📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Vernaya Lyubov (True Love)
- 🌍 Origin: A rare Russian heirloom/commercial variety. The name translates beautifully to “True Love”.
- 🌿 Plant Habit: Determinate. It is a sturdy tree-type (rugose) dwarf that stays compact, reaching only about 24 inches (60 cm) tall.
- 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Stunning golden-yellow rounded hearts with a very distinct, sharp pointed tip (beak). For a short plant, the fruits get surprisingly large, with some reaching up to 10.5 oz (300 g).
- 👅 Texture & Flavor (The Standout Feature): Growers are blown away by the texture. It cuts, feels, and crunches almost like an apple! The walls are incredibly thick (nearly 0.4 inches / 1 cm) with 3 seed locules. Despite the dense flesh, it is shockingly juicy and maintains a sweet flavor even when picked green and counter-ripened indoors.
- ⏳ Maturity & Storage: It is a late-season variety. Because of its incredibly dense, apple-like flesh, it is a phenomenal “keeper” tomato. Growers specifically plant this variety to harvest late and store in boxes right up until New Year’s!
I’m dealing with a tomato like this for the very first time, so I really want to talk about it. It’s a det (determinate), gets about 24 inches (60 cm) tall, on the late side. This was the only variety that didn’t manage to ripen fully on the vine for me, they only just started blushing out in the open dirt. Unfortunately, I don’t have a photo of them on the bush. To be fair, I started the seeds pretty late, March 20th.
The bush itself is vigorous, tree-type (rugose). The fruits are the most beautiful yellow rounded hearts with a really distinct, sharp pointed tip (beak) 👍. Pretty good size too, some of them push up to 10.5 oz (300 grams).
When I cut it open, it just blew my mind. First of all, when slicing it, it feels like you’re cutting an apple, not a tomato, they are that firm and dense. And when I tasted it, I got the exact same feeling 🙂, the juice just squirts everywhere!
The walls are at least 0.4 inches (1 cm) thick, 3 seed cavities. Extremely juicy!!! Even though they were counter-ripened indoors, you can still really taste the sweetness. Plus, I get the feeling that these are the kind of tomatoes that will easily keep in storage right up until New Year’s without a problem. I’m definitely repeating this one next year, just gonna start the seeds earlier or stick it in the greenhouse.
Galochka, what seed company are these from?
Galochka ❤️ thank you so much for this miracle variety. 🙌🙌🙌
Galya, when is the best time to start the seeds if I want to try keeping the harvested fruits in storage until New Year’s?
