BEEFSTEAKS

Beefsteak VF open-pollinated, 75 days. Indeterminate.  Bright red, crack-free, solid, flattened, slightly ribbed, meaty fruit often weighing more than 1 pound.   Rich sub-acid flavor. Excellent for slicing.  Large vines need support.  

    Beefsteak VF, sometimes listed as VFN, was brought to the market by W. Allee Burpee in 1983.

Better Boy   hybrid, 68 days.  Indeterminate. The smooth, juicy, globe-shaped fruit weigh 12 oz. or more. Productivity is excellent.   A single Better Boy plant grown by Charles Wilber set a Guinness World Record in 1987 by producing 342 pounds of tomatoes.  John Peto and Paul Thomas at Peto Seeds created Better Boy in 1964 by crossing a pink heirloom Teddy Jones and the well known Burpee hybrid Big Boy.

     

                                                              

Big  Beef   hybrid, 67 days. Indeterminate. A 1994 All-American Selections winner, Big Beef is considered by many experts to be the ultimate tomato.  The smooth, red, uniformly globe-shaped fruits will mature at 8 to 12 oz.   Big Beef was bred for consistent pollination under various climate conditions.   Expect excellent production 'early and  until frost.

    This really is a super tomato for the home gardener.  The fruits are consistently unblemished, uncracked, and large.  Weather and disease do not seem to affect production.    The flavor is nothing to rave about, but it tastes like a tomato - which is more than can be said for many hybrids.      Big Beef was developed by Colen Wyatt at Seminis Vegetable Seeds for PetoSeed Co in 1991.   Colen is somewhat of a genius in the plant breeding world, and in1998 AAS presented him the Medallion of Honor for his many high quality vegetable introductions.   Big Beef is not the result of genetic engineering.  It was created using old-fashion cross breeding techniques.

Big Boy    hybrid, 78 days.  Indeterminate.  WWII food shortages and the government's victory-garden effort motivated Burpee to focus on improving home garden vegetables.  In 1945 Burpee introduced the Fordhook Hybrid Tomato.   It was the best tomato developed to date but no match for what was to come next.   Oved Shifriss  was born in Israel and came to the United States  in 1936 where he earned a doctorate in genetics at Cornell University.   He was employed as director of vegetable research for Burpee in Warminster, PA, where after experimenting with thousands of tomato hybrid crosses, he revolutionize tomato gardening in 1949 by introducing Burpee's "Big Boy" hybrid tomato.   Although Big Boy's genetic heritage is a well protected trade secret, it's suspected that its parentage may include some great flavored Russian cultivars well known to Dr. Shifriss's father who immigrated from Odessa to Israel.  Compared to other tomatoes gardeners were growing at the time, Big Boys were less straggly, more resistant to disease, and reliably produced more fruit.  Its early maturity out-paced most non-hybrids by a week or more.  Burpee's new tomato, my Dad’s favorite, became an instant success when introduced and its popularity lingers on even today.

Big Rainbow heirloom,  94 days. Indeterminate. These meaty, golden-orange, ruby streaked,  1 - 2 pound tomatoes are sometimes listed in seed catalogs as simply Rainbow.  The low acid fruit grow on 6 ft. vines that definitely require support.  Although not a high yielder, fruit production is consistent even through hot, dry weather.  

   Rainbow has a sweet, fruity taste yet still maintains a rich tomato flavor.  Rainbow slices are perfect for tuna sandwiches.  

   In 1990  Dorothy Beiswenger from Polk Co. MN brought Rainbow to the attention of SESE, a seed savers network.  It's conjectured that most, if not all, of the gold-red multicolored tomatoes have a common German heritage.  The fruit are consistently huge and one entered in the Dekalb Co. Fair won 1st prize in 2005.

     

                                         

Big Zac    hybrid,  82 days.  Indeterminate.   Big Zac was developed especially for its enormous size. Properly cultivated, the meaty, glossy red, trophy sized fruit often weigh in at more than 4 pounds each. The flavor is reported to be satisfactory. The plants exhibit good disease resistance.
    Minnie Zaccaria has being growing tomatoes for over 40 years and has won the NJ Championship Tomato Weigh-in seven times. She retains the record for the heaviest New Jersey tomato ever - a whopper weighing 6.16 pounds. Her Big Zac mega-tomato is a hybrid cross between a red and a pink heirloom beefsteak variety. Many tomato growers think they know which two, but she sold the rights to Totally Tomatoes of Randolph, WI., and you can only be sure of having Minnie's prize-winning seeds by ordering from them.
    A few of Minnie's tips for growing monster fruit: Stake plants and use mulch, pinch off all suckers, feed weekly with liquid plant food, and remove all but a handful of the biggest blooms so that nutrients get directed to only a few tomatoes.

                               

Box Car Willie  heirloom,  80 days. Indeterminate.  Slightly flattened  10 to 16 ounce fruit named for Grand Ole Opry singer Lecil Travis Martin a.k.a. Box Car Willie.Joe Bratka's father discovered this prolific New Jersey tomato variety that exhibits fair resistance to disease and cracking. Joe found the seeds in a glass jar in a tool shed along with several other varieties saved by his Dad.Carolyn Male successfully germinated the seed.  Box Car Willie is said to have a robust old fashion tomato flavor with just the right balance of acid to sweetness.
    This is a multi-use, high yielding, juicy main crop tomato that's a good choice for canning as well as making a great slice to top a sandwich. Box Car Willie seed is listed for sell in numerous seed catalogues and many other sources are easily found on the internet. The problem is finding the true original heirloom introduced by Carolyn Male. A major wholesale supplier to seed retailers somehow introduced bogus seed into the marketplace. The offspring of these bogus seeds got even wider distribution. The same problem exists for Brandywine and many other heirloom varieties. Even buying only from long established major retailers can sometimes result in ersatz seed. It's wise to carefully compare the plant and fruit produced with detailed description of the original.   i.e. if the cultivar is described to produce 6 oz dark red fruit and yours area pound and orange, then you got to have a clue something's amiss.

Caspian Pink  heirloom, 80 days. Indeterminate. Weighs in at 3/4 pound, pinkish-red flattened fruits. Originally grown in Russia between the Caspian and Black Sea. When the shoulders turn pink you know it's time to harvest. Some experts claim this one beats Brandywine for taste. The flesh is soft, succulent, and juicy. I think it lacks some of Brandywine's fruitiness, but it Is invariably a much more reliable producer than Brandywine. Sprawling vines need staking.                                                                                                                                            

     

Cherokee Purple  heirloom, 83 days. Indeterminate. The 12 ounce, pink to dusky-purple fruit, with brown undertones, and shoulders that often stay green when ripe, are produced on vigorous six foot vines, and tolerate drought, disease, and heat better than average for a non-hybrid. The flesh is brick red. It is thought there are 2 strains of Cherokee with the only difference being that one has a more chocolate coloration.
   Cherokee is very hardy and generally performs well even under adverse conditions. Some seed catalogs attribute mediocre production, but I've generally found yields to be fair to good. The flavor is very rich and sweet, with smoky undertones. I rate it very highly for taste. In fact, for slices on a sandwich or wedges on a salad, few are better - no salt needed.
   The variety could very possibly date back more than 100 years. John.D. Green of Sevierville, TN., was given seed by a lady who obtained hers from a neighbor that swore the tomatoes were originally grown by the Cherokee Indians.  John sent seed to Craig LeHoullier who contributed samples to SSE, a seedsaver exchange, in 1991.
   Growing great tomatoes with legendary taste in the mountains of Eastern Tennessee is not exclusive to the Cherokee Indians.Grainger Countyfolks have been bragging about the great taste of tomatoes grown in the valleys of eastern Tennessee for over a century.  During the first half of the 20th Century moonshine was Grainger's chief commercial product, and then until recently tobacco.  But the demand for tobacco decreased so now Grainger County is No. 1 in the state in tomato production, while Tennessee itself is 4th in the nation.  From April to November growing tomatoes is Grainger's primary focus. The producers are so proud of their tomatoes they put a sticker with the county name on each one. "It's the decomposed limestone in the soil," some say that gives such a great flavor to the fresh-from-the farm tomatoes. It's that too, but even more so it's the dedication and careful attention that the conscientious growers give to their work that makes a Grainger tomato stand out from the rest.

Cuostralee   heirloom,   85 days.  Indeterminate. Cuostralee is a French heirloom.  Seeds were obtained for the USA in 1992 by members of Seed Savers Exchange, Carolyn Male and Craig Lehouillier.   Expect heavy yields of extra-large,  slightly ribbed, red fruit on vigorous vines that definitely will need support.  The beefy fruit can average 1 to 3 pounds each and have a classic rich flavor with a good balance of sugars to acid.   Allow plenty of room for the full grown plants that can be huge.  The regular leaf foliage is somewhat susceptible to disease, so keep a spray handy.

Crimson Cushion   rare heirloom, 85 days.  Indeterminate. Henderson's Crimson Cushion  was developed from a sport of Ponderosa.  Crimson Cushion was a deeper red, more reliable, and earlier than other beefsteak types in its day.  Peter Henderson introduced the variety in 1892.  The tomato is also sometimes known as Red Ponderosa or just plain Beefsteak, but not all tomatoes so titled are Crimson Cushion; only those whose heritage trace back to Henderson's original sport. The lengthy, wilt resistant vines produce bright red 12 to 18 oz, meaty fruit.

     Beefsteaks are distinguishable from other tomato types by containing numerous small seed cavities with meaty walls distributed throughout the fruit, whereas other tomatoes have larger but fewer cavities around a central core.  Beefsteaks lack a central core.

     Sandwich perfect beefsteaks are the most popular tomatoes with home gardeners, but less so with commercial growers who find the smaller determinate slicing tomatoes more compatible with mechanization. 

     True beefsteak varieties are indeterminate.  They usually are slower to produce first fruit, taking 80 days or more, but unlike many determinate plants,  the vines will continue to grow and produce fruit until frost.

Delicious open-pollinated,   77 days.  Indeterminate.    Gordon Graham of Edmond, Oklahoma, grew a 7 pound 12 ounce whopper that tops the charts according to Guinness Book of World Records.  Gordon's prize tomato was an improved  beefsteak variety named Delicious that's advertised as being an excellent slicer.   Well it certainly was for Gordon, for his one tomato provided enough slices to top 21 sandwiches.  

    Although Gordon received honors from Miracle-Gro, his fertilizer of choice was manure provided by his pet rabbit.  He also attributes the size to the fact that when he himself is not talking and singing to his plants, he leaves the radio on to keep them company.  He observes that the plants nearest the radio grow the tallest. 

       Delicious was developed by Burpee's from the heirloom Beefsteak a.k.a Ponderosa by selecting seeds from the best fruit over more than a decade.  Many of the smooth, meaty, scarlet fruit weigh in at more than a pound.  Two and 3 pound tomatoes - or even more - are not uncommon.  The bright red solid meat has few seeds, and the flavor lives up to its name: Delicious.    Most fruit are crack free.  The vines need support and produce continually until frost.

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Dr. Wyche's Yellow  heirloom,   87 day.  Indeterminate. Golden-yellow beefsteaks, 10oz - 1lb unblemished fruit. Dr. Wyche's Yellow is considered by many to be one of the best tasting yellow tomatoes, with just the right blend of sweet and tanginess. The plants grow huge, but production is iffy, dependent on the weather and other factors. Folks grow it because they love its meatiness and flavor, not its bounty.
   The published history of Dr. Wyche's Yellow is a textbook example of tomato-logy hagiographical unreliability. Some sources aver with certainty that Dr. Wyche was a one-time owner of the Cole Brothers Circus. Others claim the circus owner was a close friend of Dr. Wyche. Another just attributes that Dr. Wyche knew the owner. And yet one more source merely states that Dr. Wyche resided somewhere not too far from the Cole Bros. Circus winter headquarters in Hugo, OK. Whatever the case, all sources agree that Dr. Wyche was an able horticulturalist who employed manure from the circus animals to amend his garden soil to grow fantastic tomatoes.
   Now, we run into trouble again on just how Dr. Wyche's acclaimed yellow tomato made its way into the marketplace. Some say Dr. Wyche was a founding member of SSE (seed savers exchange) and contributed the seed himself. Another, more roundabout version, has Dr. Wyche's Yellow tomato seed being sent in 1992 to avid tomato heirloom researcher, Craig LeHoullier, by the legendary John D. Green of Cherokee Purple fame. Allegedly Dr. Wyche, on his deathbed, sent samples of his seed to John.
   Moral of this story is: on this website and others; enjoy the folklore attached to heirlooms, but keep a full saltshaker handy.

Druzba    heirloom,    75 days. Indeterminate. The Ukrainian word druzhba means "friendship",  and this unfussy heirloom,  originating from Bulgaria, certainly is friendly to gardeners.  The highly productive, disease tolerant plants produce 8 - 12 ounce, deep red, slightly flattened fruit in clusters of three to five.     The tomatoes have a good balance of meat to juice and the flavor is robust.    The strong and heavily leafed  plants do not grow much more than 5 feet tall, but do well caged to keep fruit from rotting on the ground.   Druzba was introduced to the U.S. by Norbert Parreira of France and first offered to SSE members by Carolyn Male

Early Large Red rare heirloom,    80 days. Indeterminate. These bright red  2.5" - 3" diameter, moderately ribbed, oval, 12 oz. tomatoes date back to Colonial times and were the most widely - some sources say practically the only - cultivated tomato variety in North America before the Civil War.   Sometimes listed only as Large Red, records indicate ELR was grown by the Shakers of Hancock, Mass. in the 1830's, and was included in Fearing Burr's 1865 book, Field and Garden Vegetables of America.  

    The hardy plants are very productive and need support to hold up all the tomatoes they produce.   The sweet, richly flavored tomatoes are a bit tough skinned so they are best used for soups, ketchup, salsa and sauces.   Expect cracking of skin during extreme wet periods.

     The cold spring and cool early summer 2013 temperatures delayed ELR first fruit maturity to 85 days.  Non-hybrid tomato maturity dates are very unreliable.  Even though most claim 80 days or so, 90 or even over 100 days is not unusual.   If you really want fruit in a hurry, plant hybrids.  Of course every rule has its exception.  Year after year Mountain Princess has been a consistent early producer for me - usually even ahead of hybrids Early Girl and Champion.

Giant Belgium (aka Belgian)  heirloom,    84 days.  Indeterminate. 1 - 4 pound, low acid, mild flavor, very sweet fruit.  Solid, more meat than juice, makes Belgian a great slicing tomato for sandwiches. Dark pink throughout. The plant sends out very long branches that need caging or staking.  It sets fruit better during extreme heat than most heirlooms. Bun size does not adequately describe Belgian's size, one slice more than covers an average slice of bread.  A Belgian I grew Won 2nd place at Dekalb Co. Fair 2007. Entered by Jim Yuvan of Plano.
Albert Behnke,a German immigrant and founder of Behnke Nurseries in Beltsville, MD., first offered Giant Belgian for sell at his nursery in the 1930's. He admired the taste of the large, pink fruit, so much so, that he insisted other family members store seed for him in coffee cans in their homes to prevent a disaster such as fire from destroying next year's seed crop.The Giant Belgian tomato soon gained popularity across the Mid-Atlantic, with customers driving to Albert's nursery in Beltsville from as far away as Richmond and Charleston to purchase plants. By the 1950's Giant Belgian was advertised in the garden catalog of the Gleckler Seed Company of Ohio.
     An interesting fact about Albert is how he met his wife, Rose Hausner. It follows the romantic script of three Hollywood films. If you've seen Love Affair[1939] starring Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer, the remake [1994] with Warren Beatty and Annette Bening, or the ever-popular An Affair to Remember {1957] with Cary Grant and Deborah Kerr, then you know the plot - sans Empire State Building.  Albert and Rose both were born in Germany and had immigrated to the U.S. as young adults seeking greater opportunity. Having never met, in 1931 they both were aboard a ship traveling to Germany for matrimony - but not to each other. On the journey they met and fell in love.  As soon as they arrived in Germany, they broke off their prior engagements and made a new one. Returning to the U.S.A. they became Mr. and Mrs.Behnke and lived happily ever after.

 

 

Kellogg’s Breakfast   heirloom,   93 days.  Indeterminate. Look for 1 pound plus, meaty, orange fruit, with few seeds.  The juice of a fully ripe tomato could be mistaken in color for Florida orange juice.  The fruit grow in clusters of 2 or 3 on strong vines that resist disease better than most non-potato leaf cultivars.   Many fans swear its complex, sweet - but not too sweet - flavor is the best they've ever tasted.   Expect huge fruit but moderate yields from this determinate.  The vines need strong support.  This is another heirloom I’m having trouble purchasing seed true to the original.

   This West Va. heirloom is named for Darrell Kellogg, a Redford MI railroad supervisor who made this variety well-known after receiving seed from a friend. 

Marianna’s Peace   heirloom,   85 days.    Indeterminate. The plants of Marianna's Peace have potato leaf foliage and produce fruit that are a deep, reddish-pink color, weigh one pound on average, and deliver a good, balanced, sweet-acid flavor.  Peace is often compared to Pink Brandywine, but Peace is earlier and more productive during hot spells. Often its size and remarkably good flavor are judged to exceed Pink Brandywine. Marianna's Peace  was introduced in 2001 by Gary Isben of Tomatofest and named in honor of his mother-in-law, Marianne Worschech Tibbetts (1927-2013) who as a schoolgirl in Czechoslovakia escaped being taken by the Russians to a labor camp by jumping from a moving truck, and then though shot in the leg while crossing the Czech border, she managed to cross the Austrian Alps to freedom in Vienna. The seeds were given to Gary by Marianna's sister. 

Mrs. Maxwell’s Big Italian  heirloom,   70 days. Indeterminate. Productive potato-leaf plants yielding pinkish-red tomatoes mostly weighing in at about a pound, but can weigh in at nearly 2 pounds.  The plants do grow tall and gangly so cages or poles or needed for support.  Trimming suckers and unwanted branches helps.  Seeds were given to Missourian, Mrs. Maxwell, from an Italian friend, and she then saved seed each year from the earliest non-cracking tomatoes for next year’s planting.  TomatoFest obtained seeds from Mrs. Maxwell’s son.  A very early producer for a beefsteak heirloom.  It will bear mature fruit quickly right along with your early slicing hybrids.

    The tomatoes are  uniformly  round, unblemished, without cat facing, and only minor cracking, There are few wasteful green shoulders or hard blossom end cores.  The flavor is great.  More tangy than Marianne’s Peace, but just as aromatic and robust.   I’m impressed.

                                                             

Omar's Lebanese heirloom,   90 days. Indeterminate. Huge 5", pink, green-shouldered, irregularly shaped beefsteak tomatoes are produced on vigorous plants that are more immune to plant disease than most regular leafed varieties.  Omar's Lebanese tomatoes typically tip the scales at over a pound and can weigh in at more than 4 pounds.   The plant should be given additional support. I cage, stake, and tie up mine.

    Omar's Lebanese was originally discovered growing in a Lebanon hill town by a U.S. colleague of Carolyn Male.  Omar’s Lebanese tomatoes  Won 1st place at the Dekalb Co. Fair 2008 & 2009. Entered by Jim Yuvan of Plano.

    While seed catalogues advertise prolific fruiting, many gardeners complain that production is highly irregular - perhaps depending on the seed source or the season's growing conditions. A growing season possibly could not see even a single tomato produced. The next might bring a bumper harvest. Similarly,Omar's flavor is inconsistent. Some seasons it can be incredibly aromatic, rich, juicy, and sweet. Yet, at other times gardeners report tomatoes that are mealy and bland.
    While I haven't notice the inconsistency in flavor or production others report, my Omar's do sometimes exhibit catfacing. The unsightly puckering and scarring does not damage the plant or affect the flavor of the fruit, but if extended very deeply into the tomato, it can greatly limit the edible portion. Unusually low temperatures during fruit set is most often the cause of the deformity.  Other contributing factors can be extreme variations in soil moisture, or excessive amounts of fertilizer. Omar's Lebanese is the only tomato I have this problem with, so obviously some tomato cultivars are more susceptible to this condition than others.

Paragon   rare  heirloom,   75 days.  Indeterminate.   One of the very first uniformly round and smooth yet good eating tomato. It was the result of Alexander W. Livingston's two decades of selective plant breeding.  The Livingston Seed Company began commercial production in 1870.  The sweet flavored Paragons weigh 8 to 10 oz.  Before Paragon most tomatoes were smaller and sour.  Livingston's new tomato became a hit with the canning industry and home gardeners.  Subsequently NW Ohio became an important tomato growing and processing region.

Pink Brandywine heirloom, 90 days.  Indeterminate.   Fruit size varies from12 ounces to some weighing over 2 pounds. The rosy-red fruit are flattened, globe shape, thin-skinned, with very meaty solid flesh. Potato-like leaf vines that grow to 7 ft. or more need staking. It is not a heavy yielder, but does well in cooler weather.
   Definitely a gourmet tomato, Pink Brandywine has subtle fruity undertones and consistently wins taste tests. Many considered it the world's best tasting tomato. I would argue that Traveler 76 is as good or better.  My experience with Pink Brandywine is that it simply refuses to set fruit during prolonged hot spells. But, typical of potato-leaf heirlooms, it is resistant to many foliar diseases. Two tips for better results with Pink Brandywine: 1. make sure the seed really is from the Sudduth lineage - many sources offer inferior impersonators. 2. cautiously flick the mature blossoms during hot spells to aid pollination.
    Red Brandywine was first offered for sell in 1889 by Johnson & Stokes of Philadelphia. Named after Brandywine Creek in Chester County, PA., Brandywine tomatoes are often referred to as an 'Amish' heirlooms.  Pink Brandywine tomatoes had been grown by Dorris Sudduth Hill's family for over 100 years when in 1980 Ben Quinsenbury of Big Tomato Gardens, an Ohio gardener and legendary tomato seed collector, obtained seeds from Dorris and introduced Pink Brandywine through Seeds Saver Exchange. 

Ramapo  hybrid,   70 days.  Indeterminate.  Medium sized, 12 - 16 oz., flattened globe. Could it be the elusive real"Jersey" tomato? After a20 year hiatus, Ramapo, named for an eastern Indian tribe, was reintroduced in 2009 to satisfy backyard gardeners who had yearned for that real"Jersey" tomato flavor they remembered as a kid. Scientists at Rutgers University realized that one of their state’s bragging rights, the “Jersey” tomato, had disappeared and they began a search in 2000 to rediscover it.  After seven years of extensively testing more than 150 varieties, they found 13 that merited the “Jersey” title. But one variety was judged clearly superior to all the rest, and that was Ramapo.
    Ramapo was developed during the 1960's by Rutger's professor Dr. Bernard Pollack who crossed tomato cultivars KCA and Abbie resulting in a great tasting tomato with high acid and average sugar content.  After its release in 1968 Ramapo became an instant hit with consumers, but Sakata Seed Corp., the Japanese seed company that produced the seed, lost interest when the big commercial growers switched to newer determinate cultivars that did not require staking, were higher yielding, and could be harvested more quickly.

    Bernard retired and moved to California, but fortunately for Rutgers U. he had one 20 year old seed that had retained its ability to germinate. Genesis Seed Ltd. in Israel agreed to produce seed for Rutgers at a reasonable price. For three years Rutgers U. collected extensive data from home gardeners growing Ramapo. A gardening friend, Terry Coley, was an eager and meticulous contributor to their research.

Soldacki   heirloom,  80 days.  Indeterminate.   The 8 ounce, dark pink fruit are produced on vigorous, six foot potato-leaf like vines that tolerate disease better than the average non-hybrid. To avoid concentric cracking, Soldacki fruit should be harvested when first ripe. The firm, low acid, aromatic fruit have a nice mix of juice to meat. The  vines grow tall and will need support.
The variety was first brought to Cleveland, Ohio, from Krakow, Poland, in the early 1900's.  Carolyn Male was given seeds by a co-worker and introduced the variety to SSE in 1991.

 

 Vinson Watts   heirloom,  90 days.  Indeterminate.  Vinson Watts of Morehead, KY spent over 50 years perfecting this large flattened pink heirloom that originated from Lee County, VA.  Seed was  given to Vinson by Wilson Evans, his work supervisor at Berea College.     The meaty 10 ounce to 1 pound highly disease resistant beefsteaks have won many taste tests for having an excellent balance of sugars and acids.   Don’t expect a large crop,   Mine mature about the time the tomato season ends.  But they are exceptionally good. 

    Vinson was awarded  the 2007 Lifetime Achievement Award in Sustainable Agriculture from the Sustainable Mountain Agriculture Center for his heirloom tomato variety, the Vinson Watts tomato.  He went to be with the Lorn on March 17, 2008.

Viva Italian   hybrid, 75 days.  Determinate.  Expect heavy sets of firm, 3 oz,. blocky, plum-shaped, red, tomatoes that grow on stocky compact plants easily container grown. The hybrid plant is very disease resistant, and the rich tasting fruit have solid flesh and are easily peeled.    The fruit will all ripen within a month.  Its meatiness and thick walls make it perfect for sauces, salsa, ketchup, or sun-drying. Viva Italia is also is flavorful enough to top salads.
     I am growing Viva Italia to replace the most popular paste tomato, Roma, which refuses to set fruit in the extended hot weather that is becoming more and more common here in N. IL.  

     Viva Italia, trial name PSX88288,  a creation of Petoseed’s plant breeding superstar Colen Wyatt, was first offered to the consumer in 1992 by Totally Tomatoes, Tomato Growers Supply Co., and Park Seed, then in 1993 by Burpee Seed.  

  

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