📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Bochkovoy Zasol (Barrel Pickling)
- 🌍 Origin & Name: An old heirloom variety originating from the Astrakhan region of Russia. The name translates to “Barrel Pickling” or “Barrel Fermentation.” It is named after the traditional Russian method of fermenting whole vegetables in large wooden barrels for the winter, implying these tomatoes are large, firm, and hold up perfectly to this process.
- 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate. A tall, reliable, and unfussy plant that easily reaches 1.8m (6 ft) in open ground. Highly productive.
- 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Large, red plum/icicle-shaped tomatoes. Fruits typically average around 170-210g (6-7.5 oz), with some reaching nearly 400g (14 oz). The flesh is very thick, meaty, and has a “sugary/sparkling” texture when broken open.
- 👅 Flavor: Very good, classic tomato flavor. Excellent for eating fresh, dehydrating (sun-drying), or turning into juice.
- ⏳ Grower Notes: Mid-season maturity (approx. 140 days from seed). Growers note that an off-type/segregant known as “Bochkovoy Guseva” sometimes appears in seed lines, producing much longer, equally meaty fruits.
Indeterminate, highly productive, unfussy variety. Grew in open ground, the bush height was 1.8 meters (6 ft). The fruits are large red plums, mine averaged 210 grams (7.4 oz). The taste is very good. I’m thinking they are probably a bit too large for canning jars, these really are meant to be fermented in barrels… Seeds were from Dmitry Gusev, here is his description:
“A rather old variety originally from Astrakhan. They only grow it for personal use there because of the tall vines. Very meaty, sugary on the break, large-fruited. Extremely tasty. Gives high yields in Moscow greenhouses. I advise everyone to have this variety in their collection.”
Mine ended up with an average weight of 173 grams (6 oz) 😉. The maximum was 370g (13 oz). Also from Gusev. I agree they are really a bit too large for pickling in jars.
ElenaN said:
I’m thinking they are probably a bit too large for canning jars, these really are meant to be fermented in barrels…
Lenus, we are going to dehydrate (sun-dry) them! 😉 🙂
Yes, exactly, Lenochek, the walls are thick and meaty, they will be great for drying, and for juice, and you can slice them into a salad too. And the most important thing I liked about this variety is that it didn’t skip a single fruit truss 👍
Lena, a 210-gram plum tomato will fit into a jar without a problem. I actually prefer the large ones in jars. Good tomato, I liked it based on the description.
Gal! You can definitely stuff it into the jar, but how do you get it out? 😉
You guys just want to shove everything into a jar 😂! A tomato like this is better in a salad! Wow 😲, I even made a rhyme! 🙂
ElenaN said:
Gal! You can definitely stuff it into the jar, but how do you get it out? 😉
Tongs…. 😉
…I advise everyone to have this variety in their collection…
Well, now I’m only collecting the ones that are good for dehydrating/sun-drying. 😕
Lenochka! 👍 🌷
Tanyush! That’s Gusev advising that 😉 But the variety is truly worth it. And I reach into jars with my hand 😳
Do I really need to want it?
A 200-gram icicle/plum slips in and out of the jar with no problems. You just scoop it with a small slotted spoon with a long handle and that’s it 😂 Now, if it’s a round tomato, that’s trickier 😂
😂 😂
Lidochka! You are downsizing your plantings, so don’t want it, but if anything, I can send you some seeds 😉
Galyush! I guess I’ll have to plant it again next year and test how it goes in and comes out 😂
Lidiya said:
Do I really need to want it?
😂 Probably not the last photo from Lenusya, either.
ElenaN said:
Lidochka! You are downsizing your plantings, so don’t want it, but if anything, I can send you some seeds 😉
Lenochka, thank you 🌷 but I actually have the seeds, I already checked my stash. So I won’t plant it just yet.
Tatunya said:
😂 Probably not the last photo from Lenusya, either.
That’s right, and the next ones will be the “tasty” ones, whereas this one just has a “very good taste” 😉
Tatunya said:
😂 Probably not the last photo from Lenusya, either.
👍 👍 That’s for sure, Tanyush. It’s better not to look at Lenochka’s photos. 😋 😑 Otherwise you won’t sleep for a week…..
Danko said:
You guys just want to shove everything into a jar 😂! A tomato like this is better in a salad! Wow 😲, I even made a rhyme! 🙂
Are we really lacking salad varieties so much that we need to put the pickling ones in a salad? 😲
I somehow didn’t even think to taste it 😉
ElenaN said:
I guess I’ll have to plant it again next year and test how it goes in and comes out 😂
Oh boy… you guys are crazy… 😂 testing how it goes in and comes out… 😂
AleksandrS said:
Are we really lacking salad varieties so much that we need to put the pickling ones in a salad? 😲
I somehow didn’t even think to taste it 😉
I taste them when I’m saving seeds. And I immediately write down on a piece of paper what the tomato tastes like, otherwise I forget by the very next day. I was tasting 10 varieties a day all at once during the summer 😲 😂
Lidiya said:
So it’s from the Winnie the Pooh cartoon, where Eeyore checks 😂 😂 😂 😂 goes in, comes out, same thing here.
Ahhh… I was thinking goodness knows what 😂
ElenaN said:
I taste them when I’m saving seeds. And I immediately write down on a piece of paper what the tomato tastes like, otherwise I forget by the very next day. I was tasting 10 varieties a day all at once during the summer 😲 😂
I couldn’t manage that… tasting 10 at a time… that’s why I didn’t taste many of them… and I forgot the ones I didn’t write down too 🙁
And where do the tasted tomatoes go afterwards? Even I can’t eat 10 at once 😉
AleksandrS said:
And where do the tasted tomatoes go afterwards? Even I can’t eat 10 at once 😉
Into juice! 🍅 😋
I was doubting—should I plant it or not? You guys convinced me, definitely PLANTING. Late last night I couldn’t hold back, I dug through my seed stash just to make sure I actually have BOCHKOVOY ZASOL. From Gusev.
AleksandrS said:
I somehow didn’t even think to taste it..
Sasha, you didn’t even think to save seeds from the harvest, let alone taste it! 😂
Danko said:
Sasha, you didn’t even think to save seeds from the harvest, let alone taste it! 😂
Well, that is profoundly noted 👍 🌷
Could you please tell me about the maturity time? I didn’t see it in Gusev’s description. And not here on our forum either.
Tusya said:
Could you please tell me about the maturity time? I didn’t see it in Gusev’s description. And not here on our forum either.
Natasha, among mine, it turned out to be more of a mid-season—sown at the end of March, the first ones ripened in early August, so that’s about 140 days…
This year I planted classic, family heirloom varieties. All grew in open ground. Not a single one let me down! I absolutely loved Bochkovoy Zasol. Though it didn’t survive long enough to be pickled—we devoured it straight off the vine)) The flesh is just very tender with a classic tomato flavor 😋 Definitely going on my permanent grow list!
Edited October 16, 2019 by Bylinka
The Bochkovoy Zasol variety produced a very productive “off-type” (segregant) with much longer fruits, under the name “Bochkovoy Guseva”. It is just as meaty and tasty as its sibling, and just as good for pickling. Sugary on the break. The plant is tall, fairly early. Grew in the greenhouse, trained to two main stems.
