Dancing Bear Farm ~ Heirloom Tomatoes

We’ve got over 80 varieties this year.

This still gives us all the colors,

shapes and sizes and a few new

ones to trial. Below is the list of varieties

we will be planting this year. (as of 3/7/11)

Please contact us if you are looking for

Tomato Transplants.

dancingbearfarm@mac.com

Amish Paste

Anna Russian

Arkansas Traveler

Aunt Ginny's Purple

Big Rainbow

Black Cherry

Black from Tula

Black Krim

Black Plum

Black Plum

Black Sea Man

Black Zebra

Blue Fruit

Bradley

Brandywine - Sudduth's

Brandywine, OTV

Brandywine, Yellow

Brimmer

Chapman

Cherokee Chocolate

Cherokee Purple

Church

Costoluto Genovese

Eva Purple Ball

Flammé

Garden Peach

German Johnson

Giant Belgium

Golden Sunray

Grape

Great White

Green Zebra

Half Moon China

Hogs Heart

Homer Fike's Yellow Oxheart

Isis Candy

Italian Tree

Japanese Black Trifele or Black Pear

Jersey Devil

Kosovo

La Carotina

Magnus

Marianna's Peace

Mexico

Mortgage Lifter, Radiator Charlie’s

Nepal

Neves Azorian

Nyagous

Old Ivory Egg

Orange Blossom

Orange Russian 117

Paul Robeson

Peacevine

Persimmon

Pineapple

Power's Heirloom

Prudens Purple

Purple Calabash

Purple Russian

Red Fig

Red Pear

Riesentraube

Roman Candle

Rose

Rose de Berne

Sainte Lucie

San Marzano

San Marzano Redorta

Sisters

Snow White

Speckled Roman

Striped German

SunGold

Sunsets Red Horizon

Tigerella

Trophy

Ukrainian Pear

Valencia

White Beauty

Yellow Pear

Zapotec Pleated

This years varieties:

2011

What are
Heirloom Tomatoes?
Also referred to as antique or heritage tomatoes, Heirloom Tomatoes are all open pollinated, meaning the seed that comes from the fruit will grow the same tomato it came from. (This is not true of hybrids) People generally talk of four classes or categories of heirlooms: Family Heirlooms ~ varieties saved from year to year and generation to generation.
Commercial Heirlooms ~ open pollinated varieties released by seed companies before the advent of hybrids in the late 1950’s.
Created Heirlooms ~ an intentional cross of two heirlooms to achieve a desired result.
Accidental or Mystery Heirlooms: This just happens through cross-pollination or mutation. 1% or more of the seed in an Heirloom Tomato will produce a different type of tomato. If it is grown out and remains the same year after year, you have a new variety or sometimes called a “sport”.
In general Heirlooms come from a time when farmers and gardeners saved seed from year to year. Each year the best of the crop was saved to be the seed for the next year. Eating an Heirloom Tomato (or other heirloom crops too) takes you back to that time. A time before genetically engineered, Round-up ready crops, before mechanically harvested tomatoes with the qualities of a tennis ball. Through our tomatoes, we invite you to join us in our time traveling.
As you can see from the photos here, tomatoes come in all shapes, sizes and colors. Some 10,000 varieties in all. At Dancing Bear Farm we try to keep it down to about 100 varieties. This gives us several varieties of each size, shape and color.