Brazilian Beauty Tomato
An early tomato with great, sweet flavor and a mysterious past. This was a big hit at the tomato tasting this summer. The very juicy fruits form in clusters and are saladette size--about 2" across. They are a rich, dusky mahogany red, in between a regular red tomato and a "black" type. This beat Black Trifele in my garden on every count. The vines stay a manageable size, and produce heavily until frost. (My seed crop also gave me jars and jars of sauce in addition to fresh eating.) Compact indeterminate vines stay fairly small and can be spaced a bit closer than the large tomatoes. I space them at about 2 feet.
I found these at the local farmer' market several years ago. The vendor said that back in the 1970's, he was at his brother's nursery when a hippie van pulled up, full of assorted tomato plants for sale. The nursery didn't buy them, but he got a few and took them home. This mahogany-red, saladette-size tomato was the standout, and he had been saving seed ever since. Who named it and why I have not discovered. Extremely rare--as far as I know, nobody else carries this.