🍅 Quick take: Kim’s Civil War Oxheart is a historic, mid-season indeterminate heirloom originally dating back to the American Civil War. It produces gorgeous, meaty, and extremely sweet dusky pink hearts weighing 7–14 oz (200–400 g). Known for its robust, vigorous vines and crack-resistant fruit, it delivers a classic, old-fashioned pink tomato flavor with very few seeds. Full summary ↓
Growers’ Notes and Photos
Kim’s Civil War Oxheart. An old family heirloom that has been grown since the Civil War era. The seeds were later passed on by Oregon resident Linda Taylor to Victory Seeds, which commercially introduced the variety in 2015.It is an incredibly vigorous, robust vine reaching 6.5 ft (2 m) or more, with large regular leaves. It’s a mid-season indeterminate with excellent yields and an extended fruiting window. I pruned it to two stems. The fruits were medium-large, weighing 7–14 oz (200–400 g), and mostly shaped like blunt oxhearts. A few of them were slightly ribbed on the shoulders. They have an interesting dusky pink color, smooth skin, and are completely crack-resistant. The flavor is magnificent, packed with that true, old-fashioned pink tomato aroma.
This variety is an absolute treasure! It pumped out tomatoes all season long, even though it had some bad luck when voles chewed on its roots. I had my eye on this beauty for about two years just based on its looks, and now I know how delicious it actually is. It was so tasty that unfortunately, none of them survived long enough to make it to photo day.
I also grew this variety in 2019 and really liked it. It got to about 5 ft (1.5 m) tall outdoors in the dirt. It grew exactly as described, a mid-season producer with elongated dark-raspberry hearts weighing 7–10.5 oz (200–300 g). The flesh is very sweet, and there are hardly any seeds inside.
Full Summary: Plant, Yield, Taste and Storage
- 🌿 Plant: A highly vigorous, regular-leaf indeterminate vine. It is known for having a very strong, robust root system and thick stems, capable of easily pushing past 6.5 ft (2 m) in a greenhouse or staying around 5 ft (1.5 m) outdoors.
- 📈 Yield: Excellent. It features a long, extended fruiting window, steadily pumping out medium-large blunt oxhearts all season long.
- 👅 Taste: A phenomenally sweet, classic old-fashioned pink tomato. The flesh is dense, meaty, and holds very few seeds, making it a perfect slicer or sauce tomato.
- 📦 Storage: Unlike many delicate oxhearts, growers note that this variety has smooth skin and is highly crack-resistant, giving it a decent shelf life for an heirloom.
- 🌎 Who Reviewed It: Grown successfully outdoors in Zone 5 (Lipetsk, Russia) and in warmer climates (Spain), proving it is a highly adaptable, resilient workhorse.
🍅 Grown Kim’s Civil War Oxheart? Share your zone and how it did for you in the comments below, and add your photos!
👨🌾 Editor’s Note: A Note on Oxheart Shapes
While the classic “oxheart” shape is usually a sharp, distinct teardrop, Kim’s Civil War Oxheart is known for being a “blunt” heart. As seen in Larisa’s photos, it often presents as a slightly elongated, blocky plum or a wide, rounded heart with slightly ribbed shoulders. Don’t worry if yours don’t look perfectly pointy, that’s exactly how they are supposed to grow!
While the classic “oxheart” shape is usually a sharp, distinct teardrop, Kim’s Civil War Oxheart is known for being a “blunt” heart. As seen in Larisa’s photos, it often presents as a slightly elongated, blocky plum or a wide, rounded heart with slightly ribbed shoulders. Don’t worry if yours don’t look perfectly pointy, that’s exactly how they are supposed to grow!
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