Valdichiana, normal (purplish) stem, stem end

Here we go, folks - the third - and last - part of the 2025 garden tomato update. This one will focus on everything not yet covered, including the various family heirlooms sent to me by other gardeners over the last few years. It was time to try them out and get some fresh seeds saved.

Test planting of seeds from fruit from purplish stems - all were purplish

Valdichiana - This tomato was collected in Italy and showcased on Joe Lamp’l’s Growing Epic Tomatoes discussion board by Candace Godwin. It proved to be quite an interesting little mini tomato project itself. When planting seeds, I noted that most had purplish, normal tinted stems. A very few had stems with no purple pigment. I grew a plant with purplish stems here, and one with pigment free stems at Caitlin’s house. The fruit from the purplish stems were as Candace showed at the Lamp’l group discussion - large, flat, chocolate colored, highly ribbed - quite unique! The flavor was very good, the flesh firm. The fruit from a plant with pigment free stems was very odd - very, very firm, less side, much darker green brown color, not at all as palatable. The purplish stem selection is much better. I will be chatting with Candace to see where we should go with this. The tomato is unique enough to warrant release.

Test planting of seeds from fruit from pigmentless seedlings - no pigment!

German Heirloom, showing the yellow green shoulders

German Heirloom - Seeds of this variety were sent to me by Penny Roscoe of Missouri in 2023 and it is #7913 in my collection. I grew it in Caitlin’s garden. Wow - these green shouldered pink hearts were huge! It was nearly all flesh, with very few seeds. The flavor was mild and lightly sweet. I need to get back to Penny for more on this tomato’s history. It is impressive in size and beauty, if not flavor, but would make a superb sauce tomato with its meatiness.

Curtis Cheek on the left, Bee F2 potato leaf from Caitlin’s garden on the right

Curtis Cheek - This variety was sent to me by Nadia Ako-Adjci of Maryland in 2023 - it is tomato #7921 in my collection. The plant was crowded and got diseased in my daughter’s garden, but ripe fruit was obtained from the regular leaf plant. It is reportedly heart shaped, but the fruit I harvested was compressed against the stem and shape wasn’t possible to ascertain. It was certainly a nice looking pink variety, but I didn’t get to taste it. Seeds were saved and it is worth another try.

Red and Yellow - I received seeds from Steve Kulik of New York in 2023, who noted it as a family heirloom. The regular leaf plant produced large typical red/yellow swirl bicolor tomatoes. It suffered from a challenging season, with lots of rain, which caused disease. I didn’t taste or photograph, but did save seeds.

Vine - This variety, sent to me by Kaye Cloninger of NC early this year, wasn’t grown under the best conditions (crowded into my daughter’s garden), but the potato leaf plants yielded nice medium sized, tasty pink tomatoes. I need to find out about its history. Seeds are saved - this is a very tasty tomato.

Green/gold Purple, showing the ribbed shoulders

Green/Gold Purple - Here’s an oddity, sent to me by Ed Gray of NC. Ed claims he started growing in 2021 and doesn’t remember its source. It looks very much like a tomato that my friend Ralph grew, with large chocolate tomatoes and green stripes - that is the coloring of this one. Ralph’s tomato came as an off type of Vintage Wine (which is pink with gold stripes and potato leaf). It grows heart shapes for Ed, but mine were oblate - nearly blocky square shape, with ridged shoulders and very firm flavorful dark crimson flesh. It certainly is interesting - and grew well in Caitlin’s garden.

Green/gold Purple, sliced, showing its solidity

German Splash - This variety, sent to me by Ryan Swinney of Ohio this winter, is the only variety I grew that didn’t yield a tomato. It was in a very crowded part of Caitlin’s garden. It supposedly is one of the large yellow/red swirled bicolors. I will give it another try next year.

Limbaugh Potato Leaf - This was sent to me by Lorraine Sciulli in 2023. There is a lot of info about it on line - apparently it is the SSE variety Potato Top that was popularized by Fred Limbaugh. The potato leaf plant gives typical oblate pink beefsteaks. The plant grown in Caitlin’s garden provided one tomato that I didn’t taste, but was used for seed saving.

Lucas Heirloom - This heirloom was sent to me by Lucas Carusi, and hails from Abruzzo, Italy. It is probably the variety Pera d’Abruzzo. The plant was grown in Caitlin’s garden and is typical of some Italian paste types, being quite hollow. It would make a great stuffing tomato!

Lucas heirloom sliced, showing the hollowness

Harts - This tomato was sent to me by Bonnie Swenson of Wisconsin this winter. It is a variety that supposedly was created by Carmen Alberti, and he passed seeds onto Bonnie. For me, it was regular leaf and produced medium sized oblate scarlet tomatoes. I didn’t get a photo, and the plant struggled with crowding in Caitlin’s garden, but seeds were saved. I tasted a bit and it was nice.

Big Barney - This was given to me by Steven Kulik of PA. It is a regular leaf plant that produced pink oblate tomatoes - the plant struggled with conditions, so I don’t have a clear opinion of the variety. I do have fresh seeds saved.

Boho - This variety was shared with me by Eric Dahle of Wisconsin in 2024. It is quite unique, in my experience - very firm scarlet hearts, with almost solid meat and very few seeds. Scarlet heart shaped tomatoes are quite rare. It would make a great sauce and paste tomato, due to its extreme meatiness.

Giant Crimson - This was sent to me by Mike Seitz of Virginia in 2024. I suspect it was supposed to be large and pink, but when grown in Caitlin’s garden, it was small/medium sized, round and scarlet. The taste was very good. I think it is a variety that became crossed somewhere along the line.

WV 23 - This is a famous tomato also called Mannon’s Majesty, an updated version of West Virginia ‘63. It was sent to me by Charles Hughes, Garner NC. The flavor was fine - it was a medium small, round scarlet tomato. It did not thrive in Caitlin’s garden.

Abraham Lincoln - What a stubborn variety this is! Sent to me by Bill Moffett of Asheboro, NC in 2024, we both hoped this was the authentic Abraham Lincoln. Alas, the regular leaf indeterminate plant with no bronze tinge produced huge oblate pink tomatoes - the flavor was fair at best, and it reminded me of German Johnson. Abraham Lincoln as released in 1923 was a more round tomato, large, and scarlet red. Back to the drawing board - I fear the real A. L. has gone extinct.

Finally, here is a report on attempted crosses carried out in 2025.

In all cases I list the pollen acceptor first, followed by the pollen donor.

Not successful

Captain Lucky X Rufus Rainbow
Captain Lucky X Captain F1
Potato Leaf Yellow X Rufus Rainbow
Brandywine X Rufus Rainbow
Polish Bling X Cherokee Green
Polish Bling X Fuzzy Pink
Cherokee Sunburst X Dwarf Mocha’s Plum
Lucky Cross X Carrot Like
Carrot Like X Dwarf Eli’s Surprise

The following may have worked - I am still evaluating the results from test plantings.

Lucky Bling X Cherokee Purple - regular leaf seedling showed up, will try to carry to next spring
Fuzzy Pink X Dwarf Eli’s Surprise - non Fuzzy seedlings resulted, will try to carry to next spring
Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom X Fuzzy Purple - regular leaf seedling showed up - will try to carry to next spring
Lillian’s Yellow Heirloom X Dwarf Eli’s Surprise - ditto
Dwarf Sweet Sue X Fuzzy Pink - regular leaf, slightly fuzzy seedling showed, will try to carry to next spring
OTV Brandywine X Honor Bright - regular leaf seedling showed up, will try to carry to next spring
Dwarf Eli’s Surprise X Cherokee Green or Cherokee Chocolate - regular leaf non-dwarf seedling showed up, will try to carry through to next spring
Fuzzy Purple X Dwarf Eli’s Surprise - awaiting true leaves to assess