Tomatoes

Tomatoes, as so many people have found out, are very much fun to grow - there's no limit to the number of varieties available, and they are nutritious and can be used in many ways. And there's nothing as sublime as a fresh, sun-ripened, juicy tomato fresh off the vine... just delicious. I never cared that much for tomatoes until I started growing heirlooms, but I've never looked back since!

Tomato starts

We do custom tomato and pepper starts - and new for 2010, tomatillos. These starts have been very successful and fun the last few years; I love spreading the enjoyment of all the tomato varieties available, and everyone loves the big, healthy plants.

Let me know how many and which tomato and pepper varieties you would like, by about the middle of March. The list of varieties we have is below; the brochure is online if you'd like to have something printed to study: online brochure. I can also help you decide, call or email to talk and get advice.

I provide large, healthy plants that are ready to go into the ground in late April/early May. In the Rogue Valley, it's generally considered safe to plant tomatoes on May 15 (although there may be frosts after that date). For the Willamette valley and Beaverton, the plants will be ready by April 30. Tomatoes are provided in used coffee and soft drink cups.

The starts can be picked up at the farm, we have one general pick up day in Ashland and a pickup day in Beaverton. The price is $3.00 per plant.



Lisa and her tomato starts

Tomatoes


click here for printable Tomato catalog (pdf form)

RED AND PINK VARIETIES

1 Peron Sprayless (Territorial) OP – 68 days – Indeterminate. Bright red, 3 1/2 inch firm round fruit, sweet and delicious flavor – tops some taste tests. Strong, naturally disease resistant plant. Prolific, moderately vigorous, reliable in most climates. I’ve grown this since 2000, it’s one of my all time favorites. FWF all-time favorite

2 Medford (Territorial) OP – 80 days – Determinate. Bred at OSU especially for southern Oregon. Red, round firm fruit, sweet and delicious flavor, quite similar to Peron (except for the determinate part, which makes it a smaller plant). Crack resistant. F1, V. FWF choice.

3 Brandywine (Synergy) OP Heirloom – 75 days – Indeterminate. Very large, pink fruits with the wonderful Brandywine flavor. A little slow to get started but loaded with fruit. Saved seed only, and Brandywine is more likely to cross than most tomatoes.

4 Stupice (Peters) OP – 55 days – Indeterminate. Pronounced “Stew-peach-ka”. Extra-early, cold-tolerant tomato. 2-4 oz salad size very very sweet, delicious red fruit, one of the first to harvest and one of the last in fall. Originated 1977 in Czechoslovakia. FWF all-time favorite.

5 Delicious (Territorial) OP – 80 days – Indeterminate. Very large, red tomato; Delicious holds the world record for tomato size. Tasty; said to have better flavor than most for cool nights. Crack resistant and meaty. Sometimes yields well, sometimes not. F1, V.

11 Rose de Berne (Synergy) OP - 78 days – Indeterminate. Medium large round pink fruit, excellent flavor under perhaps somewhat shaded conditions.

13 Legend (Abundant Life) OP – 68 days – Determinate – Organic seed. Perfect smooth medium-large red round tomatoes. One of the earliest maturing slicing tomatoes; also produced late season. I was impressed by this one. While it's listed as determinate, it seemed to keep producing. Parthenocapic so will set fruit when it's too cold for pollination (or possible too hot?). Strong tolerance to late blight.

15 Italian Market Wonder (GSI) OP - 75 days. Fresh market variety from Italy. “Very resistant to disease, large round fruits are beautiful and deep red.”

16 Longkeeper OP - 78 days. Late, medium size, usually perfect fruit (sometimes they crack). Little flavor. Picked just unripe, they keep extremely well (have kept until following April). For best storage may want to plant out a little later than other tomatoes.

20 Shuntuksi Velican (Peace seeds) OP – Indeterminate. Russian Heirloom that makes very large fruits, to 3 pounds, irregular and convoluted.

21 Palestinian (Peace seeds) OP – Indeterminate. Heirloom with large irregular heart-shaped fruits, to 1½ pounds, exceptionally delicious flavor. Seems to be able to produce delicious flavors in cooler/cloudier weather that leaves most tomatos blah. From East Palestine, Ohio.

56 Monte Carlo (GSI) Hybrid - 70 days – Indeterminate. Hybrid from France with excellent intense red & round tasty fruits.

61 Stump o' the World (Tomatofest) OP - 105 days - Indeterminate. Potato leaf variety with reportedly good yield producing large, 1 lb., pink, meaty fruit with superb flavor. Small seed cavity.

72 Early Girl Improved (Tomato Growers Supply) Hybrid – 52 days – indeterminate. Medium size round smooth red tomatoes, productive and reliable, not terribly early but produces nice looking decent tasting tomatoes for a good long season. VFF

80 Superfantastic (Totally Tomatoes) Hybrid – 70 days – Indeterminate. Medium-large red tomatoes, smooth red pretty globes, disease resistant (Verticillium, Fusarium Wilt and Nematodes).

92 Sioux (Sand Hill) OP – NEW FOR 2009. Medium size, round pretty red tomato, good yield, supposed to have exceptional flavor.

PURPLE AND BLACK VARIETIES

22 Purple Cherokee (Peter's Seed) OP Heirloom – 75-85 days – Indeterminate. 8-12 oz., deep burgundy fruits with a green shoulder, brown/maroon flesh and green gel. All time best tasting tomato with an especially rich flavor. Tend to be less productive and disease susceptible, but worth it. Others report no cracking, disease tolerant, produce even in bad weather (drought, hot and dry, cool and wet). FWF all-time favorite.

23 Black Prince (Nichols) OP – 70 days – Indeterminate. Prolific, reliable, salad size fruits of deep garnet color, the flesh is dark red to brown with shadings of chestnut. Great flavor. Tend to crack. They seem fairly disease resistant. from Irkutsk Siberia. FWF all-time favorite.

24 Purple Calabash (Territorial) 75 days. Indeterminate. Medium to small, flattened, highly ribbed fruit, dark purple fruit with green shoulders. Productive. Strong, unusual and complex flavor, comparable to red wines. Some people love the flavor, others hate it.

63 Black from Tula (Tomatofest) OP Heirloom – 75 days – Indeterminate. New seed source, this has been wonderful and the catalog description fits: “Russian heirloom from Tula; large black tomato, 3-4", slightly flattened, oblate, dark brown to purple fruit with deep green shoulders. Deliciously outstanding, rich, slightly salty, smoky-fruit flavor.”

YELLOW, ORANGE AND WHITE VARIETIES

26 Big Rainbow (Bountiful Garden) OP Heirloom – 80-102 days – indeterminate. Huge (up to 2 pound) yellow fruit with red streaks. Very juice, somewhat soft, with amazing sweet flavor. More productive than most large tomatoes. Ribbed, some cracking, some catfacing. One of our favorites. FWF all-time favorite.

27 Persimmon (Territorial) OP Heirloom – 80 days – Indeterminate. One of the best tasting tomatoes, large bright orange (persimmon colored) smooth round tomatoes. Heirloom dates back to mid-1800s. FWF choice.

31 Sun and Snow (Peter's Seed) OP – Indeterminate. From catalog: “Medium size slicer with iridescent yellow skin, snow white flesh at early ripening stage. Pleasantly flavored tomato is very white, whiter than white wonder. Indeterminate, 4-8oz fruit. Resists some common diseases.”

64 Tangerine (Heirloom Seeds and Marianna’s) 83 days – Indeterminate. Large, tangerine-colored tasty fruits. This variety contains the tangerine gene, linked to exceptional high levels of lycopene, which is proven in scientific studies to protect the prostate.

74 Lillian's Yellow Heirloom (Tomatofest) OP Heirloom – 95 days – Indeterminate – Organic seed. Big indeterminate tomato plants yield 10-16 oz., clear to orangey-yellow, fragile, thin-skinned, beefsteak tomatoes that have mildly sweet, citrusy flavors, juicy flesh. Potato-leaf. An heirloom from Robert Richardson, who received the seeds from Lillian Bruce of Manchester, Tennessee.

GREEN AND GREEN-MULTICOLOR VARIETIES

33 Green Zebra (Baker) OP – Indeterminate. Small/salad size tomatoes, chartreuse streaked with lime green. Full-bodied real tomato flavor. Good yield, but susceptible to blossom end rot. LISA SAVED SEED AVAILABLE FWF choice.

34 Aunt Ruby's German Green (SSE) OP Heirloom - 80 days – Indeterminate. From catalog: “Beefsteak fruits, 5"x4" in size and a pound or more. Sweet juicy flesh, refreshing spicy flavor.”

67 Ananas Noire (Territorial) OP – 85 days – Indeterminate. Uniquely beautiful and especially delicious! This was the talk of the 2007 tomato tasting – it was the best tasting and most beautiful. The very large tomatoes have skin in green, purple, orange and yellow, while the flesh is green with red and purple streaks. Delicious sweet and tangy flavor. Good yields. This is new seed source – seed from 2007, from a SSE Exchange, also available. FWF Choice.

SMALL FRUITED - CHERRY AND GRAPE TOMATOES

35 Sungold (Territorial) Hybrid – 65 days – Indeterminate. This has won more taste tests than anything else – the small round light orange cherry tomatoes have a sweet, tangy, fruity flavor that’s just amazing. One of the earliest, productive, but does not produce very late into fall. Some splitting. Non-semenis hybrid. FWF all-time favorite.

37 Mexico Midget (SSE) OP - 60-70 days - Indeterminate - Organic seed. Small ½” round cherry, round and juicy, strong excellent flavor. Mine came in at 63 days.

38 Black Cherry (GSI) OP - 71 days - Indeterminate - Organic Seed. Dark purple medium size cherry tomato with excellent flavor.

39 Green Grape (Nichols) OP – Indeterminate. Mild sweet large slightly elongated cherry tomato, greenish yellow; very highly rated in taste tests.

43 Peacevine cherry (Peace seeds) OP – 70-80 days. Small bright red cherry in tresses. Exceptionally good flavor, easy first place in cherry tomato taste and #2 overall (behind Ananas Noire). Very high in Vit. C cherry and gamma-amino butyric acid (a natural body sedative that calms jitters). Mine starting coming in at 64 days. FWF Choice.

70 Tiny Dancer (Tomatomania) OP – Indeterminate. Small, white (really pale yellow) cherry tomato with wonderful sweet flavor. Surprise in packet of Sungolds in 2006, found and named by Janet of TomatoMania. LISA’S SAVED SEED ONLY – END OF ROW

91 Chocolate Cherry (Territorial) Dark brownish purple medium size cherry tomato.

PASTE AND PLUM TYPE VARIETIES

46 Federle (SSE) OP – 85 days – Indeterminate. Very large, long tapered and pointed paste tomatoes, very few seeds in small cavity, dense soft texture good for processing and salsa. Good flavor. Productive, very little problem with blossom end rot. FWF Choice.

47 Amish Paste (Bountiful Gardens and Peace Seedlings) OP Heirloom - 75-82 days - Indeterminate. Very vigorous, aggressive plant - will take over garden. Large red somewhat pointed meaty fruits with good flavor. Some blossom end rot. Heirloom discovered in Wisconsin

49 Viva Italia (Territorial) Hybrid – 85-90 days – Determinate. A beautiful bright red Italian sauce tomato with outstanding fresh flavor and good yields. As with most pastes, tends to get some blossom end rot. Said to be resistant to bacterial speck. F1, F2, V.

50 Health Kick (Nichols) Hybrid – 75 days – Determinate. Very large, firm, bright red paste tomatoes, little or no blossom end rot. Not much flavor. Contains 50% more lypocene than most tomatoes. Semenis variety. FWF All time favorite.

51 Romeo (Peters Seed) OP – Indeterminate. The biggest paste tomato I’ve ever seen - in the 1 ½ pound range. Dense, soft flesh, good flavor.

104 Orange Banana (Victory Seed) OP - While this is a new seed source for 2010, we grew this some years ago and thought highly of it. Bright orange paste tomato, prolific, good flavor, medium size.

SWEET PEPPERS

1 New Ace bell pepper (Pinetree) - Hybrid – 62 days – This is the earliest, most reliable bell pepper I've grown, I’ve grown it for some years now. Regular size (not huge) peppers turning bright red when mature. FWF all-time favorite.

2 Cuneo Bell Peace Seeds OP – Huge, bright orange, sweet, very thick walled bell peppers. slightly nippled end. Very impressive peppers. 4 King of the North bell pepper (SSE) - OP – 70 days – Red bell pepper. Large, cold tolerant. We had a bunch of ripe red peppers on this one (under a tarp) outside in the garden in November. FWF choice.

6 Sheepnose Pimento Sweet pimento (Abundant Life) - OP – 75-80 days – A pimiento, like a small bell pepper, the size of a large cherry tomato. Prolific, smooth barely lobed and perfect, ripen early to a bright red. Very sweet thick walled little peppers.
One of my two plants was crossed, so there’s a risk of a bluntly pointed hot pepper, but this is good enough to take the risk. FWF choice.

7 Jimmy Nardello Sweet frying pepper (Seeds of Change, SSE) - OP – 80-90 days – long, twisted and wrinkled peppers, red and sweet. Looks like it should be hot, but actually (reputedly) the sweetest non-bell. Good production.

HOT PEPPERS

8 Early Jalapeño (Containerseeds, Peter’s Seed) - OP – 65 days – The basic jalapeño, earlier than most. I’ve grown this for years, it’s reliable if not terribly impressive.

10 Mucho Nacho Jalapeño (Totally Tomatoes) - Hybrid – 78-80 days – Extra large jalapeño, supposed to be somewhat hotter.

24 Big Jim/Big Kim Anahiem type (Colak or Tomato Growers Supply) OP – Very large, long, reasonably meaty, Anaheim type peppers. Good production; healthy. Supposed to be medium hot; mine were fairly mild. There are several varieties that are very similar.

15 Long Slim Cayenne - OP – 70 days – long thin very hot peppers, for drying. Reliable and prolific, even under less amenable conditions.

16 Bolivian Rainbow OP – 75-80 days – Decorative type of pepper, a different species than most peppers (Capsicum frutescens). 1” teardrop shaped peppers turn from purple to red to orange. Supposed to be very hot. Saved seed from Stella Jane.

19 Sonora Anahiem type (Colak) OP – Large, long, green chili, mild. 23 Serrano (Pinetree) - Small, hot pepper.

TOMATILLOS

New for 2010!

Purple tomatillo – This is the tastiest tomatillo I have tried, as well as productive of medium size dark purple tomatillos.

Tomatillos seem to need two plants for pollination and fruit set. I'll leave two seedlings in each pot, which should allow pollination, but you will need to take care that both plants grow and flower.


Notes on ordering (the fine print)

Please order by name. You can order by email, phone, or in person. After you order, I'll send you a confirmation and you can be sure you'll get your plants. I start a few extra in case of accidents. I'll send another email around pickup time (late April to mid May). There will be a pickup day in Ashland and one in Beaverton, or you can make other arrangements. We do not ship. Tomato and pepper plants should be picked up by May 20. Unless you've made specific arrangements, after that the tomatoes are open to being sold to someone else.

Even after you pick up your plants, please let me know if there are ANY problems. Even for things like late frosts or stepped-on plants, we'll provide more plants if we still have anything available.

Most tomatoes and all peppers are grown from commerical seed which is true to type (hopefully!). Tomatoes do cross, so for saved seed or seed from trades, there's a risk that the tomato crossed and the results might be a little unexpected. Peppers cross more readily.

The days to maturity are as listed by the seed vendor; it might be more or less where you are, and depending on the year, and may not be consistent between different seed vendors.

last updated: 2/20/10