Tomato, Rutgers

Solanum lycopersicum

Co-op grower Rich Felton swears by this variety, which for years has been his go-to main crop slicer and cooking tomato. A New Jersey heirloom, it was bred in 1934 as a versatile, general purpose tomato. Seeing as how that was still in the days where breeders cared about flavor, Rutgers has loads of it. Puts on a big crop all at once, which makes it good for canning, with multiple smaller harvests after. It's determinate, but with big, strong vines. Resistant to fusarium and verticilium wilts.

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 as well. 

Open-pollinated.

Seeds grown by Rich Felton in Rawlins, Wyoming.

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.