Antico Canestrino di Lucca Tomato Review: Ribbed Italian Heirloom

Quick Summary of Antico Canestrino di Luca 🌍 Origin: A classic traditional heirloom from Italy (often spelled Antico Canestrino di Lucca, originating from the Tuscany region). The name translates to “Little Basket of Lucca,” referring to its deeply ribbed, pear-like shape. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate, very sturdy, and tall. Growers in our community report that … Read more

Amish Orange Sherbet Tomato Review

Quick Summary of Amish Orange Sherbet 🌍 Origin: A treasured family heirloom originating from the Amish community. Our community, note that the “Amish” name acts as a true mark of quality and reliability, even when grown in harsh Northern climates. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate, tall, and robust. It produces a strong, vigorous bush that supports … Read more

Absinthe Tomato Review

Quick Summary of Absinthe 🌍 Origin: A well-known Green-When-Ripe (GWR) heirloom. In the Russian seed market, it is widely circulated by collectors like Valentina Redko. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall), regular leaf (if you get a potato leaf, it is an off-type). It can be a bit of a slow starter in the spring, but … Read more

Aurora Blue Tomato Review: Latvian Antho Heirloom

Quick Summary of Aurora Blue 🌍 Origin: A beautiful anthocyanin variety popularized by the well-known Latvian tomato breeder and collector, Valdis Puliņš. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall), reaching about 1.7–1.8 meters (5.5–6 ft). Very vigorous and productive, known to keep setting fruit right up until the first frost. 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Medium-to-large slicing tomatoes weighing … Read more

Aces High Tomato Review: Rare Purple Cocktail Heirloom

Quick Summary of Aces High 🌍 Origin: A rare dark cocktail tomato. In the Russian seed market, it became famous due to a hilarious translation error: the first person to import it used Google Translate, resulting in “High Aces” (as in playing cards: Tuzy Vysokie). Growers later pointed out it’s actually named after the famous … Read more

Auermuom Apgue Tomato Review: Rare Anthocyanin Beefsteak

Quick Summary of Auermuom Apgue 🌍 Origin: A rare and exotic anthocyanin variety circulating among Russian and Eastern European collectors under this highly unusual name. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate (tall), Regular Leaf (RL). Known for being exceptionally robust and healthy. Notably, it performs wonderfully during the indoor seedling stage—unlike many “blue” varieties, it is highly … Read more

Jaguar F1 Tomato Hybrid Review

Quick Summary of Jaguar F1 🌍 Origin: A commercial F1 hybrid originally produced by the Dutch seed company Seminis (which later became part of Monsanto/Bayer). It is now largely discontinued or very hard to find in retail seed catalogs. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate. Grows to about 1.6 m (5.2 ft). It is a strongly “vegetative” … Read more

Japanese Crab Yellow Ribbed Heirloom Tomato

Quick Summary of Yaponskiy Krab Zheltyi (Japanese Crab Yellow) 🌍 Origin: A Russian commercial heirloom originally distributed by breeder Alexandrov. The name translates to “Japanese Crab Yellow” due to its heavily ribbed, flattened shape resembling a crab. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate / Mid-tall. Usually grows to about 1.5–1.7 m (5–5.5 ft). Known for its extreme … Read more

Amber Room (Yantarnaya Komnata) Green Tomato Review

Quick Summary of Yantarnaya Komnata (Amber Room) 🌍 Origin: An exotic Russian commercial/heirloom variety, originally distributed by breeder Valeriy Medvedev. The name translates to “Amber Room,” referring to the amber-yellow blush the green skin develops when fully ripe. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate, vigorous, and tall. In a greenhouse, it easily reaches up to 2.5 meters … Read more

Apple Feast (Yablochnyi Spas) Tomato Review

Quick Summary of Yablochnyi Spas (Apple Feast) 🌍 Origin: A Russian commercial/heirloom variety often distributed by well-known seed vendors like Valeriy Medvedev and Ilya Korolev. The name “Yablochnyi Spas” translates to “Apple Feast” (or Apple Savior), a traditional Russian agricultural holiday in August. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate, very tall and vigorous, easily reaching over 2 … Read more

Japanese Crab (Yaponskiy Krab) Tomato Reviews

Quick Summary of Yaponskiy Krab (Japanese Crab) 🌍 Origin: A very famous commercial Russian variety originally registered by “Demetra-Sibir” (Altai region). The name translates to “Japanese Crab”, referring to the ribbed, somewhat flattened shape of the original strain that supposedly resembles a crab. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate, vigorous, and tall (typically 1.5–2 meters / 5–6.5 … Read more

Japanese Girl (Yaponka) Oxheart Tomato Review

Quick Summary of Yaponka (Japanese Girl) 🌍 Origin: A highly popular Russian/Eastern European internet heirloom. The name translates to “Japanese Girl” or “Japanese Woman”. It is believed to be closely related to the famous ‘Cardinal’ variety but features a distinct pointed tip. 🌿 Plant Habit: Indeterminate, typically growing 1.5–2 meters (5–6.5 ft) tall. It has … Read more