Heirloom Tomatoes

"There's nothing finer than true love and a ripe tomato"

Over the years we’ve selected (worldwide) heirloom and some hybrid tomato varieties that have been revered for their outstanding flavor characteristics. This list includes our favorites. We trial new varieties every year, so expect some surprises!

Tomato Varieties at Honeyhill Farm

We offer 6 colors of tomatoes, all picked at their perfection (within 24 hours before you buy them) and handled gently and expertly.

Jaune Flammee, heirloom Bursting with deep and rich flavor, refreshing.	Green Zebra, heirloom Tangy, refreshing and complex (as a good wine) sweet & tart combo with a citrus aftertaste. Green inside and out with a yellow background when ripe.
Honeyhill, heirloom Our own heirloom we have saved for years. Pretty, blemish-free, pink fruits with few seeds, juicy, excellent full flavor.	Moskvich, heirloom Smooth texture and rich taste.
Tigerella, heirloom Red-orange skin and golden-green to yellow jagged stripes. Red-orange, juicy flesh. Brisk, tangy flavor.	Red Zebra, heirloom Meaty red fruit with light yellow striping and red-yellow flesh.  Nice flavor retains its juices when sliced. Cooks well.
Cherokee Purple, heirloom Slow Food Ark of Taste Black or purple tomato with sweet, rich and complex flavors, the gel is deep red to black and green when fully ripe.	Nyagous, heirloom Rare, sweet, complex fruit flavors and a clean acidic finish.
Valencia, heirloom Slow Food Ark of Taste Large, round, juicy fruit has a rich and full tomato taste and very few seeds.	Wapsipinicon Peach, heirloom Very Rare! Complex; sweet and fruity flavor reminiscent of honeydew melon. Fuzzy like a peach! Named after the Wapsipinicon River in Iowa.
Amish Paste, heirloom Large and meaty with superior taste and a nice balance of sweet and acid. Excellent sliced or in a sauce, rare in one tomato. Our favorite cooking variety.	New Girl, old standard This is the first non-cherry tomato to ripen on our farm and is quite good for an early tomato. Better than any store tomato but lacks the complexity of the heirloom.
Cherry Tomatoes Our cherry tomato collection, very colorful and incredibly delicious! The first three (Green Grape, Sungold and Favorita) are regulars but we trial new varieties each year.
Green Grape, heirloom Very Rare- Old fashioned flavor, perfect sweet/tart with a mild citrus finish.  The cherry tomato for the discerning palate.	Sungold, modern Incredible, wonderful, sweet, tropical fruit flavor – difficult to not say more! Candy without guilt! Our most popular cherry tomato!
Favorita, modern Juicy, deep red with fantastic sweet taste and firm texture. Our favorite red cherry tomato.	Solid Gold, modern Wonderful, sweet, full flavor with good texture - new to us.
Brown Berry, heirloom Rare - Juicy and semi-sweet, with rich flavor and slight acid finish - new to us.

The Case for Heirloom Tomatoes

Today’s tomatoes are not what they used to be.

The food we eat today bears little resemblance beyond visual appearance to what it was just 30 years ago. Do you remember eating the sun-ripened, tasty tomatoes of your childhood? Is that what you find in the grocery store now? Do you even know what a real tomato tastes like?

In the last few decades, there has been an intense hybridization and genetic modification of virtually all food crops. Hybridization is not necessarily a bad thing—as long as its outcome is beneficial for you! But hybridization for commercial tomatoes has been done for yield, rough handling, color, uniformity, shipping ability, uniform ripening and storage. Not for taste. The last 30 years have brought “advances” in hybrid tomatoes that barely resemble real tomatoes. Those perfect red orbs in supermarket produce sections are missing one thing—flavor!

The answer to this problem isn’t as simple as purchasing local tomatoes and expecting to find the flavor you expect and deserve. Farmers markets growers often sell the same varieties as supermarkets.

What to do? Find heirloom tomatoes, old varieties passed over by mass production because they're difficult to grow in mass quantities.

Heirloom tomatoes are more particular than hybrids. Their growth habits tend to require more labor and less productive. However, their unique flavors, colors and shapes are worth it.

How we Grow Organic Heirloom Tomatoes

Good tomatoes start with good soil. Superior tomatoes require rich, healthy soil. At Honeyhill Farm, soil is the basis of everything we do and we cut no corners when it comes to soil improvement.

Getting tomatoes off to a healthy start in organic soil that can nourish them is the first step. Next comes disease and pest control. The standard method to address disease and fungus is by applying chemical sprays dozens of times a season. At Honeyhill Farm, we use nothing harmful to you or to the environment in our production.

Instead, we combat diseases through the use of prudent practices like soil rotation to interrupt disease and pest cycles. We protect our tomato vines from the vagaries of weather—particularly damp, wet weather that supports the growth of fungus—with high tunnels. In fact, we were early adopters of high tunnel technology for growing tomatoes.

High tunnels are plastic-covered structures like greenhouses. The salient difference between tunnels and greenhouses/hothouses is that we grow in the soil—our tomatoes are field grown. High tunnels require no energy inputs other than the sun and they are naturally cooled via roll-up sides.

Storing Tomatoes

Never refrigerate a tomato. Refrigerating tomatoes degrades their flavor and texture permanently!. Instead store them on the counter, out of direct sunlight, on their shoulders until ready to use.

Tomato Serving Hint

Prepare a platter with slices of different-colored varieties and Mozzarella cheese, garnish them with sprigs of basil and a drizzle of good olive oil.