Few vegetables are more central to the summer garden than tomatoes and as we prepare to plant this years seeds I thought to share some standouts that are new and old favorites of mine. We offer 75 varieties of tomatoes here and have a few dozen more that are not on our website that are in our collection. I am excited to share some of my favorites here!

Click on Variety names to go to webstore page

CHERRY:

Black Cherry -  I have always loved the perfect balance of sweet and complex flavors in this 1” cherry type with its dull purple/brown skin with greenish shoulders and purple/green gel around the seeds. 

Atomic Grape – a real standout for its appearance and its rich fruity sweet, dynamic flavor.  A whole rainbow of colors!

Champagne Bubbles - Also known as White Currant.  Has a very vigorous growth habit that requires trellising.  Produces very abundant fruit sets of small (3/4-1”) round pale yellow fruits the color of Champagne.  Flavor is very sweet and amazes all who try it.  Dare I say – our sweetest cherry tomato?!

LARGE HEIRLOOMS:

 Berekely Tye-Dye - This is a remarkable, large-fruited specimen with green fruit that has red and yellow stripes. Creamy green flesh infused with various shades of red and yellow is complex, fruity and somewhat low acid. It's likely that you haven't seen anything like this. 8-20 oz fruits. Bred by Brad Gates of Wild Boar Farms.

Cherokee Purple - Cherokee Purple produces 8-12 oz fruits that are a combination of red, green and purplish brown. It is a highly flavorful heirloom slicer that regularly places at or near the top of taste tests. Medium vigorous vines benefit from trellising, which also helps to ensure that fruit quality is enhanced.  While this variety references a name for the Cherokee Indigenous nation, it turns out that it was named by someone who was not a tribal member, we are still learning about the origins and appropriate way to reference this awesome variety.  

Moldovan Green - This is a large heirloom type with 8-12-ounce fruits that are a flattened globe and picked when green with a golden glow under the skin. Flesh is an intriguing lime green with darker translucent green around the seed cavity.  Their flavor is out-of-this-world pleasantly sweet and rich with no acidity and perfect texture.  They surprisingly became our FAVORITE! fresh eating tomato.  Try them, you’ll see.

BEEFSTEAK SLICER:

Siskiyou Slicer - This variety came to us from the collection of seedsman and breeder Dr. Alan Kapuler. Siskiyou Slicer produces nice 1-2 pound flattened red fruits with few seeds, a nice firm texture and great rich flavor. The most productive red slicer in our recent trials. In 2022 we are selecting the Siskiyou Slicer to again go to a nation wide trial through Seedlinked alongside many other slicing tomatoes to be able to offer more data on this marvelous and lesser known delight!  Originally named Oregon Large Slicing Tomato (ORLST) this tomato was developed from the hybrid beefsteak, "Whooper". Mildly indeterminate.

ORANGE:

Nebraska Wedding - First listed in the 1983 Seed Savers Exchange Yearbook by Dorothy Beiswenger of Crookston, Minnesota who originally received the seeds from a Mrs. Englert of Sandpoint, Idaho, who was seventy-two years old at that time. Mrs. Englert told a story that her pioneer ancestors from Minnesota had brought the seeds with them when they settled in western Nebraska in the late 1800’s. It was Mrs. Englert’s claim that the seeds of this tomato were given to Nebraska brides as wedding gifts.  Fruits are large (2-3”, 4-7 oz) and more orange than yellow.  They scored very high in our on-farm taste tests and their color and appearance were found to be very pleasing. 

PASTE:

Polish Linguisa - An early maturing, large fruited (10-12 ounce), sausage shaped heirloom brought from Poland in the 1800s.  Solid, meaty fruits are quite flavorful and pleasing for a paste type.  Versatile and beautiful!

UNUSUAL:

Green Zebra - Has very unique dark green and yellow stripes on 1.5-2” fruits that are quite a conversation starter. It is more tart (described as 'spicy' and 'zingy') than regular tomatoes, and is an early breed. Green Zebra was bred by Tom Wagner of Everett, Washington, and introduced in his Tater-Mater Seed Catalog in 1983. It is not an heirloom tomato, despite often being mistakenly designated as one.