Heirloom Tomato Varieties

Arkansas Traveler

A classic heirloom dating back over 100 years, Arkansas Traveler is known for its deep pink color when fully ripe. This variety offers a balanced blend of sweetness and tartness, making it a favorite for fresh eating. It is also valued for its disease resistance and heat tolerance, allowing it to thrive even in challenging conditions. The indeterminate growth habit ensures a continuous harvest throughout the season.

Aunt Ginny’s Purple

A beloved heirloom variety, Aunt Ginny’s Purple produces large, deep-pink tomatoes that are perfect for slicing, salads, and sandwiches. It has a reputation for minimal cracking, providing smooth, attractive fruit. The indeterminate vines grow vigorously, producing a steady crop of flavorful tomatoes all season long.

Aunt Ruby’s German Green

This large beefsteak variety has sweet, juicy flesh with a yellow-green color and a hint of spiciness. Aunt Ruby’s German Green offers a complex flavor profile that is less acidic than other tomatoes, making it a great choice for those who prefer a milder taste. Its indeterminate growth habit means the plant will continue to produce fruit until the first frost.

Aussie

A robust beefsteak tomato with vibrant red fruits, Aussie is packed with bold and rich tomato flavors. The large fruits are perfect for slicing, salads, and sandwiches, but the variety does require a longer growing season and warmer temperatures than smaller tomato types. Its disease-resistant and indeterminate vines make it suitable for gardeners who want a productive and flavorful tomato.

Big Brandy

Big Brandy combines heirloom and hybrid qualities, resulting in large, juicy pink tomatoes with rich flavor and a slight tomato tang. The indeterminate plants produce fruits that are perfect for fresh eating and cooking, offering the best of both worlds: heirloom taste with hybrid vigor.

Big Zac

An exceptional tomato known for its large size and superb flavor, Big Zac produces meaty, tasty fruits that are great for slicing. The plants are vigorous growers, and the tomatoes come from a strong heirloom lineage, ensuring a dependable harvest. Its indeterminate growth pattern keeps the fruit coming throughout the growing season.

Black Krim

Black Krim is one of the most flavorful heirloom beefsteak tomatoes, producing large, sweet, reddish-purple fruits that are beautifully mottled. The flesh has a rich, complex flavor with a hint of smokiness, making it perfect for salads, sauces, or slicing. Indeterminate and vigorous, this variety thrives in warmer climates.

Boxcar Willie

Boxcar Willie is a vibrant heirloom tomato with a balanced sweet and rich flavor. The red-orange fruits are excellent for canning, sauces, and juice due to their rich taste and juiciness. The indeterminate vines are resistant to cracking and common tomato diseases, providing a reliable harvest all season.

Brandywine Pink

A classic beefsteak tomato, Brandywine Pink is famed for its incredible flavor and large fruit size. Though it isn’t the most prolific producer, its taste more than compensates for the lower yield. Indeterminate growth allows it to produce fruit throughout the season.

Chefs Choice Orange

With its bright orange color that remains vivid even when cooked, Chef’s Choice Orange is perfect for soups and sauces. The fruits have a superior taste and texture, with an intense flavor that holds up well in a variety of culinary applications. Its indeterminate growth habit ensures a long harvest season.

Cherokee Green

Cherokee Green is a unique heirloom tomato that offers a sweet, tangy flavor and a distinctive green color that enhances other brightly colored tomatoes in a dish. Best enjoyed fresh, this indeterminate tomato is perfect for salads and summer recipes.

Cherokee Purple

Cherokee Purple is an heirloom favorite, known for its deep, dusky pink-purple color and smoky-sweet flavor. It adds a unique twist to salads and sauces, and its indeterminate vines produce fruit steadily throughout the growing season.

Cosmonaut Volkov

Originating from Ukraine, Cosmonaut Volkov delivers a balance of rich, deep, sweet, and tangy flavors in its deep orange-red fruits with green shoulders. The determinate plants provide a concentrated harvest of uniform fruits, making it an excellent choice for early-season tomatoes.

Crnkovic Yugoslavian

Direct from Yugoslavia, Crnkovic Yugoslavian is a vigorous producer of large, pink beefsteak tomatoes. The slightly flattened fruits are juicy, flavorful, and resistant to cracking, with indeterminate vines that ensure a continuous supply throughout the season.

Giant Belgium Pink

This large pink heirloom tomato features a mild, sweet flavor and a beautiful pink hue that comes from clear skin over red flesh. Its size and taste make it ideal for slicing and fresh eating. The indeterminate vines produce heavy yields of this tasty heirloom.

Giant Syrian

Giant Syrian tomatoes are known for their meaty texture and robust flavor, making them perfect for a variety of uses, from fresh salads to sauces, paste, and canning. The indeterminate plants provide a steady crop of flavorful fruit throughout the season.

Gold Medal

Gold Medal tomatoes are beautifully blushed with rosy red radiating from the blossom end, giving them a striking appearance. They are sweet and mild with very little acidity, making them ideal for eating fresh. Indeterminate plants yield consistently throughout the summer.

Green Zebra

Green Zebra tomatoes stand out with their pale green color and bold stripes. Their tart flavor is perfect for adding a zesty kick to dishes. They are ripe when the shoulders show a yellowish cast. The indeterminate vines produce fruit steadily through the season.

Hawaiian Pineapple

Despite its name, Hawaiian Pineapple is named for its shape, not its flavor. This bi-colored beefsteak tomato is known for its excellent taste, which is mildly sweet, somewhat fruity, and includes a hint of citrus. The indeterminate vines produce consistently, with flavor improving towards the end of the season.

Hillbilly

Hillbilly is an eye-catching orange beefsteak tomato with red streaks running through its flesh, giving it an appearance reminiscent of a peach. The large fruits are beautiful when sliced and offer a mild, sweet flavor. Indeterminate growth provides a steady harvest.

Kellogg Breakfast

A large orange beefsteak tomato with a deliciously rich flavor and a good balance of acidity and sweetness. Kellogg Breakfast is known for its productivity, with indeterminate vines that produce plenty of fruit.

Kentucky Beefsteak

This deep orange beefsteak tomato has an attractive oval shape and meaty flesh with few seeds. Its indeterminate vines ensure a continuous yield of tasty tomatoes suitable for slicing, salads, and cooking.

Marglobe

Marglobe is a tasty, smooth, and firm tomato variety that performs well when staked or caged. As a determinate tomato, it provides a concentrated harvest of uniform fruits, making it an excellent choice for canning and sauces.

Marvel Stripe

Named for its stunning appearance, Marvel Stripe is a large bi-colored heirloom with orange skin and blood-red stripes. The juicy flesh mirrors the colors of its skin, with a marbled orange, red, and white pattern. The indeterminate vines produce some of the largest bi-colored fruits.

Mortgage Lifter

Mortgage Lifter produces massive, meaty, red beefsteak tomatoes known for their heavy yields. The indeterminate vines are strong and reliable, providing a steady supply of fruit throughout the growing season.

Moskvich Heirloom

A cold-tolerant heirloom from Russia, Moskvich produces deep-red, smooth, globe-shaped fruits with rich flavor. It is one of the earlier-maturing indeterminate tomatoes, making it ideal for cooler climates.

Mr. Stripey

Mr. Stripey is known for its mild, sweet-tasting fruits with high sugar content. The large tomatoes can exceed 1 pound, featuring rich yellow undertones and pinkish-red striping. The indeterminate vines ensure a long harvest period.

Napoli

Napoli tomatoes are compact, determinate plants that produce flushes of bright crimson, oval fruits. They are perfect for sauces, soups, and ketchup due to their dense, meaty texture and rich flavor.

Old German

Old German is an impressive heirloom that produces massive, succulent tomatoes with golden-streaked, reddish skin. The fruits can weigh over a pound and a half, offering a deliciously meaty texture and rich flavor. Indeterminate vines yield consistently large fruits.

Omar’s Lebanese

Omar’s Lebanese originates from Lebanon, where it is prized for its large, pink tomatoes with sweet, complex flavors. The disease-resistant, indeterminate vines are strong producers, yielding flavorful fruit throughout the season.

Paul Robeson

A Russian heirloom, Paul Robeson tomatoes produce brick-red to black fruits with a smoky sweetness. The large beefsteak fruits are perfect for slicing, salads, and sandwiches, with indeterminate vines that provide a consistent supply.

Persimmon

Originally from Russia, Persimmon is a large, bright orange beefsteak tomato known for its high flavor and low acidity. The fruits are uniform and blemish-free, with a small seed cavity. The indeterminate vines offer steady yields.

Prudens Purple

Prudens Purple is widely adapted and produces large, slightly flattened fruits with firm, meaty crimson flesh. The dark pinkish-purple tomatoes are excellent for slicing, and the indeterminate vines yield a steady crop.

Purple Calabash

Purple Calabash may be the most purple of all heirlooms, with a deep burgundy color and an intense, sweet, and tart flavor reminiscent of citrus. The uniquely flavored fruits are produced in huge yields on indeterminate vines.

Purple Russian

The smooth, egg-shaped fruits of Purple Russian tomatoes are purplish in color and have a deliciously rich flavor. The indeterminate vines produce plenty of blemish-free fruits that are ideal for salsa, fresh eating, and preserving.

Rose

An Amish heirloom from Pennsylvania, Rose tomatoes have a dusty rose color and an excellent flavor. The indeterminate vines provide a consistent supply of these tasty fruits throughout the season.

Stupice

Stupice is a reliable early-season heirloom that produces deep-red, 2-inch oblong fruits with a tangy flavor. Its indeterminate vines are adaptable to various growing conditions and perform well in cooler climates.

Vintage Wine

One of the few pastel-hued heirloom tomatoes, Vintage Wine has pale pink fruit with golden stripes. The elegant tomatoes are sweet, mild, and make a beautiful addition to any dish. Indeterminate vines ensure a long season of harvest.