Growers’ Notes and Photos
This is the variety for anyone wanting to amaze their friends and family with fresh, homegrown tomatoes at Christmas and New Year’s. The vendor description reads: “The best tasting of all the long-keepers. Height 4 ft (1.2 m), weight up to 2 oz (60 g). Unmatched for having the firmest, unusually glossy fruits. Storage life is absolutely stellar. Considered the best for winter market sales.”
The clusters are absolutely gorgeous and uniform. My fruits weighed in right around 1-1.7 oz (30-50 g). When I sliced into them with a knife, they literally crunched; they are that insanely firm. I wrote the date on them to track exactly how long they would last sitting ripe on the counter.
Well, I caved and couldn’t hold out until New Year’s 😳. I sliced open my test tomato because I was dying to see what it looked like inside. Here is the result after more than two months of storage. It has a classic, old-fashioned tomato flavor, which is actually really impressive for a long-keeper. I still have nightmares about how the “Giraffe” storage variety tasted, so this was a huge, pleasant surprise!
Seeds from Kulik. Growth habit: this was the very first variety in the garden to set fruit. It’s a very neat, well-behaved indeterminate vine–definitely not some sprawling monster. It sets fruit perfectly on every single cluster without any blossom drop.
By late July it reached about 4.2 ft (1.3 m), and by early September it topped out around 5.5 ft (1.7 m) and was still pumping out blossoms. The clusters are really tight with 5-6 tomatoes each. The fruits have perfect commercial appeal; they are super firm, bright red, and completely cookie-cutter identical.
The ripe fruits are ridiculously dense. Flavor is a solid, classic tomato taste. I’d rate the sweetness a 4 out of 5. My first impression is that it has a flawless market look, is extremely firm, and would be absolutely incredible for canning whole.
Seedling grade: A+. Plant habit: A. Fruit: B. Overall variety rating: A.
Full Summary: Plant, Yield, Taste, and Storage
- 🌿 Plant Habit: A highly tidy, early-setting indeterminate vine. Unlike many unruly heirloom vines, it stays neat, compact, and manageable, reaching about 5.5 ft (1.7 m) by the end of the season.
- 📈 Yield & Appearance: It is a flawless producer, setting clusters of 5-6 fruits without dropping blossoms. The tomatoes are small, cocktail-sized rounds, 1 to 2 oz (30-60 g), boasting a bright, glossy red finish. They are incredibly uniform, earning high praise for their commercial, “cookie-cutter” market appearance.
- 👅 Taste & Use: Ozaltin’s main draw is its extreme density. The walls are so thick and firm that they literally crunch when sliced. While primarily grown to sit on a counter for 2 to 3 months for winter eating, this extreme firmness also makes it a top-tier choice for canning whole. For a long-keeper, the flavor is surprisingly solid and sweet.
