📌 Quick Summary (TL;DR): Zasolochnoe Chudo (Pickling Miracle)
- 🌍 Origin: Commercial variety from the AGRO seed company. The name translates to “Pickling Miracle” or “Salting Miracle”.
- 🌿 Plant Habit: Determinate (bush). Extremely compact and low maintenance. It requires absolutely no pruning (suckering). Highly praised for its excellent resistance to Late Blight.
- 🍅 Fruit Characteristics: Small, red, elongated-oval (plum/roma) fruits with smooth, tough skin. Standard weights range from 2.5 to 3.5 oz (70-100 g). They are very firm and boast an incredible shelf life after picking.
- 👅 Flavor: A classic, dense paste tomato profile. While decent for fresh eating, its true purpose is in the jar. Its firm structure makes it a top-tier choice for whole-fruit canning and traditional fermentation/pickling.
Here is the description for “Pickling Miracle” from the AGRO seed company packet: An early-season determinate variety. The bush is short and compact. The fruits are elongated-oval, red, smooth, and firm, weighing 2.5 to 3.5 oz (70-100 g). Valued for its stable yields, disease resistance, and excellent shelf life. Ideal for whole-fruit canning. Doesn’t get hit by Late Blight.
They are incredibly convenient to grow since they require absolutely no pruning (suckering). Great for both canning and eating fresh. The yield is very good. I actually grew these from my own saved seeds that were 10 years old.
Quote from Lyubov.: …The fruits are elongated-oval, red, smooth, and firm, weighing 2.5 to 3.5 oz (70-100 g)… Ideal for whole-fruit canning.
What do they look like sliced open? Are they meaty or do they have hollow cavities? I’m really curious if they will hold their shape if I try canning/pickling them cut in halves.
The name of this variety is “Zasolochnoe Chudo”, which directly translates to “Salting Miracle”. In Russian culinary tradition, “salting” refers to lacto-fermenting whole tomatoes in a saltwater brine with garlic and dill (similar to half-sour cucumber pickles), traditionally done in large oak barrels.
To survive this fermentation process without turning to absolute mush, a tomato must have incredibly thick, firm flesh and a tough skin that resists cracking. When you see a Russian heirloom with “Zasolochnoe” (Pickling/Salting) in the name, you know you are getting a bulletproof paste tomato that will hold its shape perfectly in jars!
