'Valencia' Tomato

Solanum lycopersicum

Origin: Maine

Improvement status: Cultivar

Seeds per packet: ~25

Germination tested 11/2023: 94%

Life cycle: Annual

This orange heirloom is a great slicing tomato for field or hoop house. It has meaty yet juicy fruit that average about a half-pound or just over, with few seeds, gorgeous color, and full flavor — it's a Slow Food Ark of Taste variety for good reason. If you've only tasted an orange tomato from the supermarket, you don't know what you're missing. Low-acid and mild, but still sweet and flavorful, this tomato is the real deal! With vigorous, indeterminate plants that display impressive disease resistance for an heirloom, Valencia is a reliable producer even in northern climates, at 75-80 days to maturity. The variety is said to be a family heirloom from Maine, and many believe it originated in Valencia, Spain, but evidence is lacking. Grown for us by Dylan Bruce  and  Skye Harnsberger of Circadian Organics in southwest Wisconsin.