Solanum lycopersicum

Massive, prolific heirloom beefsteak that'll raise the roof!

It's a delicious, juicy, sweet beefsteak type with thin skin and huge, fleshy fruits. Give strong support--this one will bring down wimpy trellises! Indeterminate.

Long on old-timey tomato flavor as well as juicy lore, this tomato is said to be developed by a West Virginian gardener (exactly which gardener is contentious) who crossed several varieties of large-fruited types until he stabilized this variety. He sold plants for $1 apiece and paid off his $6,000 mortgage in the 1930s. 

Tomatoes are native to northwestern South America and by at least 500 BC they had been domesticated and were being cultivated as far north as modern-day Mexico, enjoyed by Aztec and other civilizations. They spread to Europe and the Caribbean through the Spanish colonizers, where they became staple parts of the food culture in many European countries.

Seeds grown by Winniford Family Farm in Rice, Washington.

30 seeds.

Directions: Start indoors 6-8 weeks before last frost and transplant out after. Bury past first set of leaves, add eggshells to soil for calcium, and provide support.