighter yellowish red with the red. I almost listed this in with my bi-colored tomatoes.Very beautiful look like an Easter egg that was dyed, and subsequently very hard to photograph. These babies were so cute and tasty. They grew on a smallish vine so they don't take over your whole garden like some some cherry types do. Nice clean fresh taste. To the best of the my knowledge, I am the only one selling seeds of this tomato variety in the USA. Be the first to grow it in your garden.
10+ of my own fresh organically grown seeds.
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BLOODY BUTCHER HEIRLOOM HERITAGE TOMATO
- Ready to eat in only 55 days! I just love the name! I figure this must have been a popular old time name for red veggies. This is a fabulous multi-purpose tomato. It is very early , fully a month earlier than anything else I grew this year except for my super early Ukrainian tomatoes. ( see my "Ukrainian and Russian Tomatoes Page" ). These are very prolific and high-yielding. They have a good strong tomato flavor. The fruits are set in clusters of round, 4 oz. fruits that are a deep, dark red inside and out.These are fast growing, large potato-leafed plants that need staking. I had more tomatoes than I could possibly eat and I was bringing baskets of them to work. The plants kept on pumping out these small red jewels all season. I have been told these are an heirloom tomato but have found conflicting reports of their history, so rather than give out false information, I will just leave it at that- it is an heirloom, heritage tomato, possibly from England.
20 of my own fresh organically grown seeds
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ZOGOLA POLISH HEIRLOOM RED TOMATO - I got my original seed in a seed trade. Marvelous, abundant and prolific, my Zogola out performed all others in my garden this wet, rainy season. Each 1/2 fruit was flawless. This Polish heirloom is amazing! Tangy, rich, strong flavor in perfect fruit. Great for slicing , salsas and eating right in the garden. Luscious deep red color with fruits that are nice and meaty. This was my easiest performer, making alot of fruit fast and furiously all season long. I can't say enough good things about this rich red tomato. Just tons of fruit on disease resistant plants! 10 Fresh organically grown seeds.
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MULE TEAM HEIRLOOM RED TOMATO --BACK FOR 2008 - - This is a real "workhorse" of a tomato. I had heard alot of old timers speak longingly of this 'mater, so I decided to grow it out again this season. Good sized medium bright red (8-10 ounces or more) tomatoes have that elusive "old time" flavor like you remember. Sweet with thick flesh, this is the kind of tomato you may remember your grandmother growing. You can use this as a main crop all purpose tomato for whatever use you want, great canned, fresh or cooked. Expect abundant harvests of fruit with excellent texture and old fashioned flavor. Very uniform in size and production. This one has just enough "zing" to make it right for those who want a slightly "tart" tomato, but not too acidic.
10 fresh organically grown seeds.
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LANCASTER COUNTY" PASTE TOMATO- ITALIAN? - - I did a seed/plant trade with a friend, and this was supposed to be a large fruited, ruffled sort of variety of Italian tomato. But this pretty paste tomato is what grew out instead. It had marvelous, very prolific amounts of strangely square shaped paste type tomatoes. The plants were compact but not determinate, maybe 4 1/2 feet high. The fruit each weighed about 5-8 oz and were very uniform in size and shape. These bright red babies really pumped out all season, until I was just plain tired of picking them! They had very little gel, and were a tiny bit hollow inside. The tomato walls were very thick, solid and firm. This made them especially good for cooking down into rich tomato sauces. They were sweet, rich and very intensely red. I have researched every single Italian type paste tomato, I could find, but none came close enough in looks to positively identify these. But, I guarantee you will love these easy to grow, prolific bearers, and love their ability to make a superb sauce. They also hold up very well to being chopped up for a delicious fresh salsa. If you think you can help me positively identify these probably Italian cuties, please email with your thoughts. 20 of my own fresh organically grown seeds.
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MARTIN'S AMISH / MENNONITE TOMATO - I got this heirloom Pennslyvania German ( PA Dutch) tomato from an Old Order Mennonite neighbor, Mr. Martin about 8 years ago, near Reamstown PA. He said he got it from his Amish neighbors, so who knows if it is really Amish or Mennonite ( a religious sect similar to the Amish. The Old Order Mennonites also use horse and buggies and farm with horses, and are very conservative as well ). I have grown this out every few years and this season I grew it out for fresh seeds. So I am offering it for sale for the first time in years. Smallish vines are about 5 feet tall, which are kind of bushy. They throw out tons of perfect red, egg shaped meaty fruit, suitable for use as a paste type for cooking but with a great sweetness that is super just out of hand or in salads and salsas. Every single fruit is perfect and it is very resistant to disease and bugs. You can't get an easier to grow tomato or one that is more useful in so many different ways. I am the only one I know of with this special local variety of tomato. 15 of my own fresh organically grown seeds.
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 HARZFEUER TOMATO - aka AMBER FIRE TOMATO ~ONLY USA SEED SOURCE!~
- this translates from German literally as "Resin Fire" but it really could be called "Amber Fire". My German gardening friend, Oliver sent me seeds of his Weisse/White Tomato and this grew from one of one of those seeds. It is a nice, slightly orange/red tomato. It is medium sized fruit of 6-10 oz and slightly acidic in taste, rather juicy. It really pumped out the fruit and they stayed nice all the way to hard frost. I sent him photos of this tomato and he is almost sure it is "Harzfeuer" , one of the tomatoes varieties he maintains. He thinks the one seed got mixed in. To my knowledge, this tomato has never been available before in the United States. 10 fresh organically grown seeds.
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 HOWARD GERMAN TOMATO ~VERY RARE~Local Pennsylvania Heirloom - The locals here in Amish country also call them "Pepper Tomatoes". I have never seen these exact same tomatoes grown anywhere else. Prolific harvests of 5-1/2 inch long, weirdly pointed paste tomatoes that weigh about 5- 8 ounces ( although this year they were huge and averaged more like 10- 14 ounces). These are very meaty with a good, rich flavor. They have virtually no seeds, maybe 6 or so per fruit. An old scarce variety great for canning, paste, or sauces. Also delicious right off the vine in salads. Just the best all purpose tomato I have ever grown. Very resistant to disease and bugs, as well. Still seen here in Amish country, but elsewhere it is a really rare tomato. 10 fresh organically grown seeds.
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 MATT'S WILD CHERRY TOMATO - If you have a "black thumb" or have never gardened before, this is the tomato for you to try. This will grow anywhere there is sun. It is called Matt's Wild Cherry because Teresa Arellanos de Mena, a friend of U.of Maine ag faculty members, Drs. Laura Merrick and Matt Liebman, brought seeds to Maine from her family's home state of Hidalgo in Eastern Mexico it's the region of domestication of tomatoes The original seeds were picked from plants growing wild. Therefore, this is a species wild tomato, which means it is like a parent of all the small tomatoes you ever saw. Very sweet, tiny cherries, huge yields, superb flavor, my absolute favorite small tomato. It has long, long vines, that do best when planted by a fence to ramble on. These babies have such a huge burst of luscious flavor when you bite into them. Absolutely everyone says "WOW" at the first taste, and they never stop at just one taste! You will get a huge amount of these delectable tiny fruits. And they keep on pumping them out all season until hard frost in my Zone 6A garden. These are so sweet (a high sugar content, 11 Brix on the sweetness scale) and flavorful that my neighborhood children "snitch" them off the vines. Not to worry, there will be more fruits than you could ever eat. Each tomato is about the size of a small marble. Unlike the other "currant" tomato types, these stay nicely on the vine until you are ready for them. I consider these a must have tomato. If you plant only one small fruited cherry type tomato this year, this is it. So prolific that they will self seed! I had self-seeded "volunteers" coming up in the early spring way before any other tomato could take the cold. You only need to plant this baby once, and it will happily come up year after year. I also highly suggest its sister currant tomato, my "White Wild Mexican Currant Tomato," found on the "Other Colors" tomato page. 15 FRESH ORGANICALLY RAISED SEEDS
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 TOGORIFIC HEIRLOOM IRAN-IRAQ TOMATO - RARE! Well, you may not be able to travel easily to either Iran or Iraq, these days, but at least now you can taste one of their heirloom tomatoes. I was not able to get much information when I acquired my original seed, but I do know that they are super little tomatoes. Each prolific vine produces scads of half dollar sized fruit. They are heavily ruffled or ribbed and a dark red color. Good sweet balanced flavor. Really pumped out these darling little babies all season. I doubt if you will find this tomato anywhere else in the United States . 10 fresh organically raised seeds.
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