I also found some rare and unusual Russian tomatoes that I am sure you will love.
So, I am putting all these "glosnost garden" tomato gems all on one page of this website. That way you can see the fabulous tomato diversity that we Americans of the "cold war" generation never even knew existed.
All seed packs are $2.50 each
CLICK ON EACH SMALL PHOTO TO SEE A MUCH LARGER VERSION OF THAT PHOTO - USE "BACK BUTTON" TO COME BACK TO THIS PAGE.
Click to Add Global Priority Shipping Charges
NEW FOR 2012! KEMEROVETS TOMATO~ RUSSIAN EXTREME COLD HARDY VARIETY- Only USA Seed Source~ RARE~ Limited Quantities~ Order Early
Here is another great tomato I got from my Ukrainian friend Lydmilla. Not much history on it. Evidently, a Russian gardener, P.Y. Saraev, from the town of Orenburg worked on developing several super cold hardy tomatoes. They were said to survive several short term frosts. He said to -10 C (12.2 F). This was one of them. All I know is that we had one of the hottest summers in years this season in Amishland so this tomato wasn't totally happy with that. But cute! Oh yes, small little heart shaped fruit, just too adorable for words. They were a clear rasberry pink color that this photo doesn't do justice to. They were born on very short bushes about 2 and one half feet tall. The taste was just as sweet as they looked. I imagine you northern gardeners could put this baby to the cold test. Try it and see. To my knowledge I am the only USA source of these seeds. Limited Quantities~ Order Early
10 of my own fresh organically grown seeds.
NEW FOR 2012! GIRAFFE TOMATO "Zhiraf" in Russian~ RARE~Stick your neck out for this new Russian tomato!
I don't know what it is with the Russians, but they love animal names for tomatoes (and so do I!). I also carry "Pink Flamingo" and used to carry "Black Elephant" and "Red Cardinal", all hailing from "Mother Russia". I just adore giraffe (the plural of giraffe is the same) in the wild. They are nothing like the pathetic single ones you see in zoos.They are so graceful and amazingly active on the savannas of Africa. When running in herds, they look like wheat waving in the wind. Once, on safari in Kenya, we came upon on a big bull (old male) giraffe who had been bitten by a poisonous snake, but still seemed fine although his leg was very swollen. That was attibuted to the fact that the circulatory system in a giraffe is different than most animals. Click here for more info. The Swahili word for giraffe is Twiga, (pronounced tweega) and is the first Swahili word I learned.
This new tomato, was introduced to America by Andrey Baranovski of Minsk, Belarus, (a former part of the Soviet Union until 15 years ago). This was originally bred at the Timirjazev Agricultural Academy, Russia. Giraffe Tomato is what is called a "Long Keeper" and that it was! Cute, perfectly round 2 to 4 oz (ounce) spheres turn from light green to light yellow and ripen very, very late. Then when finally ripe, they tend to have a bit of pinkish red under their skin. Borne on short almost bush plants. These fruits never got soft or rotten or turned funky like so many other tomatoes. When I am in the midst of a tomato glut and trying to save seeds from all my 'maters at once, this one just waited patiently, still firm and ready to eat even in the heat of my side porch. By October they still were firm and ready to eat. Be the first to grow your own herd of Giraffe in your garden. 10 of my own fresh organcally grown seeds.
NEW FOR 2012! BLACK KRIM TOMATO Eat it without salt! ~
This heirloom black beauty hails from the Isle of Krim in the Black Sea off the coast of the Crimean peninsula in the Ukraine. It has a sublime, actually mildly salty taste, so forget that salt shaker (unless you are killing slugs!). Black Krim is sweet and rich and has that great wine like flavor you only find in the best of the "blacks". It has a really lovely brick red to maroon-brownish color with some green in the shoulders. So hard to describe but my photo lets you know its coloration best. The interior has a deep green gel. Yields good sized beefsteak type fruit in the 10 to 14 oz (ounce) size range. This tomato grows super fast so it can work well in a container if watered evenly. 10 of my own fresh organcally grown seeds.
NEW FOR 2012! GOLDEN KING OF SIBERIA TOMATO ~ aka (in Russian) "Zolotoy Korol" ~ Limited Quantities ~ Order Early ! ~
I absolutely love the heart shaped tomatoes, called oxhearts in the trade. And this new one, just in from Russia, is a true "heart breaking" beauty. A pure, clear lemon yellow color (my photo doesn't do it justice) , it is just too pretty. Perfect "realio trulio" heart shape. And it just held up so nicely in this hot, dry, drought ridden summer here in Amishland, when so many other tomatoes were biting the dust. Remember, Siberia has just as hot and dry summers as it has cold winters. So, Golden King was the "king of the garden" this season. Although considered an indeterminate, it grew on rather short bushy plants. Needless to say, these were the first tomatoes to ripen. The fruit were creamy ,which is hard to find - I have found this great quality in the Eastern European tomatoes more than in any others. With a sweet taste and smooth flesh, this little "sweetheart" was a real winner. Lord it over your "kingdom" in your garden and grow "Golden King of Siberia". To the best of my knowledge, I am only one of 2 commercial sources of this tomato in the USA. 10 of my own fresh organcally grown seeds.
BLACK PRINCE TOMATO aka Czerno Prinz Tomat (in Russian) My mother's maiden name was Printz (actually an Austrian name) so how could I resist a tomato with this name? This tomato was originally developed in Irkutsk, Russia (in Siberia) some years ago. It is typical of a true Siberian tomato variety since it is just outstanding in northern and cold climates. Despite it royal name it is just a workhorse of a medium tomato. It is juicy and has all those great attributes we love in the black sorts. It has that winey, rich taste that is so indescribable. Black Prince consistently scores high in tomato taste tests. The brownish garnet colored fruits are not only lovely to look at but grow abundantly. Here's to the little Prince of tomatoes! 10 of my own fresh organically grown seeds.
SOLD OUT ** EMERALD APPLE UKRAINIAN GREEN TOMATO- EXCLUSIVE- Only USA Seed Source! Cold Weather Tomato - VERY LIMITED QUANTITIES- ORDER EARLY! I got my original seed stock seed several years ago for this great tomato from my dear Ukrainian gardening friend Lydmilla. I was entranced by its poetic name. This is a tomato that doesn't like heat at all, so if you are in a colder zone than zone 6 in the USA you will love this variety. I had bad luck with it on the first two years, and I have a 3 strikes and you're out policy when growing. But this unseasonably cold and dry season here in Amishland finally made it happy and it grew happily and abundantly this year. Medium sized, green-when-ripe fruit are like most of the greens, spicy and very sweet. It had a complex hard to describe flavor and was truly wonderful. Worth waiting 3 years for? You bet! But I am afraid with a normal, hot Pennsylvania summer it will be miserable again. The only person I know who also grew this in the USA (from my gift seeds), loved it but he's in Minnesota! So all you northern gardeners, here's your chance to grow an exclusive and truly rare jewel, an emerald jewel to be exact. To the best of my knowledge I am the only commercial source of these seeds in the USA.SOLD OUT **
"ASHHABADH'S HEART" UKRAINIAN OXHEART TOMATO (SERTSE ASHHABADA) - translates as "Heart of Ashkabad" EXCLUSIVE- ONLY USA COMMERCIAL SEED SOURCE ~ This was another nice surprise from the Ukraine. I got my original seed stock seed for this gorgeous tomato from my dear Ukrainian gardening friend Lydmilla. She said that this tomato was resistant to fusarium wilt and root rot. It is, like many Russian and Ukrainian tomatoes, a determinate plant and quite short at maybe
3-1/2 to 4 feet high. Very pretty top shaped or heart shaped fruit weighing in at 8 ounces (oz) or more. Very firm and meaty and suitable for use as a paste tomato. My special thanks for V.P. who kindly translated the name in an email to me as: "Serdtse Ashhabada" would be "Heart of Ashkabad" -Ashkabad (formerly spelled Ashkhabad) is the capital city of Turkmenistan, a former Soviet republic". To the best of my knowledge, I am the only person in the USA growing out and selling these rare seeds.
10 of my own fresh organically grown seeds.
"PINK TRIFELE RUSSIAN TOMATO" - aka "Pink Truffle Tomato" EXCLUSIVE-ONLY USA COMMERCIAL SOURCE!- Like many of my rare and exclusive Russian and Ukrainian tomato varieties, I got my original seed to this from my great Ukrainian gardener friend, Lydmilla. I now am pleased to say I will now be able to offer all 4 of the Russian Trifele type tomatoes. I grew out last year the JAPANESE BLACK TRIFELE or Black Russian Truffel Tomato. Also, my favorite tomato last year, YELLOW TRIFELE TOMATO. This year I will be offering this, the Pink version as well as the Red version. Not only do I love the silly "Schmoo" shape of the Trifele tomatoes, but they are all very solid and meaty with very few seeds. The seeds were nearly all at the pointy top near the stem, the rest of the fruit had little gel or seeds whatsoever. The Pink Trifele was early and just kept on pumping out nice, perfect fruits all season long. This was the very last ripe tomato in my garden even into late October in my Zone 6A garden, after a hard frost. This Pink Trifele like all 3 of the others, is a small, short, compact plant, no more than 4-1/2 feet high. Maybe half of the fruits had very elegant fluting and pleating while still maintaining that pretty pear shape. The other half were smooth (see 2nd photo). They never cracked or got spots or any other blemishes, every fruit was lovely. Good meaty taste perfect for eating out of hand, in salads or for making your own Glasnost Russian Spaghetti Sauce. To the best of my knowledge, I am the only commercial source of these rare seeds in the USA. 10 of my own fresh organically grown seeds.
GIANT BLACK UKRAINIAN TOMATO ~ Rare ~only USA Source -
I got the original seed for this from my wonderful Ukrainian gardening friend, Lydmilla. She is the original seed source of so many of my rare Ukrainian and Russian tomatoes and peppers. I am forever indebted to her generosity.
This is a super, large "Black" type of tomato, not unlike my "Amazon Chocolate" in looks. But this is a much different tomato , with regular leaf foliage, (not potato leafed like the "Amazon Chocolate".)
It grew on rather small 5 to 6 foot vines. I would almost say this is a determinate tomato as it threw out most of its fruit early in the season in droves and then sort of petered out during the hot months. Then it caught its breath and went to town again in the late summer and early fall. When it stopped it was a dead halt and the plant just turned brown and dry literally overnight after first frost. This is another determinate trait. So the jury is out whether it is or isn't a determinate grower. What I do know for sure is this is another Ukrainian winner. Huge 3/4 to 1 pound or more fruit, very pretty with none of the cracking or catfacing that the black tomatoes are prone to. Great, rich, winey taste that the blacks are known for. Deep evergreen interiors, and nice and juicy. Just a wonderful new tomato for my collection and yours. I loved it and I am sure you will too. To the best of my knowledge, I am the exclusive commercial source for this tomato in the USA.
10 fresh organically grown seeds.
GIGANTESQUE TOMATO - SCARCE ~ ONE OF ONLY 2 SEED SOURCES! !-LIMITED QUANTITIES-ORDER EARLY
-This is one of my favorites of my friend Sergey's four rare kinds of Ukrainian/Russian tomatoes I grew out. Here is what Sergey said in an email to me about his Ukrainian tomatoes:- "I lived almost 40 years in the Capital of Ukraine and came in the US in 1993. I can say, that tomatoes from the south of Ukraine are very tasty. I start a gardening in US 3 years ago. My sister still lives there and she sent me several kinds of seeds from Crimean peninsula on the Black Sea. The best tomato in the Ukraine is from this place.
I have very low quantity of this seeds, but I am going to share with you. In February, my friend is going visit relatives in the Ukraine and he will bring new seeds for me. I will let you know, when they will come. I am going to send you few seeds of each kind of tomato with descriptions" Here is how Sergey described what he called "Gigantesque":- "I just translate it as very, very, very, big. Bushes are very high and heavy. They are disease resistant, heavy yield". I have grown out more than 50 kinds of tomatoes, and this absolutely the largest, hands down. I never saw such huge fruits, even larger than my record breaker "Hawaiian Pineapple." Each fruit was an amazing orangish red color, more on the orange side. The insides were a lovely very meaty pink color, which you don't expect from the outside color. Solid pink flesh inside, very little gel, and few seeds. Super taste in real prize winner sized fruits. The average fruit was close to 2 pounds or more, and more than 5" across! The photos are of the first ripe gigantesque tomato of season, they got much, much larger. I can't believe I didn't take any other later photos! Be the first in your neighborhood to have these monster sized tomatoes. These get to be an amazing size in such a short time. I am one of only two seed sources for this rare tomato.
My own 10 fresh organically grown seeds.
KIBITS UKRAINIAN TOMATO ~ Tiniest Tomato Plant Ever! ~ Ideal for Containers ~ Only USA Source ~ LIMITED QUANTITIES-ORDER EARLY
This little sausage shaped tomato is just so adorable. The plants were literally only 18" high at most, and most were only 1 foot high. It was covered all season with fruit that just hung to the ground it was that loaded. It ripened very early with fruits in mid July here in Pennsylvania. The fruit looked like they would be that elongated European style plum type. However they were quite juicy, not really plum type meaty. They were a great all purpose, snacking ,eating-out-of-hand, and salad type. Just so full of juice and flavor and ever so cute. It is wilt resistant besides. These kept on producing continuously all season long, right until hard frost. It was the last tomato I was harvesting this season. If you want a container growing type of tomato this rare Russian tomato is for you. I never had such a teeny, tiny plant produce so much. It easily out produced many much larger plants. All you apartment dwellers are gonna love this baby plant! Even the name is cute. It really was one of my favorites this season. To the best of my knowledge, I am the only source of this seed in the USA.
10 fresh organically grown seeds.
"RED TRIFELE RUSSIAN TOMATO" - aka " RED Truffle Tomato" EXCLUSIVE-ONLY USA COMMERCIAL SOURCE!- Like many of my rare and exclusive Russian and Ukrainian tomato varieties I got my original seed to this from my great Ukrainian gardener friend, Lydmilla. I now am pleased to say I will now be able to offer all 4 of the Russian Trifele type tomatoes. I grew out last year the JAPANESE BLACK TRIFELE or Black Russian Truffel Tomato. Also, my favorite tomato last year, YELLOW TRIFELE TOMATO. This year I will be offering this, the Red version as well as the Pink version. Not only do I love the silly "Schmoo" shape of the Trifele tomatoes, but they are all very solid and meaty with very few seeds. The seeds were nearly all at the pointy top near the stem, the rest of the fruit had little gel or seeds whatsoever. The Red Trifele was early and just kept on pumping out nice, perfect fruits all season long. This Red Trifele tomato like all 3 of the others, is a small, short, compact plant, no more than 4-1/2 feet high. Pretty pear shape, a bit smaller in size than the Pink Trifele with no Fluting, all smooth fruit. They never cracked or got spots or any other blemishes, every fruit was lovely. Good meaty taste perfect for eating out of hand, in salads or for making your own Glasnost Russian Spaghetti Sauce. To the best of my knowledge, I am the only commercial source of these rare seeds in the USA. 10 of my own fresh organically grown seeds.
"CHERNOMOR TOMATO" - Unique Brown Color!- - EXCLUSIVE!- Only USA Commercial Seed Source- I got my original seed stock seed for this great little tomato from my dear Ukrainian gardening friend Lydmilla. She called it a brown tomato, so I will too. It is in that range of peculiar green, brown, purple and black that so many tomatoes from that part of the world show. The photo doesn't do justice to its brown burnished beauty. I often am so busy in my gardens growing tomatoes and veggies that I miss my oportunity to get better pics of my lovely fruit. They really got darker and much prettier as the summer progressed and this photo was taken early in the season. These are medium sized, about 5-7 oz, and have that wonderful smokiness and richness of flavor that we all love in the darker hued tomatoes. I have been told that the name Chernomor means "Black Sea Man" or "Black Seaman" which is the direct translation from Russian. I don't know if this is the same tomato as the one sold by that name. I have been told that it is resistant to late blight by Lydmilla, although this dry summer I was lucky enough not to have to find out. Be the first to try this tomato where you live. To the best of my knowledge I am the only commercial source of these seeds in the USA. 10 of my own fresh organically grown seeds.
BACK FOR 2012-NEW CROP SEEDS~ ORANGE 1 TOMATO - ~ from BELARUS ~ RARE~ SCARCE!
I received a wonderful surprise package of heirloom seeds from Andrey Baranovski of Minsk , Belarus, a former part of the Soviet Union until 15 years ago . It is situated between Russia and Poland and is in growing Zone 4A. Andrey is an avid gardener and vegetable seed saver, and mailed me his favorite seeds without any notice , in hopes of a seed trade which we promptly did. He wrote in his letter to me in nearly flawless English: "I visited your site and was very impressed with your collection of rare and traditional vegetables, especially eggplant of different colors ... I would like to introduce you some of our varieties. Most of them are cold tolerant...it is huge snowing now and -10C. I live in zone 4A and grow most of the peppers and eggplants inside greenhouses and tomatoes half in greenhouses and half in open soils...hot peppers are not so popular while sweet are widely growing for fresh eating and pickling....I want you to present these great varieties to American and other foreign gardeners."
Here is how he described Orange 1 tomato (which was bred at the Belarusian Research Institute of Vegetable Gardening ): "orange, midearly, plain round shape, meaty and very delicious, from Belarus. Determinate -height- 60 cm, average size of fruit -100gr, maximum harvest from one plant -4.5 kg. Local tasty favorite for midearly tomatoes." I would describe it as more of a paste type tomato, very firm meaty flesh, and few seeds, with orange gel. Each fruit was absolutely perfect, from the very first to the very last! Extremely prolific and the color was an indescribably lovely orange-ish yellow. Very pretty fruit born mostly on tresses. Great wow, sweet, rich taste. I was super impressed with these babies, as they positively glowed in the sunlight. I had an amazing quantity of fruit from the very short, (maybe 4 ft tall at the most), vines. This one is a real winner, thanks Andrey!! In my yearly summer taste tests, and at the two museum shows I lecture at with heirloom gardens, they were a real winner too, and generated a lot of interest. Be the first in the United States to grow this rare Belarus heirloom tomato. To the best of my knowledge, I am one of only 2 commercial seed sources (they got it directly from Andrey B. also) of this tomato in the United States, thanks to the generosity of Andrey B. of Belarus
10 of my own fresh organically grown seeds.
TSYGAN BLACK TOMATO ~ VERY LIMITED QUANTITIES~ ORDER EARLY - (translates from Russian as GYPSY or GIPSY) ~ Here is another great, rare tomato from seeds I received from Andrey B. of Belarus. He described it as: "Brown-dark-red, midearly, tasty Russian variety. Semi-determinate, height 120 cm, average fruit size 120 gr, maximum harvest from one plant 5 kg." This tomato was actually very early and yet also very late for me in my zone 6A garden this year. I suspect, like many "black" tomatoes, it does not like the typical American hot summers. We have even had a hard frost already! This season here in Amishland, was very hard. It was unseasonably cold and wet in the early season, then followed by drought, more coolness and many cloudy days. Well, that cool weather made the Tsygan tomato very happy for a change and this year it really went to town! The fruit are deeply brown, brick red with deep green shoulders and dark forest green jel inside. This year the Tsygan weighed in at 1/2 pound or more as you can see by the photo. The flavor is scrumptious, rich and creamy, almost winey. This one is well worth waiting for and it may be happier in colder regions of the United States where it may be hard to grow ripe tomatoes successfully. To the best of my knowledge, I am only one of two commercial seed sources of this rare "black" tomato in the United States (they got their original seed from Andrey also) ~~VERY LIMITED QUANTITIES~ ORDER EARLY! 10 of my own organically grown seeds.
**BACK AGAIN FOR 2012** BALLAD TOMATO ~ ONLY USA COMMERCIAL SEED SOURCE!
Pink Ukrainian Tomato this is one of my favorites of my friend Sergey's 4 rare kinds of Ukrainian/Russian tomatoes I grew this past season. Here is what Sergey said in an email to me about his Ukrainian tomatoes: "I lived almost 40 years in the Capital of Ukraine and came in the US in 1993. I can say, that tomatoes from the south of Ukraine are very tasty. I start a gardening in US 3 years ago. My sister still lives there and she sent me several kinds of seeds from Crimean peninsula on the Black Sea. The best tomato in the Ukraine is from this place. I have very low quantity of this seeds, but I am going to share with you. In February, my friend is going visit relatives in the Ukraine and he will bring new seeds for me. I will let you know when they will come. I am going to send you few seeds of each kind of tomato with descriptions." Here is how he described what he translated as Ballad: "I cannot exactly translate, but is like 'very old novel', heavy yielded, small bush 60-70cm, weight 130-180 grams." Large plant with big pink fruits. Rather early for such large fruit. Nice sweet well balanced flavor, on slightly elongated boat shaped fruits on sturdy 7+ foot vines. Sergey said it was a small bush, but believe me, here in the US it was huge! The fruits all weighed over one pound as you see in the photo, covering my whole hand. Like all the Russian/Ukrainian tomatoes I have grown, these are early and cold tolerant. To my knowledge, this tomato has never been available before in the United States. 10 of my own fresh organically grown seeds.
HURMA or KHURMA UKRAINIAN Heirloom TOMATOAnother wonderful tomato from Sergey! This is the loveliest, almost fluorescent orange tomato. Hurma means persimmon in Russian. I have grown a "Russian Persimmon" tomato previously and this is a totally different variety. These small, perfect little orbs of golden sunshine grew early and kept on producing all summer long. They are about 4-7 ounces and nice and sweet and fruity (not sour like real persimmons). The name comes from their vivid color. This is a very rare variety seldom seen outside of the Ukraine or the Russian bloc nations. Great sliced on a plate of rainbow colors of Heirloom tomatoes. 10 Fresh organically grown seeds.
AMAZON CHOCOLATE TOMATO -aka Chocolate Amazon Ukrainian Tomato ~ My Own Introduction- SORRY, LIMIT OF 2 PACKS PER CUSTOMER, PLEASE.
This was my absolute favorite tomato from my friend Sergey's 4 rare kinds of Ukrainian/Russian tomatoes that I have grown. In fact, I would say this is still my very favorite tomato for superb taste, ease of growth, earliness, and hardiness. Here in his own words is the original email I received from Sergey: "I lived almost 40 years in the Capital of Ukraine and came in the US in 1993. I can say that tomatoes from the south of Ukraine are very tasty. I start gardening in US 3 years ago. My sister still lives there and she sent me several kinds of seeds from Crimean peninsula on the Black Sea. The best tomato in the Ukraine is from this place. I have very low quantity of this seeds, but I am going to share with you. In February, my friend is going visit relatives in the Ukraine and he will bring new seeds for me. I will let you know when they will come. I am going to send you few seeds of each kind of tomato with descriptions." Here is how he described this tomato which he translated as Chocolate Amazon: "It is really purple color. I have no other information about this sort." I think the name is perfect, it is really a rich brown in color like deep chocolate, and quite large as the fruit can grow one pound or more. Unlike other so-called "black" tomatoes, this one was huge, larger than any other "black" that I have grown. Distinctive winey, deep, smokey, rich taste and fabulous color. It is way early to color up, very prolific and keeps on pumping out huge beefsteaks until hard frost. It can take a lot of drought and heat as well as the cold.
I guarantee you have never seen or tasted a rich tomato like this. Everyone, (and I do mean everyone!) who tastes "Amazon Chocolate" says that this one is absolutely the best tasting tomato they have ever eaten, bar none. I even get long distance phone calls from customers who just have to tell me how fabulous it tastes. Even those who were hesitant to try such a strange colored tomato loved it. I exhibit at several harvest fairs and museum shows each season, and always put out a large tray of my tomatoes for people to sample. This one always gets their immediate and rapt attention. After their first bite, they want to buy seeds of "Amazon Chocolate" right there on the spot. In fact, in all honesty, you might say they demand the seeds! Please be sure to try this spectacular, rare and scarce tomato for your eating pleasure this year. I guarantee you will love it! Also, be sure to check out my fantastic new "Black" tomato that I grew out this season. It has a very boring name, "Giant Black Ukrainian", for such a great fruit. At first glance it looks a lot like the "Amazon Chocolate" but it tends towards being a determinate vine. Try them both and do your own taste tests.
My own 10 fresh organically grown seeds. SORRY, DUE TO THE HUGE DEMAND AND MY LIMITED SEEDS, ONLY 2 PACKS PER CUSTOMER PLEASE.
EFEMER RED UKRAINIAN TOMATO - ONLY USA SEED SOURCE! VERY LIMITED QUANTITIES! ORDER EARLY! Another wonderful tomato from Sergey! Here is what Sergey said in an email to me about his Ukrainian
tomatoes: "I lived almost 40 years in the Capital of Ukraine and came in the US in 1993. I can say, that tomatoes from the south of Ukraine are very tasty. I start a gardening in US 3 years ago. My sister still lives there and she sent me several kinds of seeds from Crimean peninsula on the Black Sea. The best tomato in the Ukraine is from this place. I have very low quantity of this seeds, but I am going to share with you.
Efemer translates as "unusual" in Ukrainian. It didn't look all that unusual, but the taste was the clincher, everything you want in a tomato! Vibrant red fruit was beyond prolific, pumping out medium sized firm fruit all season. This was nice and early like all the Ukrainian tomatoes, and also frost resistant. One of the first to start and the last to leave the garden this season. According to the translation Sergey gave me, it is capable of producing 2 harvests in one year. I'm not quite sure what that means, but here in my Zone 6a garden it was definitely out producing all the other tomatoes, especially in the rainy summer we had. To the best of my knowledge, this tomato is not available from anyone else in the United States.
10 Fresh organically grown seeds.
DE BARRAO BLACK UKRAINIAN / RUSSIAN TOMATO Another wonderful tomato from my friend Sergey! Here is what Sergey said in an email to me about his Ukrainian tomatoes: "I lived almost 40 years in the Capital of Ukraine and came in the US in 1993. I can say, that tomatoes from the south of Ukraine are very tasty. I start a gardening in US 3 years ago. My sister still lives there and she sent me several kinds of seeds from Crimean peninsula on the Black Sea. The best tomato in the Ukraine is from this place. I have very low quantity of this seeds, but I am going to share with you."
I grew out this splendid all purpose tomato from Sergey's seeds this past season. Small, egg shaped brownish-red-purple fruit have a fabulous spicy, sweet, rich taste. Unbelievably heavy yields of 2-4 ounce tomatoes smother the vines in fruit. This tomato was early and kept producing scads of darling, flawless fruit all season long until hard frost. I can't say enough good things about this all purpose tomato. This tomato appears to be very similar to my "Black Russian Plum" although this is genuine Ukrainian/Russian seed stock. The fruits were slightly larger and the plants had a more "sideways" growth habit. The vines were longer as well, and its hard to compare the flavor, but this one seemed "earthier". This is the easiest tomato I have grown, and perfect for children and beginners. Remember, like all the Russians, it can take Siberian cold, drought and heat. Even with the past season's wet summer, it did well. 10 of my own fresh organically grown seeds.
DE BARRAO PINK UKRAINIAN/RUSSIAN TOMATO Another wonderful tomato from my friend Sergey! I grew out this splendid all purpose tomato from Sergey's seeds this past season. Rich, deep pink, sweet fruit are about 3-5 ounces. These gems originally hail from the Siberian city of Irkutsk. Great for cooking, and eating out of hand. These grew on short almost determinate vines, and really produced all season. They were very early, ready in 70 days from transplant. Has that rich flavor that you get in the "black" Russian tomatoes but with a nice pink/red color. Fruit were egg shaped, firm, smooth and crack free. You will appreciate getting real Russian seed stock that is so cold hardy. This is the rarer color of De Barrao, which usually comes in red and black. 10 of my own fresh organically grown seeds.
SABRE UKRAINIAN HEIRLOOM TOMATO - ONLY USA SEED SOURCE- VERY LIMITED QUANTITIES -ORDER EARLY
-Pointy shape- I grew out this great all purpose heirloom tomato from a few seeds I received in a seed trade from a lady's Grandmother who lives in the Ukraine (formerly in Russia). Very compact plants are absolutely prolific with strangely shaped elongated fruit with points on the end. I have grown two other paste type tomatoes with this unusual shape and all have very different flavors. Sabre (think like the shape of a sword) is so meaty and solid fleshed. Virtually no gel and very few seeds. I averaged only 6 seeds per tomato! Perfect thin, bright red skin that peels easily for cooking. It cooked down fast to make the sweetest, richest , thickest tomato sauce. I rate this as the best cooking tomato I have ever tasted, and I have grown out over 100 kinds. This tomato takes a bit longer to reach its full potential, but is well worth the wait. To the best of my knowledge, this tomato is not available from anyone else in the United States. 5 fresh organically grown seeds.
NYAGOUS BLACK TOMATO~ Here is the most unusual "black" tomato I have grown out. Not really black, more of a darkish brick red color with a strange, almost glowing, emerald green undertone. Absolutely the first "black" type I have grown that is not prone to catfacing (spiral cracks) or cracking. Each fruit was flawless! I was told it would be grayish in coloring but did not experience that. My seed stock is originally from Dr. Jeff Nekola, via the famous German tomato collector and expert, Reinhard Kraft. Unfortunately, I do not know what country this great tomato is really from, because I wasn't given any more information. The 4- 6 ounce fruits grow on tresses or clusters. Very productive. But you do have to watch that you collect the fruit before it gets too ripe, since there is no indication of ripeness by color. I lost a lot of fruit to over ripening. Nice smokey flavor typical of the "black" type tomatoes. Rare new import. 15 of my own fresh organically grown seeds.
JAPANESE BLACK TRIFELE aka (in Russian:Tomat Jaapani Trüffel), aka Black Russian Truffel Tomato
Scarce
~ I got my original seed from my Ukrainian gardening friend, Lydmilla. Despite its name, this is Russian tomato! Cute Bartlett pear shaped fruit in a very deep black color with green shoulders. Or, as I personally think, Shmoo shaped. Read my "Yellow Trifele" description to see a photo of a shmoo. Very pretty with absolutely no cracking. My photos only begin to touch on its true beauty. The flavor is that you will truly love, rich and deep like fine quality chocolate. This grew on nearly determinate, short vines and took all kinds of weather with aplomb. I have also the rarer "Yellow Trifele" also from Russia and the Ukraine. Lydmilla sent along the red and pink trifele which I regret I did not grow out this season. I had no idea how wonderful these trifele types are. If you are a chocaholic this is the tomato for you!
My own 10 fresh organically grown seeds.
YELLOW TRIFELE TOMATO - Scarce Russian Heirloom ~Only USA Source~Looks like Al Capp's "Schmoo"!- LIMITED QUANTITIES-ORDER EARLY -
I absolutely adored these cute bright orangey yellow tomatoes! Talk about prolific. They filled up the smallish vines over and over. Each cute 3- 4 oz fruit was truly perfect. Not a single mark, crack or any defacing at all, just tons of silly little "Shmoo" shaped tomatoes. If you aren't baby boomer age, "Shmoos" were an invention of the comic strip writer Al Capp who did the "Li'l Abner" series. They date back at least to 1949, although I remember them in my childhood in the 50's and 60's.
(See the accompanying picture for the amazing resemblance.) But not only is the "Yellow Trifele" cute is it a great little tomato. It is a super "keeper", keeping fresh and firm for weeks after picking. I think it would make a dream of a market grower's type. Nice light orange colored flesh and sweet taste. They start out lighter yellow and get more golden as they ripen more while still remaining firm. They tend to get slightly green shoulders on some fruit. The trifele is a name that must refer to its unique shape in Russian. I received seeds of the pink, red and black trifele which are all that strange shape. But I only grew out the yellow and black this season. My original seed stock is from my Ukrainian gardening friend, Lydmilla. Look also on my website for her “Japanese Black Trifele" which, despite its name, is Russian. To the best of my knowledge, I am the only commercial seed source of this variety in the USA. Try it first for the laughs and then to enjoy their wonderful long keeping sweetness.
My own 10 organically grown seeds.
GIANT LEMON UKRAINIAN TOMATO
Rare~Only USA Source~Limited Quantity~Order Early~
I got my original seeds from my great Ukrainian gardening friend, Lydmilla. I just loved the color; it is not like any other yellow tomato I have grown, more of a clear lemon yellow with no trace of orange. So I once again have a limited quantity of these seeds available. Nice clear yellow interior and light refreshing fruity taste as you might expect from such a pretty yellow fruit. Very juicy and mild. To the best of my knowledge I am the only commercial seed source of this tomato in the USA. ~Limited Quantity~Order Early~
10 fresh organically grown seeds.
SANDUL MOLDOVAN TOMATO LIMITED QUANTITIES -ORDER EARLY
I can't say enough wonderful things about this lovely heirloom tomato. These gorgeous deep pink tomatoes won all my taste tests this season. I gave out samples at a museum garden show and people "demanded" to buy the seeds on the spot. A creamy, sweet, perfectly balanced flavor of sugar and acid in each huge one pound or more fruits. Fully one month earlier than any other I grew out this season. Monster vines which measured over 11 feet! I gave up trying to stake them, as each plant was weighed down with huge quantities of 1 lb+ fruit. This is an heirloom tomato brought over by the Sandul family from the Moldovan region in Europe. 10 of my own fresh organically grown seeds.
MAO CHINESE UKRAINIAN TOMATO- EXCLUSIVE ~ ONLY USA SEED SOURCE! - I got my original seeds for this great tomato in my second year of trading seeds with a lady's grandmother who still lives in the Ukraine. (formerly in the Russian Soviet Union). I just loved the odd name. Interestingly enough the original packet was written in giant yellow Chinese characters, as well as in Ukrainian and Russian. What an international tomato this one is! I suspect it may have come from the northern border of China, near the Russian border but haven't got any more information about its origins. I tried to find someone to read the Chinese letters, but couldn't, all the Chinese people around here only read Cantonese. I suspect it may actually say "Chairman Mao," since that was the Communist angle, which was appealing to the Russians (former Soviet Union) at one time. I checked my atlas and China borders the former Soviet Union to the south in quite a few places both in the far west and far east, such as Manchuria. At any rate, by any name, this tomato is amazing in that it has traveled worldwide so far to my garden here in Amishland, USA. What tales it could tell!
The plant spread and had more of a prostrate (lying down) habit than most of my tomato vines but with a very strong trunk. The fruit was nice and early, very red, meaty and solid . It is very deep red inside. Nice medium to large sized tomatoes, with a good all round balance of sweet and tart. Most of the fruit was about 8 -12 ounces this year. It never cracked or catfaced, and was nice and smooth. The later fruit came out a bit smaller but it is still producing in late October here in my zone 6A garden, even after a light frost! Be the first to grow a glasnost Chinese tomato in your garden.To the best of my knowledge, I am the only commercial seed source of this rare tomato in the United States.
My own 10 organically grown seeds.
PINK (ROZOVIY) FLAMINGO UKRAINIAN TOMATO - ONLY USA SEED SOURCE!
-I got my original seeds for this great tomato in my second year of trading seeds with a lady's grandmother who still lives in the Ukraine (formerly in the Russian Soviet Union). I just loved the name, and for some reason the Ukrainians seem to be obsessed with flamingos. We even have a good sized Ukrainian population nearby with a food store/deli, called, you guessed it, "Flamingo Cafe". Even written in the cyrillic alphabet, you can read that it says Flamingo, since it doesn't seem to translate. At any rate this is a fabulous tomato by any name. Very early, also one of my very first ripe tomatoes. A lovely raspberry pink color, solid and meaty. Each fruit was perfect, exactly the same size with no cracks or catfacing ever. This is great for eating out of hand, for salads, or salsa. It would lend itself well to being a good paste/spaghetti/cooking tomato as well. Medium height, indeterminate vines produced prolifically all season and are still pumping out perfect orbs of pink sweetness. A light frost has not deterred this tomato at all. Whatever its lighthearted name, this is a seriously good tomato.To the best of my knowledge, I am the only commercial seed source of this tomato in the United States. My own 10 organically grown seeds.
"MONOMAKH`S CROWN " aka "MONOMAKH`S HAT " - RUSSIAN TOMATO -Translated from "SHAPKA MONOMAHA"~ VERY SCARCE! ~ Monster Sized Fruit! ~ Increased Seed Count ~
This is the largest, hands down, tomato I grew out this season. It beat out over 20 kinds . Wow, I finally found out what this weird name really translates as! I originally was told shapka was hat. Well, the Shapka Monomakha is a crown on display at the Kremlin. It was supposedly presented to Prince Vladimir Monomakh of Kiev (1053 - 1125) by his grandfather, Byzantine Emperor Constanine IX. It came to symbolize Russia's claim to heritage to Byzantium. It was used to crown Russian monarchs from the 1400's until Peter the Great in the 1700's. I believe this tomato really is the 'crown' of Russian tomatoes.As you can obviously see by the photo this is one "bragging rights" kind of tomato. And that wasn't even the biggest one. You will definitely win any biggest or heaviest tomato contest with this monster. Great size and taste but very stingy with its seeds. Very meaty and dense interior. Great old fashioned taste. To the best of my knowledge, I am only one of 2 commercial sources of this seed in the USA(and I am pretty sure they got their seeds for their seed stock from me). Very limited quantity- Order early. Increased seed count to 10 fresh organically grown seeds!
RUSSIAN BOGATYR TOMATO ~ (Translates as "Russian Warrior") ~ Only USA Source ~ A tomato Worth Fighting For~
Here is another great tomato I received from Andrey from Minsk, Belarus (in the former USSR). Here is what Andrey had to say about this tomato in his own words: "Red, midseason, very meaty and firm, up to 800 grams (about 3/4 pound). Famous Russian amateur variety. Average height of plant: 200 cm, average size of fruit: 400 grams, average yield per plant: 12 fruit. Local favorite beefsteak!"
My fruit from his seeds that I grew out this season tended to be larger, easily half a pound to nearly one pound. The fruit was very flawless with no cracking or blemishes whatsoever. They were just perfect, round, deep crimson tomatoes that would lend themselves well for market growing. Good balance of sweet and tart and their firmness would help them to ship well. Just a great all round tomato that but deserves to be grown here. I can certainly see why it is such local favorite from whence it came. "Amateur Variety" probably means it is a family saved heirloom. It was quite a bit more prolific than Andrey suggested, as well. I got about 15-20 fruit per plant all season long. Try this new to the USA tomato, you won't be disappointed. This is a tomato worth fighting for! Also be sure to try my other "Bogatyr," the huge, early red bell peppers I got from the Ukraine. To the best of my knowledge, I am the only commercial source of this tomato in the USA. 10 fresh organically grown seeds.
BACK FOR 2012~ SPECKLED SIBERIAN TOMATO- One of only 2 USA Seed Sources!I introduced this rare tomato to the USA. This was the most exciting new heirloom tomato I grew out for many a year ! I got my original seeds for this great tomato in my third year of trading seeds with a lady's grandmother who still lives in the Ukraine. (formerly in the Russian Soviet Union). I was really stunned by this one and unfortunately it was nearly impossible to photograph the gorgeous golden speckles on the tomatos. No matter how many photos I took, none did justice to the beauty and uniqueness of this rare tomato. I don't have any history or information with this tomato, and my seed trading friend speaks very little English as well. Like all the Siberian sorts it can really take the heat and the cold and the drought. Be one of the the first in the United States to have this altogether fantastic looking tomato. Speckled Siberian will knock your socks off - its that beautiful and tastes super too. The only other seed source in the USA got their original seeds from me. 10 of my own fresh organically grown seeds.
YUBILENYNIY TARASENKA TOMATO- ~ EXCLUSIVE ~RARE ~ ONLY ONE OF 2 SOURCES! -My introduction to the USA -
Here is another great tomato from the Ukraine. I grew it out from seeds I originally traded for the third year in a row with a lady's grandmother who still lives in the Ukraine (formerly in the Soviet Union). I love her tomatoes! She still hasn't got much English to help me though. Through new information suplied by a customer I now know this great tomato was developed by Fedor Tarasenko, who celebrated his 75th anniverary in 1987 and named the variety after his jubilee (yubileyny). Fedor Tarasenko apparently was a rather well known tomato breeder from Russia. (I suspect he is no longer living). It was very meaty, firm and sweet with very few seeds. It cooks down wonderfully for sauce but is also great for fresh eating. It grows on a short vine and wasn't quite as early as many of the Ukrainian sorts, but well worth the wait. A great addition for the chef in your family. To the best of my knowledge, I am the only one of 2 persons in the USA growing out and selling these rare seeds commercially.
10+ of my own fresh organically grown seeds.
WORLD'S MIRACLE HEIRLOOM RUSSIAN PASTE TOMATO - aka MIRACLE OF THE WORLD PASTE TOMATO-RARE -VERY LIMITED QUANTITIES -ORDER EARLY
I have seen this called both ways. I loved the "modest" name, haha. They may not be a miracle but they are pretty darn good! I got my seeds in a seed trade , and I was amazed at how early and prolific these long pointy paste tomatoes were. Like many paste tomatoes from outside of the United States, they are elongated and have a definite "nipple" on the blossom end. These looked identical to my "Sabre Ukrainian Heirloom Tomato" that I got originally from my wonderful Ukrainian friend, Sergey, except they were about half their size! But that doesn't mean they were half as good, they were super. They were also a good bit earlier. They did not fall off the vine as many of these old time types do when ripe. I really loved the sweet, rich flavor and the fact that were so meaty with almost no seeds.Very thin skin too. They were rather dry inside, which means they are solid with very little wet gel. This makes them perfect for cooking down into rich ,savory sauces, dicing up for salsas, and all kinds of cooking uses. I am sure that once you try the sweet, long type paste tomatoes such as these you will never go back to the egg shaped types we Americans usually cook with. This is a hard to find tomato but well worth the search. Try these and while you are at it, for fun try my double sized " Sabre Ukrainian Paste Tomatoes". 5 of my own fresh organically grown seeds.
ORANGE RUSSIAN 117 TOMATO -
This was my favorite new bi-color (striped) tomato that I have ever grown, and believe me, I have grown lots as I adore the striations and marbling . This gorgeous tomato hails from the famous seed bank of the former Soviet Union. This is the first heart shaped (oxheart) tomato ever discovered with stripes. It is bi-colored both outside and inside. Absolutely breathtaking beauty. The taste is fruity, sweet and wonderful. I had very large fruits, mine averaged one pound, although it was described as being 8 oz or more. Very solid meat, scant gel and very few seeds. I am so very pleased to offer this beauty. It was somewhat late to ripen but it is really pumping out fruit now even in the cold, I guess that's its Russian genes. This was the tomato more people commented on in my gardens than any other this season. My own 10 organically grown seeds.
