Heirloom tomato

Encyclopedia : H : HE : HEI : Heirloom tomato

A selection of heirloom tomato varieties

An heirloom tomato is an open-pollinated (non-hybrid) cultivar of tomato. Heirloom tomatoes have become increasingly popular and more readily available in recent years.

Requirements

The definition of the use of the word "heirloom" to describe plants is highly debated.

One school of thought places an age or date point on the varieties. That is, some will say that it must be over 100 years old, others 50 years, and others pick an arbitrary date of 1945 which marks the end of World War II and roughly the beginning of industrial agriculture. It was after this point in history that hybrid seeds began to proliferate in the commercial seed trade.

Another way of defining heirloom varieties is to use the definition of the word "heirloom" in its truest sense. That would mean that a true heirloom is a variety that has been nurtured, selected, and handed down from one family member to another for many generations.

Additionally, there are another category of varieties that could be classified as "commercial heirlooms," that is, varieties that were introduced many generations ago and were of such merit that they have been saved, maintained and handed down - even if the seed company has gone out of business or otherwise dropped the line. Additionally, many old commercial releases have actually been family heirlooms that a seed company obtained and introduced.

Regardless of a person's specific interpretation, most authorities agree that heirlooms, by definition, must be open-pollinated and bred and stabilized using classic breeding practices. It is currently generally agreed that no genetically modified organisms can be considered heirloom varieties.

Varieties

Heirloom tomato varieties can be found in nearly every any color, shape, flavor or size. Varieties can be prone to cracking or lack disease resistance. As with most garden plants, varieties can be acclimated over several gardening seasons to thrive in a geographical location through careful selection and seed saving.

Some varieties are:

Big Rainbow — One of dozens of large fruited yellow tomatoes with red swirls, having a mild, sweet flavor. Hillbilly, below, is another. Apparently, tomatoes of this color were never sold by American seed companies; their origin is not known.
Blaby Special — A red fruited variety grown in the village of Blaby in Leicestershire until just after WWII. It was the main tomato vareity supplied through England during the war. The variety ceased to be cultivated when the Shoult's Tomato Farm was closed after the war. The vareity was brought back into cultivation in 2006 as a result of a campaign by Russell Sharp of Lancaster University. It allegedly resulted from either a mutation or cross-breed of an older variety known as Anwell.[link]
Black Krim — from the Crimean peninsula in the Black Sea
Brandywine — [A History of Brandywine Tomato Varieties]
Cherokee Purple — One of the very first known "black", or deep dusky rose colored varieties that are becoming so popular. Named in 1990 by Craig LeHoullier, who received seeds of an unnamed variety in the mail from J. D. Green of Tennessee. Mr. Green indicated that the "purple" tomato variety was given by the Cherokee Indians to his neighbor "100 years ago".
Green Zebra — Often called an heirloom, it is not. It is an open-pollinated variety bred and released by Tom Wagner of California in 1985.
Hillbilly — See Big Rainbow, above. It is known in regular leaf and potato leaf forms.
Jubilee — Released by Burpee Seed Co. in 1943.
Mortgage Lifter — One of the more famous heirlooms due to its fanciful history, described in great detail in the catalog of the Southern Exposure Seed Exchange company. The enormous pink tomatoes are sweet and tasty.
Traveler — Another variety commonly referred to as an heirloom and just as often erroneously listed as "Arkansas Traveler." Released by the University of Arkansas in 1970.

Heirloom tomato

Requirements

Varieties

See also