The Yellow, Gold and Orange Tomatoes

 

Amana Orange ($4.95)    (BB) 80 days. This huge and beautiful late season heirloom beefsteak is named for Amana, Iowa. The light-orange fruits grow to 2 pounds or more. Amana Orange is full flavored and slightly sweet with an enticing hint of tropical fruit flavors and a lovely texture. My customers in the southern states, including Florida, and in Texas are reporting great success with Amana Orange in hot weather.

 

Azoychka ($4.95) 70 days.   (E) One of the first to ripen in your garden, this lovely lemon yellow 7 to 8 ounce tomato has a delightful sweetness with just a touch of acidity. Ripening in only 70 days from planting out, it has a delightful yet subtle hint of citrusy flavor. This Russian heirloom has become a favorite of chefs and tomato lovers world wide.

 

 

Brandywine Yellow, Platfoot Strain ($4.95) 85 days.   (B) From Gary Platfoot of Ohio, this magnificent big 1 to 2 pound brightly-colored smooth-shaped yellow tomato with marvelous complex taste is a special strain of Yellow Brandywine which has a higher yield than regular Yellow Brandywine and offers the same elaborate, delicious tomato flavor. Gardeners who try this variety continue to grow it in their gardens.  Disease resistant and very easy to grow. It's a classic. I love it.

 

Cerise Orange  SOLD OUT  ($4.95) 70 days. (E) (Ch) Cerise Orange is rapidly becoming a favored cherry tomato among tomato lovers and especially chefs worldwide, its name is French for orange cherry. From Norbert Parreira of Helliner, France, Cerise Orange produces a huge harvest of tiny, luscious, ½" sunny orange cherries with a delicate subtle striping and flavor just bursting with gratifying deliciousness. Along with Hawaiian Currant, Bianca, Gold Currant and Peacevine, They are being used by chefs worldwide to create a spectacular edible miniature tomato display for restaurants and special events. 

 

  Dagma's Perfection ($4.95) (E) 72 days. As described by Gary Ibsen, renowned tomato expert, gourmet, author, connoisseur, and owner of Carmel TomatoFest, who named this extraordinary tomato for his lady love. This vigorous and abundant plant offers a bountiful harvest of medium-sized, 3" 12 oz., light yellow beefsteak fruits with beautifully delicate red striping. Deliciously flavorful with lingering sweet overtones of tropical fruit and subtle hints of lime, it is firm, juicy and elegant in the mouth. An enchanting tomato...delightful and jewel-like, just marvelous.

Dagma's Perfection is a best seller.

 

 

 

 

 Flammée aka Jaune Flammée($4.95)  (E) 70 days. Very prolific and stunningly beautiful, Flammé is an unforgettable tomato. Intensely orange with a reddish blush on the blossom end, these flame-colored 2 ounce globes have a rich, tangy and exciting flavor that literally bursts in your mouth. Cut open to reveal a red interior, this fruit reminds me of a blood orange with its spectacular contrasting colors. Fruits of Flammé appear to glow on the vine against a backdrop of deep green foliage. Just marvelous.

 

 

 

 

Gary Ibsen's Gold ($4.95) 75 days. (E) Seeds for this tall, leafy variety were sent to Gary in 1990 from a gardener in Boone County, West Virginia who had been growing these for 40 years. He was given the seeds by his uncle who had grown them in Tennessee.

Gary says, "In 2006 while eating some of this fruit just off the vine, I found myself so pleased with the flavor that I said to my wife, "Now this (slurp) is my kind of gold!"

"She suggested I call it Gary Ibsen's Gold, harvest more seeds, and share it with our friends. This big plant produces lots of very juicy, 14 oz., brilliant orange-gold globes with tropical fruit flavors with enough acid balance to guarantee a burst of tomato delight."

 

 

 

 

  Gold Dust ($4.95) (VE) 60 days. This beautiful, delicious, meaty variety was developed at the University of New Hampshire produces the prettiest, yummiest 2" round tomatoes you've ever seen.  Early ripening and an abundant yield make this semi-determinate fruit a favorite for bountiful early tomatoes in your garden.

 

   

 

 

Gramma Climenhaga ($4.95) This fantastic Canadian tomato has been a huge favorite of mine for years. With a luminous orange hue and brilliant, citrusy sweet flavor--it's perfectly balanced and delicious.  Grown by T. McIntee's grandma, it is easy to grow, a very reliable producer of 6 to 10 ounce meaty fruits, about 3" across, round and smooth -- a truly memorable tomato. Give Gramma a try!

 

 

 

New for 2010!  Hartman's Yellow Gooseberry ($5.50) 75 days.     This very old variety from the 1860's is a brilliant 1" to 2 " yellow cherry tomato with big sweet flavors that explode in your mouth with an elegant irresistible pop! Just try to get more than a handful into the house after picking them fresh and warm from the summer sunshine.  A rare treat. Huge harvests! Incredibly prolific. Probably the best tasting yellow cherry and you will have enough to give them away by the basketful.  A Laurel's exclusive.

 

Hartman's Yellow Gooseberry photograph courtesy of my good friend Lisa Von Saunder of Amishland Heirloom Seeds  www.amishlandseeds.com in Pennsylvania.

 

 

 

 

 

  Product Image Hawaiian Pineapple ($4.95) (B) 90 days. A huge, breathtaking and much sought after golden-orange beefsteak with fruit that grows up to 1-1/2 lbs. When fruit is ripe it has a luscious, very rich, sweet pineapple-melon like flavor and heady tropical fragrance. Add the unusually high production of this plant, and it makes my top 10 list. A real knock-out and a top-seller.

 

 

 

Hillbilly ($4.95) (BB)  (E) 78 days. This old time heirloom from the hills of West Virginia, growing to 2 lbs., has stunning yellow and red dappled skin with sunset-hued rainbow stripes inside; makes gorgeous slices. Very sweet. Another top vote getter at TomatoFest in Carmel, California. This one has sold out early every year.

 

 

 Homer Fike's Yellow Oxheart ($4.95)    85 days. This stunning, yellow-gold, heart-shaped fruit reaches  up to one pound and produces a bountiful crop. Truly a wonderful gift to place in the hands of a loved one or friend. Guaranteed to get "WOW!" in response. Meaty flesh, very few seeds and delicious fruit-sweet flavors. Seeds of this luscious and stunning tomato were sent to Gary Ibsen by Karen Teets of West Virginia who told him: " This variety was grown by Mr. Homer Fike for as long as his 78-year old daughter can remember."

 

 

 

  Ildi ($4.95) (Ch)     54 days. This is the earliest high-yielding grape tomato we offer. Sold in local Farmers Markets as Yellow Grape, Ildi grows in huge clusters of 75 bright yellow oval shaped fruits on a big bold 6 to 7 foot plant. The 1" cherries are very sweet and delicious, producing right up to frost. With it's extremely high yield, you will have lots of fruit to eat fresh right off the vine, toss into salads and share with family and friends.

 

 

New for 2010!  Japanese Yellow Trifele aka Japanese Yellow Truffle ($5.25)      (SM) 80 days. I love this tomato. Its winsome shape and tangy-sweet flavors are a delight for your tomato salads, fresh eating and sauces. High productivity and long-keeping qualities make it a true treasure for your heirloom tomato collection. Served on a platter with Japanese Black Truffle, it is a treat for the palate and the eyes. Took the photograph, ate 'em. A Laurel's exclusive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Kellogg's Breakfast ($4.95)     (E) 78 days. Wow whatta tomato!  These big 1 to 2 lb. bright orange beefsteak beauties from West Virginia are exactly the color of orange juice. This terrific fruit with its sweet, buttery, ambrosial flavor with a perfect balance of bright tanginess is a favorite of gourmets and gourmands everywhere. Sliced open, it reveals a rich creamy bright-orange flesh, just bursting with juice. A top seller year after year. 

 

 

    Laurel's California Gold ($4.95) 80 days. 

This very sweet, delicious new variety arose in my garden in the summer of 2001. I walked out to the garden one golden summer morning, saw the fruit and yelled "You're yellow!"  This is one of the best tasting fruits I've ever had. Fruity, sweet with tropical overtones, it's among my favorites.

 

We expected it to ripen deep pink from a Brandywine-Cherokee Purple cross called 'Brandokee', developed by Keith Mueller, but from one of the plants we got this magnificent yellow-golden fruit with pink streaking here and there and a winsome blush on the blossom end. I took one bite and was hooked.

Sweet as it can be with just a touch of tang, Laurel's California Gold is juicy and rich with a tender skin and rich, fruity, tropical flavor. Weighing from 12 to 16 ounces it measures about 4" across. It was first nicknamed 'Blondokee' by Keith, after my hair color and its parent plants. I asked Amazing Terry to give it a permanent name; he decided on 'Laurel's California Gold'...(garsh). Growing on a big hearty-vined regular-leaf plant, it really is very sweet and satisfying--a beautiful, delicious tomato!

 

 

Lemon Boy ($4.95) (H)     (E) 72 days. A perfect jewel. Lemon Boy is sunshine yellow, perfectly round and occasionally lemon-shaped, from 6-10 oz. with a rich satisfying flavor, bright, smooth, juicy, luscious and very prolific. Slightly tangy, sweet with lingering overtones of citrus. Bountiful on the vine, easy to grow, beautiful and all around winner--one of my top 5 favorite hybrids.

 

 

 

 

  Lollipop ($4.95) 75 days. This big, bushy, wispy-leafed plant produces huge crops of 1¼" almost translucent creamy yellow cherry tomatoes in clusters of 6 to 10 fruits which hang from long stems and look just like lollipops hanging on the plant. These fruits have a unique fruity-sweet lemony flavor I've not tasted in a cherry tomato before. Fantastic! Standing up to high temperatures they produce continuously throughout the season.  A perfect salad and snacking tomato and a favorite for marker growers.

 

 

 

 

Persimmon ($4.95) (B) (E) 68 days. This vigorous and prolific heirloom, introduced in 1983, yields a bountiful crop of creamy, stunning, persimmon colored fruit. Its rich distinctive sweetness makes it one of the best among the marvelous family of orange heirloom tomatoes. The fruits range from 12-ounces to 2 pounds and glow so beautifully on the vine you won't believe your eyes. Smooth, meaty, creamy, very sweet with few seeds and spectacular flavor. Persimmon is a customer favorite and has been a big winner at numerous tomato tastings. 

 

 

 

 Sun Gold ($4.95)     (EE) (H) 55 days. This is the one of the best cherry tomatoes I've ever tasted, rivaling Isis Candy, and ready to pick in only 55-60 days. It has the big, rich flavor of a full-size tomato, in a beautiful little deep-golden fruit growing in bountiful clusters on a huge plant. Sweet, rich, so beautiful...just left of center in top photo. Most of them won't make it into your house from the garden. If you send someone to pick them for you, keep your binoculars trained upon the picker. 

 

 

 

 

  Sweet Orange Roma (4.95) 76 days. For all you folks who are entreating me to include a yellow-orange roma tomato, here it is. This 3" x 1½" fruit grows in prolific quantities and produces so bravely! Takes the heat like a champ and continues late into the year, undeterred by cooler weather. Sweet and lovely, great tasting, gorgeous tomatoes are perfect for fresh eating and cooking.

 

 

 

New for 2010!     Summer Cider ($6.95)     Oh. My. God. Had my first taste of this spectacular fruit when I bought one at Elser's County Farm stand at our local farmers' market this summer.  Terry and I brought it home, sliced it in half and starting eating. Lost our minds. This is one of the most incredibly delicious tomatoes I have ever tasted. Refreshing, juicy, fruity, sweet, tangy, sublime.  Meaty, full flavored, ambrosial.  Love it.

 

 

New for 2010! Yellow Zebra  ($5.25) 65 days    Look at this fruit! This dazzling tomato was such a surprise for me this summer during my tomato tastings.  I saw it relaxing on the table there and hollered "Hey there, who are you?!"

I found it a local farmer's market and one bite convinced me to include it this year. The tantalizing appearance just blew me away. Its bright zingy flavors have a perfectly balanced sweetness with plenty of juice. High productivity, long shelf life and incredible beauty make Yellow Zebra more than a new discovery.  It's a new favorite! The same size and shape of Green Zebra, bigger than a gold ball, smaller than a handball. Fabulous!

A Laurel's exclusive.

 

This photograph is the property of my friend Lisa VonSaunder of Amishland Heirloom Seeds www.amishlandseeds.com  and used here with her gracious permission.

 

 

 

 

  Yellow Submarine ($5.25) 70 days. (Ch) (E) Similar in appearance to Yellow Pear but with a deep, rich flavor and excellent texture, Yellow Submarine is replacing Yellow Pear for many gardeners who long for this beguiling shape and color yet with really big yummy tomatoey taste.  Now the cutest little tomato has great big flavor!

 

 

 

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