📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Amish Paste
- 🌍 Origin: A legendary American heirloom tomato, famously included in Carolyn Male’s classic book, “100 Heirloom Tomatoes for the American Garden.” This thread reviews how the variety performs when grown overseas in Eastern Europe (Russia & Belarus).
- 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate. A very vigorous, tall, almost liana-like vine with sparse, wispy foliage. Needs strong vertical support (trellis), especially if grown outdoors.
- 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Red, large plum-to-oxheart shaped paste tomatoes (averaging 150–250g / 5–9 oz, some up to 400g / 14 oz). Has thick, meaty walls but remains surprisingly juicy for a paste type.
- 👅 Flavor & Use: Sweet, juicy, and flavorful. Excellent for fresh eating, but truly shines when cooked down into sauces, juices, and pastes.
- 🛡️ Disease Resistance: Growers highlight its excellent resistance to Blossom End Rot (BER) and its ability to set fruit reliably in both extreme heat and cold.
AMISH PASTE
Indeterminate (almost liana-like vines), red-fruited, large plum/kidney shaped (if that makes sense 😉). Average weight is 150-250 g (5-9 oz), with some reaching up to 400 g (14 oz). High yielding, mid-season, and a very beautiful plant overall.
I grew it in 2012 from seeds gifted by Tanyusha and also from German-sourced seeds. The plants grown from different seed sources did not differ from each other at all. I had 4 plants in the greenhouse and 1 plant outdoors in open ground.
In the greenhouse, the plant’s height is basically unlimited; it was one of the very first to hit the roof ridge of the greenhouse (h=3m / 10 ft). I trained some to 1 stem and some to 2 stems. I came to the conclusion that it is much more efficient to grow it in 2 stems. It doesn’t get overly overgrown with suckers, the fruit set is excellent, and it proved to be quite resistant to Blossom End Rot (BER).
The ripe fruits have a somewhat tough skin, but they soften quickly after being picked. They are fantastic for making juices and sauces. Quite juicy and sweet. It continued producing right until the cold weather hit, until we took down the greenhouse on October 11th.
Outdoors (in open ground), the yield was lower due to a shorter fruiting period (Late Blight did its job). Also, this type of variety is very difficult to grow outdoors without a high trellis—you will exhaust yourself trying to stake and tie it up.
My impressions: I really liked the shape of the bush and the fruits, the taste, and the extremely long fruiting season.
Edited July 18, 2018 by Drosera
Olya, after which leaf does it set its first truss, and what about the subsequent ones?
Oksana, when I was writing the description for this variety, I dug through my gardening diary but couldn’t find that specific info for Amish Paste, and I didn’t want to make things up 😉.
But judging by the fact that it is an indeterminate, the first truss will be set after the 7th leaf—no earlier. As for the subsequent ones, I can’t tell you for sure if it’s every 3rd or every 5th leaf 😳, sorry.
Amish Paste
My best discovery of the 2018 season!!! The fruits turned out closer to a round shape, medium-sized (150-300 g / 5-10.5 oz). The skin is thick, the flesh has a sugary, “watermelon” texture when broken apart, and it is very sweet. High yielding, vigorous bush, develops very well. It doesn’t mind being planted densely (I planted 2 per hole). Good shelf life and transportability, very attractive for market sales.
It is one of the 100 tomato varieties included in Carolyn Male’s book “100 Heirloom Tomatoes for the American Garden.” My seeds were from a German source.
vavladi said:
Amish Paste… The fruits turned out closer to a round shape…
The tomatoes in your photo do not look like Amish Paste at all. I didn’t grow them this year, but I still have the seed packet with the photo at my summer house. We bought our seeds directly in the USA.
Edited July 16, 2018 by Drosera
I agree, Tanechka. According to the description, it was supposed to be an elongated plum shape. But this is what actually grew for me, and I’m not the only one who got this result (off-type seeds). 😎
Amish Paste is a wonderful variety. The fruits have a beautiful oval plum-like shape, the flesh is tender and juicy, and the seed chambers are small. They are sweet and delicious with just a slight hint of acidity. The bush has sparse, wispy foliage. The fruits are great for fresh eating and, supposedly, perfect for canning since the walls are thick. The yield is quite good; it set fruit on every single truss without skipping any, despite a very hot summer.
Edited August 11, 2018 by ALIANNA
Amish Paste at the seedling stage.
Edited August 19, 2018 by Drosera
