Growers’ Notes, Lineage and Photos (USDA Zone 4 Experience)
A variety from renowned Canadian breeder Karen Olivier, who develops and selects for her True North tomato series.
Karen specializes in potato-leaf varieties, and her creations are true works of art. This season I had the privilege of trialing new selections from the “Northern Gardener” in my own northern climate. Another gem from her series is POLARIS (North Star).
This is a powerful indeterminate vine sporting massive potato-leaf foliage, the result of crossing Ludmilla’s Pink Heart with Captain Lucky.
Grew the plants in a polycarb greenhouse, pruned to 2 and 3 stems. Extremely productive vines with fantastic fruit set. Fruits are oblate, occasionally asymmetrical, and lightly ribbed. For the most part, they are massive raspberry-purple beefsteaks with distinctive green shoulders. Average weight runs 8.8 to 10.5 oz (250-300 g), with some sizing up even larger.
Meaty and solid, slicing open to reveal deep crimson flesh with very few seeds. The flavor is top-tier: bold, rich, and beautifully balanced.
In our northern conditions, it proved mid-season and surprisingly heavy-yielding, even during a rough summer. Training to 2-3 stems on sturdy trellising is ideal.
A high-caliber variety with tremendous genetic potential!
Edited November 5, 2019 by Yaroslavna
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Could you tell me where you purchased the seeds for this tomato? Thanks.
Karpenko said:
Could you tell me where you purchased the seeds for this tomato? Thanks.
Ksyusha, if that was directed at me: Karen Olivier sent these seeds to me personally to test in my regional climate.
You can find seeds listed on my personal shop site. Unfortunately, I am unable to mail packets to Kyiv right now.
Full Summary: Lineage, Plant Habit, Fruit Anatomy and Flavor
- 🌿 Lineage & Breeding: Developed in British Columbia, Canada by artisan breeder Karen Olivier (True North series). A deliberate cross of Ludmilla’s Pink Heart and Captain Lucky, combining the dense heart-like meatiness of Ludmilla with the exotic tricolor marbling and rich flavor of Captain Lucky.
- 🌱 Plant Architecture: Robust, vigorous indeterminate vine featuring exceptionally large potato-leaf (PL) foliage. Grows with strong structural stems that comfortably support 2 to 3 main leaders on heavy-duty trellis supports.
- 📈 Yield & Cold Setting: Specifically selected for short, cool northern summers. Sets heavy clusters of oblate, lightly fluted beefsteaks consistently, avoiding blossom drop even during gloomy, overcast summer conditions.
- 👅 Fruit & Flavor Profile: Dusky raspberry-purple beefsteaks with rich olive-green shoulders, weighing 8.8 to 10.5 oz (250-300 g) and up. The interior flesh is deep burgundy-crimson, dense, meaty, and nearly void of seed gel pockets. Delivers a bold, multi-layered, sweet and complex heirloom flavor.
- 🌎 Who Reviewed It: Documented in northern European Russia (Yaroslavl Oblast, USDA Zone 4) under unheated polycarb greenhouse conditions.
Bred in Ladysmith, British Columbia, Canada by Karen Olivier, the True North series represents some of the most exciting cold-tolerant heirloom genetics of recent years. Working specifically with potato-leaf (PL) foliage, Karen set out to breed varieties with short-season earliness, dense meatiness, and stunning bicolor/tricolor pigmentation. Polaris inherits its dusky purple hue, green shoulders, and complex flavor from Captain Lucky, paired with the dense carpel structure of Ludmilla’s Pink Heart. As Natalya’s trial in northern Russia demonstrates, these Canadian genetics thrive under protected polycarb greenhouse culture in high latitudes where traditional heirloom beefsteaks often struggle with blossom drop and slow sugar buildup.
