Tomatoes

Order your custom tomato and pepper starts now!
$3 each - many varieties

Tomatoes are just about the most fun vegetable 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 tomatillos and basil. These starts have been so much fun; 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, no later than around the middle of March. The list of varieties is below; the brochure is online if you'd like to have something printed to study: online brochure. Neither list is complete - I have seed for many more that were less distinctive or never were evaluated. Please ask if you are interested in something not listed.

I can also help you decide, call or email for advice or if you just want to talk about tomatoes or peppers.

I provide large, healthy plants that are ready to go into the ground around May (whenever you need plants). Tomatoes are provided in used coffee cups. The price is $3.00 per plant for tomatoes and peppers, $2 for basil and $1.50 for tomatillos.

All plants should be delivered by the beginning of June, when the remaining plants are donated to student organizations.



Lisa and her tomato and pepper starts

Tomatoes


click here for printable Tomato brochure (pdf form)

RED AND PINK VARIETIES

1 Peron Sprayless (Territorial/Cottage Grove) 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. Organic seed available by request.

2 Medford (Territorial/Cottage Grove) 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.

3 Brandywine (Peaceful Valley/CA) OP Heirloom – 75 days – Indeterminate. Very large, pink fruits with the wonderful Brandywine flavor. A little slow to get started but loaded with fruit.

3D Brandywine/Sudduth's strain (Seed Saver's Exchange/Iowa) - NEW FOR 2011 - OP Heirloom - 90 days - Indeterminate. This is the famous, by reputation the most flavorful strain of Brandywine, the pinnacle of tomato flavor.

4 Stupice (Territorial/Cottage Grove and others) 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. Organic seed available by request.

5 Delicious (Territorial/Cottage Grove) 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 (Adaptive Seed) OP - 78 days – Indeterminate. Medium large round pink fruit, excellent flavor under perhaps somewhat shaded conditions. New seed source in 2012, we'll have to see how it compares to Synergy's variety.

13 Legend (Abundant Life/Cottage Grove) OP – 68 days – Determinate. 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. Organic seed.

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/Corvallis) OP – Indeterminate. Russian Heirloom that makes very large fruits, to 3 pounds, irregular and convoluted.

21 Palestinian (Peace Seeds/Corvallis) 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. Reliable. From East Palestine, Ohio.

61 Stump o' the World (Tomatofest/CA) OP - 105 days - Indeterminate. Potato leaf variety with reportedly good yield producing large, 1 lb., pink, meaty fruit with superb flavor. Late, but a very cool name.

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. I no longer buy from Tomato Grower's Supply so this is the last from this source; unclear if this is the same seed hybridizer as regular Early Girl.

72C Early Girl (Territorial) Hybrid - The classic Early girl. Discontinued due to seed origin.

80 Superfantastic (Totally Tomatoes) Hybrid – 70 days – Indeterminate. Medium-large red tomatoes, smooth red pretty globes, disease resistant (Verticillium, Fusarium Wilt and Nematodes). Very limited seed available, may be discontinued unless I find a new seed source.

127 Fantastic (Territorial/Cottage Grove) NEW FOR 2012 - Hybrid – 85 days – Indeterminate. Medium-large red tomatoes, round firm slicers, solid and crack resistant.

92 Sioux (Sand Hill Preservation Center/Nebraska) OP – Medium size, round red tomato, good yield; an early, cold-tolerant tomato, supposed to have exceptional flavor. This may be virtually the same as Lakota.

96 Willamette (Peace Seedlings/Corvallis) OP - Determinate. Nice round red tomato, productive, early, tasty, seems to be reliable. A good canner.

97 Super Lakota (Uprising/WA) OP - Cold tolerant tomoto, medium size basic red tomato.

112 Chianti Rose (Territorial/Cottage Grove) OP - 78 days - interterminate - Large deep rosy-pink beefsteaks, reputed to be a cross of Brandywine and another variety, with the rich Brandywine flavor but earlier. Very nice, fruit is almost identical to Brandywine. Organic Seed.

123 Morgage Lifter (Halladay's) (Seed Saver's Exchange/Iowa) NEW FOR 2012 - 85 days - Interminate. 1-2 pound pick beefsteak, meaty and crack-free, old-fashioned flavor. Heirloom from the 30s. Organic seed.

108 Gill's All Purpose (Territorial/Cottage grove) - 75 days - Detterminate. Nice round red tomatoes, with excellent flavor; the only one (other than Sungold) that was really delicious in the cloudy summer of 2010. An old Oregon heirloom variety. Organic seed.

126 Katja's (Adaptive Seed/Oregon) 60 days - semi-determinate. Medium-large, pink fruits, said to be productive under cool conditions. A favorite of Adaptive Seeds.

PURPLE AND BLACK VARIETIES

22 Purple Cherokee (Peter's Seed/Myrtle Creek) 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. Limited seed form this vendor, who is no longer around, so other seed source may be used.

23 Black Prince (Nichols/Albany) 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/Cottage Grove) 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/CA) 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.”

114 Japanese Black Trifele (Territorial/Cottage Grove) - 85 days - Inteterminate, potato leaf. A pear shaped tomato with green shoulders, mahagony midsection and dark base. Medium size, meaty, complex and rich flavor, Territorial calls this "A truely transcendent tomato" with "incomparable, almost indescribably complex and rich flavor".

YELLOW, ORANGE AND WHITE VARIETIES

26 Big Rainbow (Bountiful Garden/CA) 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. This was one of our favorites, but Gold Medal did much better in 2011; we will see how it goes.

27 Persimmon (Territorial/Cottage Grove) 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/Myrtle Creek) 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.

65 Plum Lemon () OP Heirloom - 75 days - Indeterminate - Smallish plants, bright yellow fruits that are the size and shape of a lemon, even including the pointed tips.

74 Lillian's Yellow Heirloom (Tomatofest/CA) OP Heirloom – 95 days – Indeterminate. Large, pretty yellow beefsteak tomatoes with a mildly sweet, citrusy flavors, juicy flesh. Potato-leaf. An heirloom from Robert Richardson, who received the seeds from Lillian Bruce of Manchester, Tennessee. Organic seed.

113 Gold Medal (Territorial/Cottage Grove) OP Heirloom - 75 days - Indeterminate - Very large, yellow blushed with red; mild flavor. Early ripening and does well with cooler nighttime temperatures. This did much better than Big Rainbow in 2011 and was a very impressive, productive tomato. Organic seed.

115 Jaune Flamme () OP Heirloom - Indeterminate - Bright orange and yellow salad size fruits with excellent flavor, early and productive.

130 Orange Oxheart () OP Heirloom - 80 days - Indeterminate - NEW FOR 2012. Heartshaped,bright orange yellow fruits in the one-pound range.

GREEN AND GREEN-MULTICOLOR VARIETIES

33 Green Zebra (Nichols/Albany and Baker/Missouri) OP – 75 days - Indeterminate. Small/salad size tomatoes, chartreuse streaked with lime green. Full-bodied real tomato flavor. Good yield, but susceptible to blossom end rot. New seed source, but old seed also available.

34 Aunt Ruby's German Green (SSE/Iowa) 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/Cottage Grove) 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. Organic seed

SMALL FRUITED - CHERRY AND GRAPE TOMATOES

35 Sungold (Territorial/Cottage Grove) 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/Iowa) OP - 60-70 days - Indeterminate. Small ½” round cherry, round and juicy, strong excellent flavor. Mine came in at 63 days. Organic Seed.

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

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

43 Peacevine cherry (Peace Seeds/Corvallis) 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.

91 Chocolate Cherry (Territorial/Cottage Grove) 70 days - Indeterminate. Dark brownish purple medium size cherry tomato.

109 Lemon Drop (Seed Saver's Exchange/Iowa) OP - 85 days - Indeterminate - Small yellow-green cherry tomatoes with tart-sweet flavor; handles cold, wet growing conditions. Won Seed Saver’s Exchange 2010 taste test. Organic seed.

110 Isis Candy (Seed Saver's Exchange/Iowa> OP - 75 days - Indeterminate - A bicolor cherry tomato, red with yellow starburts on blossom end. May be slightly larger. Said to handle cool nighttime temperatures well.

120 Indigo Rose (Territorial/Cottage Grove> NEW FOR 2012 - OP - 80 days. 2" cherry tomatoes are vibrant indigo, almost blue skinned with red interior; high in anthocyanin (antioxidant). Bred at OSU. Indeterminate.

122 Beam's Yellow Pear (Seed Saver's Exchange/Iowa> NEW FOR 2012 - OP - 75 days. 1 1/2" prolific yellow pear. This was the best yellow pear of 35 that SSE compared.

PASTE AND PLUM TYPE VARIETIES

46 Federle (SSE/Iowa) 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 (Peace Seedlings/Corvallis) 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/Cottage Grove) Hybrid – 85-90 days – Determinate. A beautiful bright red Italian sauce tomato with good 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. Semenis; discontinuing.

50 Health Kick (Nichols/Albany) 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, trials of F3 saved seed looking good. FWF All time favorite.

51 Romeo (Peters Seed/Myrtle Creek) OP – Indeterminate. The biggest paste tomato I’ve ever seen - in the 1 ½ pound range. Dense, soft flesh, good flavor. Very limited seed; have saved seed which may not be pure.

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

111 Speckled Roman (Seed Saver's Exchange/Iowa) - OP - 85 days - Indeterminate - 5" long paste tomato with jaggled orange and yellow streaks. - adding a little excitement to the practical paste tomato. Meaty with few seeds. Does get blossom end rot. Organic seed.

125 Saucy (Nichols/Albany) NEW FOR 2012 - OP – 68 days – Productive, compact plants, red plum shaped tomatoes. Fruit quality holds well on or off the vine. Few seeds. Determinate.

124 Nova (Territorial/Cottage Grove) NEW FOR 2012 - OP – 65 days – Determinate. Early roma time, meaty red fruits. Organic seed.

129 Napoli (Abundant Life/Cottage Grove) NEW FOR 2012 OP – 85-90 days – Determinate. Very high yielding redish-pink paste tomatoes. Resitant to Vert. wild and fusarism. Determinate. Organic seed.

SWEET PEPPERS

1 New Ace bell pepper (Pinetree/Maine) - 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. Unfortunately, the seed isn't available any more, so this is here just until my current seed stock runs out.

1B Ace bell pepper (Johnny's Seed/Maine) - Hybrid - Trying as a replacement for New Ace, but 2011 was a bad year and no peppers did well. 2 Cuneo bell pepper (Peace Seeds/Corvallis) - OP – Huge, bright orange, sweet, very thick walled bell peppers. slightly nippled end. Very impressive peppers.

4 King of the North bell pepper (SSE/Iowa) - 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/Cottage Grove) - OP – 75-80 days – A pimiento, like a small bell pepper. Prolific, smooth barely lobed and perfect, ripen early to a bright red. Very sweet thick walled little peppers. I eat them all right off the plant. FWF choice.

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

37 Chervena Chushka (Seed Saver's Exchange/Iowa) - 85 days - OP - 2" x 6" sugary sweet peppers, ripening from green to brown to vivid red. Bulgarian heirloom traditionally used for roasting; also delicious eaten fresh.

41 Yankee Bell bell pepper (Siskiyou Seed/Southern Oregon) - OP - Bred in Maine for short seasons. Medium size peppers that ripen to red. Compact plant.

50 Liebesapfel(Adaptive Seed/Sweet Home) - OP. Early, bright red pepper similar to Sheepnose with thick sweet flesh, but somewhat larger. Very nice peppers, although 2011 was a bad pepper year so I can't really assess.

53< b>Orange Sun(Nichols/Albany) NEW FOR 2012 - OP – 80 days – NEW FOR 2012. Large, ripening-to-orange bell pepper. Organic seed.

HOT PEPPERS

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

55 Jalapeno Gigantia Jalapeño (Nichols/Albany) NEW FOR 2012 - Hybrid – 68 days – Extra large jalapeño, thick-walled, medium hot.

52 Peguis Jalapeño (Territorial/Cottage Grove) NEW FOR 2012 - Hybrid – 75 days – Extra large jalapeño, very productive.

12 Tam - mild jalaepeño (Baker Creek/Missour) - OP - A mild jalapeño, with all the flavor and not very much heat.

15 Long Slim Cayenne (Peter’s Seed/Myrtle Creek) - 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, with purple foliage. Peppers have thin walls and more membrane than common peppers; very hot. Saved seed from Stella Jane.

23 Serrano (Pinetree/Maine) - Small, hot pepper, proflific, thin skinned. Use green or red. These are supposed to be five times as hot as Jalapeños.

24 NuMex Big Jim Anahiem type (Nichols/Albany) OP – Very large, long, Anaheim type peppers, medium Hot. New seed source for 2012.

36 Pepperonci Italian (Nichols/Albany) - 75 days - OP - Mildy hot Italian pepper for pickling or fresh eating.

42 Pasilla Bajio (Pinetree/Maine) - OP - Small, long thin pepper with smokey hot flavor.

47 Bulgarian Carrot (Sand Hill Preservation/Nebraska) - OP - Hot, bright orange peppers, productive. Organic seed.

51 Ancho Gigiantia (Seed Saver's Exchange/Iowa) NEW FOR 2012 - 90 days - OP - Medium hot, green-black medium heart shaped fruits, 4" long. Organic seed.

54 Aji Amarillo (Nichols/Albany) NEW FOR 2012 - 85 days - OP. From Peru, a different species than most peppers (Capsicum Bacatum). Mildly hot green to yellow to very hot ivory, 1000 scovilles at maturity. Spicy fruity flavor.

TOMATILLOS

Tomatillos seem to need two plants for pollination and fruit set. Rather than offering two plants in one pot as in past years, for 2012 I'm going to pot them in smaller cups and the price will be half as much. It should make growing and planting easier.

4 Purple tomatillo (Sand Hill)– This is the tastiest tomatillo I have tried, as well as productive of medium-small dark purple tomatillos. Needs sun to make the fruit really purple.

5 Tomatillo Verde – Green tomatillos, larger than the purple ones; a good basic green tomatillo for salsa.

6 Plaza Latina Giant (Adaptive Seed) – A huge, apple-size tomatillo, bright green, vigourous plant that produced in spite of being overrun by squash plants. These tend to crack pretty badly if well-watered or rained on.

7 Mexican Strain (Abundant Life/Cottage Grove) – NEW FOR 2012. 65 days. 2", larger and more savory than regular green tomatillos. Organic seed.

BASIL

1 Genovese (Nichols/Albany) – Classic, strongly flavored basil for pesto and italian dishes.

2 Mammoth Sweet (Territorial/Cottage Grove) – Sweet basil with very large leaves.

3 Siam Queen (Territorial/Cottage Grove) – Thai basil, used in asian dishes. Leaves are smoother and more pointed. A very decorative plant, smoothly rounded deep purple flower spikes.

4 Holy Basil(Synergy/CA) – Also called Tulsi. Not true basil, but grown similarly, with a wonderful sweet, spicy fragrance.

Tomato starts

Please order plants 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). You can pick up at the farm, there will be a pickup day in Ashland, Beaverton and Corvallis, and probably pickups at farmer's markets in Lebanon and/or Sweet Home. We do not ship.

Plants should be picked up by the end of May, if possible. Sometime in early June the extras and unwanted ones are donated.

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 that aren't our fault, we'll provide replacements, 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. Saved seed noted in descriptions. If you come across anything that doesn't seem right, please let me know! I only grow one or two of any variety myself, so I can't always detect rare problems.

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.

Tomato starts

If you are a school, church, or charitable organization, and you could use some tomato plants, I always have extras and spares at the end of the season. The varieties are not guaranteed, but these are large and healthy plants. There may also be pepper and other plants left over, but the selection and number are much more limited. Please contact me (no later than early May) to let me know what types and roughly how many you might want, and I can determine if your request can be filled.

last updated: 2/7/12