green door gardens' tomato list 2014

Green Door Gardens RR 1, Ilderton, ON

(519) 666-3565 [email protected]

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Heirloom Tomato Varieties

2014

Cherry Varieties

Black Cherry A rare variety of cherry tomato with deep red flesh with blackish hues. Sweet flavoured and very popular.

Chadwick’s Cherry

* NEW *

An early variety of cherry tomato that produces clusters of 1-‐inch round red cherry tomatoes that do not split. Plant can grow up to 10 feet tall!

British Breakfast

* NEW *

A very prolific variety that produces large oval cherry tomatoes on huge vines, popular in the British Isles.

Cherry Falls

* NEW *

An early variety that bears cascades of large red fruit, hence the name. Excellent for containers, with cage support.

Gardener’s Delight These large red cherry tomatoes are slightly smaller than a golf ball, and are loaded with sugary sweet flavour. Good yields in clusters of 6-‐12. Grows well in pots.

Green Grape

This bush tomato is an heirloom originally developed by the Tater Mater Seed Co. The 1-‐inch yellowish green fruits are borne in clusters that resemble grapes. They are delicious, juicy and mild and make a wonderful contrast in salads. When ripe the fruit has green shoulders and a golden yellow/green flesh. Very productive.

Lemon Drop A beautiful yellow cherry tomato, with low acid and a wonderful, juicy flavour. An early, vigorous producer, with excellent disease resistance.

Lime Salad One of my favourites, this variety bears small greenish-‐yellow fruit bursting with juicy flavour. An excellent contrast in salads, and ideal for pots.

Red & Yellow Currant A semi-‐wild relative of tomatoes, currant tomatoes are also known as 'teaspoon' tomatoes because they are so small. They originate from South America and have intense flavour and very small fruit, wonderful in a salad. An



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ideal snacking choice for children because of the small size.

Riesentraube This German heirloom means “giant bunch of grapes”, and bears red fruit with a pointed tip resembling a teardrop, on large, bushy plants.

Whippersnapper A very small plant bearing medium-‐sized pink cherry tomatoes. Ideal for containers.

Yellow Pear Dates from the early 1800’s. This variety can grow up to 6 feet tall and produces a heavy crop of small bright yellow pear-‐shaped fruit. A beautiful salad or snacking tomato.

Small -‐ Medium Varieties

Ailsa Craig

A heavy producer bearing small red fruit on 3-‐foot vines. Developed in Scotland in 1907 for the greenhouse trade, performing very well in similar Maritime climates. Great for limited space or pots.

Black Prince

* NEW *

Medium-‐sized dark red to brown, oblong fruit that is not as fragile as other black varieties, with greater crack resistance. Excellent yield. Said to be from Siberia.

Black Zebra Good yields of regular shaped 2-‐inch fruit with tender, dark coloured skin with jagged green striping. A very bushy, low-‐growing variety.

Bloody Butcher

A very early variety that is loaded with clusters of two-‐inch fruit on a compact plant. The fruit is very juicy, hence the name!

Box Car Willie Named in honour of the hobos during the Great Depression. Hardy and drought-‐tolerant, the red fruit is shaped like a flattened globe and has a robust taste.

Brookpact A medium-‐ to large-‐sized red tomato on a compact plant. Ideal for pots.

Camp Joy A compact vine, bearing loads of small, attractive fruit. No staking required. A very early variety.

Canabec Super Developed as part of a Quebec breeding program from the 1960’s and 1970’s, ideal for cool spring weather. Produces clusters of dark pink, medium-‐sized fruit on short vines. Suits pots well.

Dad’s Sunset Bears clusters of medium-‐sized, golden orange fruit on a very compact bushy plant. A beautiful fruit that is slightly tart and juicy, with few seeds. Good disease resistance.



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Doublerich A medium-‐sized plant noted for two qualities -‐ a very productive crop of heavy and meaty pink fruit; a higher level of Vitamin C than other tomatoes.

Earl of Edgecombe

* NEW *

When the 6th Earl of Edgecombe died in the 1960’s, the heir to the title of 7th Earl was a relative in New Zealand who was a sheep farmer. He traveled to England to claim the title, bringing his favourite New Zealand tomato with him. The tomatoes are beautiful orange globes, resistant to cracking and disease.

Golden Jubilee A bushy compact plant bearing bright, golden-‐orange fruit. Very similar to Dad’s Sunset but with larger fruit.

Green Zebra Developed in 1985 by tomato breeder Tom Wagner, this is an unusual and exquisite tomato. The 2-‐inch round fruit ripens to a yellow-‐gold with dark-‐green zebra-‐like stripes. A great tomato for brightening up salads and other tomato dishes.

Harbinger A very early variety, introduced in 1910. Tolerates cool weather.

Jaune Flammé Deep orange, small fruit is smooth, juicy and tart. Very flavourful, and an excellent producer. A favourite at the farmers’ market.

Moneymaker A reliable tomato with clusters of small red fruit. A rare old English heirloom. Ideal in hot, humid climate, with a reputation amongst market growers for its excellent productivity. Plant is bushy and requires little staking.

Nyagous A prolific, rare Russian tomato variety that is one of my favourites. The fruit is very attractive – smooth and oblong, with brown-‐green shoulders that streak downward to dark red flesh. Exceptional sweet flavour and meaty flesh. Late variety.

Old Brook Large 1 lb. fruit is delicious and juicy, and well suited to home canning due to its high acidity. Very disease resistant. Early variety.

Paul Robeson This Russian variety is named after a famous operatic artist who won acclaim as an advocate of equal rights for Blacks. He was admired worldwide, especially in the Soviet Union. This dark beefsteak tomato is slightly flattened and round, meaty and very unique in flavour.

Polish A compact 3-‐4 foot plant that suits a standard tomato cage. It bears few branches, but is loaded with beautiful red fruit that resists cracking and disease. Very productive and tolerant of wet weather.



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Purple Calabesh An unusual variety that has been called the ugliest tomato in the world. The medium-‐sized fruit is heavily ridged and pinkish. Its saving grace is its excellent flavour and ability to tolerate extreme drought conditions. Excellent ‘chunked’ into salads.

Rosebec

* NEW *

During the 1960’s to 1970’s Roger Doucet was in charge of a tomato breeding program in Quebec. He released a total of 12 varieties, all with names that end in ‘bec’ (for Quebec). (See our other selection ‘Canabec Super’). This is a cold-‐tolerant variety that bears small red tomatoes, with high disease tolerance.

Scotia An early maturing, compact variety from Nova Scotia, excellent for pots or standard tomato cages. Produces small to medium-‐sized red fruit with green shoulders. Reputed to be the best growing tomato in Nova Scotia still.

Stupice (Pronounced "stoo-‐peech-‐ka") Famous for being one of the earliest varieties, originating from Czechoslovakia. A cold-‐tolerant tomato that bears an abundance of very sweet, small, deep red fruit.

Tigerella A highly productive, English variety that produces 2-‐3 inch red fruit with greenish-‐yellow jagged stripes. Very attractive in salads.

Large Varieties

Aunt Ruby’s German Green

* NEW *

This fruit weighs up to 1 lb in clusters of 2 or 3. The fruit is ripe when it turns light green with a hint of yellow, with a pink interior. This fruit has a sweet-‐tart flavour that is favoured by many ‘heirloomists’.

Believe It or Not Large pinkish-‐red beefsteak fruit that tastes wonderful with tender, juicy, meaty flesh. Late-‐bearing.

Big Rainbow A very pretty bi-‐coloured beefsteak tomato that is yellow with attractive red streaking throughout the flesh. Mild tasting and sweet.

Black Giant A very popular variety bearing large fruit that is purple on the outside, and greenish-‐red on the inside. This is not a bushy plant, but the fruit is prized for its delicious taste. Prone to some cracking.

Black Krim Large, red-‐purple fruit with green shoulders. Well-‐loved for its intense flavour and attractive colour in salads. The thin-‐skinned fruit is prone to cracking in wet weather, and is best picked before it fully ripens. Named for Crimean Peninsula on Ukrainian Black Sea Coast. Late-‐bearing.



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Brandywine -‐ Red, Yellow & Black

An Amish variety dating from 1885. Not a heavy producer but bears large beefsteak fruit later in the season and is ideal for sandwiches. Plant has noteworthy potato-‐leaved, or large foliage that is somewhat disease-‐prone.

Dr. Wyche’s Yellow

* NEW *

Dr. Wyche owned Cole Brothers’ Circus and fertilized his gardens with elephant manure. He had a reputation for his luscious gardens and developed this particular cultivar, donating seeds to the Seed Savers’ Exchange. The large beefsteak fruit is yellow turning to gold at maturity with a rich, complex taste.

Henderson’s Pink Ponderosa

A mid-‐season variety, introduced in 1891 by Peter Henderson & Co. Huge sized meaty fruit is dark pink in colour with mild, sweet and delicious flavour. Good for slicing or canning.

Henderson’s Golden Ponderosa

One of the heavier producers of large yellow, meaty beefsteak tomatoes. Originated in 1914, by Peter Henderson & Co. Mild flavour with low acid content, but delicious and juicy.

Hillbilly A beefsteak that originates from West Virginia. This huge

bi-‐coloured fruit is yellow with red streaks on the inside. The unripe fruit has fascinating vertical green streaks. Sweet flavour and low acid. Late variety.

Mennonite A meaty beefsteak with very small seed cavities. Excellent slicing tomato with orange/red colour and sweet flavour. Very disease-‐resistant, doing well in wet conditions.

Montreal Tasty A mid-‐season Canadian variety that bears large red slicing tomatoes on a compact plant. Great for pots or small spaces.

Mortgage Lifter Also known as “Radiator Charlie’s Mortgage Lifter”, this variety was developed in West Virginia during the Great Depression. Charlie was an auto radiator repairman, who had a radiator repair business at the foot of a steep hill on which trucks would often overheat. He charged $1 a plant and paid off his mortgage of $6000 in six years. Gardeners would drive up to 200 miles to buy his famous plants. The enormous pink fruit is sweet and tasty – an excellent slicer on a highly productive and disease resistant plant.

Old Brook One of the earliest full-‐sized tomatoes. Large fruit is attractive, tangy and juicy. Ideal for home canning due to its high acidity. Resistant to disease.



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Paste Tomatoes

Amish Paste A very productive heirloom from Wisconsin that produces large, heart-‐shaped, meaty fruit on lacy foliage. Excellent for drying or sauces.

Banana Legs The plant has distinct lacy foliage, and produces elongated yellowish fruit with distinct dark streaking. This mild flavoured variety is a great contrast in salads or as a fresh tomato salsa.

Bonny Best A mid-‐season all-‐time favourite from the 1960’s. This variety produces an abundance of medium, smooth fruit idea for canning or eating fresh.

Grightmire’s Pride A beautiful red paste tomato of Yugoslavian descent. Not as heavy a producer as San Marzano but bears larger fruit, excellent for drying. An early variety that is very disease resistant.

Purple Russian A very productive Ukrainian heirloom paste tomato, great for salsa, salads and preserving. Produces huge amounts of purple-‐red, oblong fruit with a blemish-‐free skin and excellent sweet flavour.

Red-‐Striped Roman Striking yellow streaks zigzag the length of this elongated paste tomato. A meaty tomato that is good for drying or salads. The foliage is wispy and needs support.

San Marzano Old Italian paste tomato. A heavy producer of small paste tomatoes with good crack resistance.

Sicilian Saucer A flat, large red tomato used for sauces. Thick, juicy, meaty flesh. Does not need staking.

Toma Verde A tomatillo variety bearing small, husked, green fruit that ripens when the husk turns brown. Not a paste tomato by shape, but it makes a delicious salsa.

An heirloom tomato (also described as heritage or old-‐fashioned) is one that has been handed down from one family or generation to the next. Their characteristics remain the same with each generation, provided they are not allowed to cross-‐pollinate with other varieties. Heirloom tomatoes are favoured for their diverse qualities and level of nutrition and can be found in nearly every colour, shape, flavour and size. The preservation of heirloom varieties is considered important in the effort to maintain genetic diversity. I would love to hear of your favourite varieties and gardening experiences!

Sara Griffin

green door gardens' tomato list 2014

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