Romas

Now where can home makers find a more reliable and heavy workhorse than the Roma! If you want tons (all at once) of tomato meat for salsas, sauces, general canning and for those favorite winter recipes, none other can offer more for the buck. Romas of today are no longer just about bland, dry meat. Some have it all…flavor & juice…by the buckets! Consider a Roma for those summer barbecues, when a soggy salad accompaniment is not your preference. Let’s not forget that they come in an array of colors. More offered in other “colored tomato” sections. Be sure to check them ALL out!

Will remain online for educational purposes. Operating on a “Hobby” basis.

Occasionally we may have “extra” seed. Pkts. marked below. If nothing marked…then it is “N/A”.

  1. 10 Fingers of Naples – Back for 2025! Given to me by Tammy C. Plants aren’t too tall, but their fruiting load is crazy! And yes many of the nodes offered from 4 to 9 per! Here’s a great one for smaller gardens. Fruits are the typical orange red, elongated roma type shapes. Flavor and meat also typical.    Pkt…$3.00 
  2. Ardwyna – unknown history. A paste tomato, great in large containers and greenhouses. Long, chubby, yet tapered with few seeds. Determinate 75 days
  3. Dragica’s Roma – obtained these from my long time friend and gardener Dragica Kukec, who has maintained these for “ever”! She claims to have obtained them from my “Mom-in-law” Katica B. Can’t really be sure whether they are romas or oxhearts…? But the plants bear consistently each year without fail, offering decent near to 1lb’ers.   
  4. Ernie’s Plump – Gosh! What next? As described in the Seed Savers ’07…the most unique looking tomatoes, double plump pears look as though they were “dough” balls that someone stuck a thumb in!” Large red bell-shaped fruit. Described as having “Fullest, richest flavor”. Highly productive and very use-able! Regular leaf. Ind. 80 days 
  5. Franchi Giant Pear – according to records, this is a heirloom “provided” by Franchi Sementi of Italy, many years ago from the Genoa Region. Reports of 1 lb. are not uncommon, but it is uncommon to see this much vertical ribbing in a Roma type. Very beautiful and equally useful as a great all purpose: very meaty and excellent flavored tomato. Fine to eat it fresh and fine to can. Plants are robust at 6 ft. Ind. 80 days   Pkt…$3.00
  6. Grushovka – The original variety came from Russia…Novosibirsk, Siberia, via Val McMurray of BC. My Mom & (esp. Dad) fell in love with this one, their very first heirloom, he has knowingly adopted! I must have about 10 photos of it (his doing…) Indeed, for him it outdone itself…pumping out these chubby, egg-shaped pink/rose bullets! His tiny (2 ft.) plant produced about 80 fruits, with more on its way. The fruits are thin-skinned (some variations show slightly green shoulders….) and 2”x 3” in dimensions. Even the flavor impressed him. Some growers have commented that it is not a true paste type. Makes an excellent canner. Determinate 65 days   Pkt…$3.00
  7. Howard German – a very interesting paste tomato, with a German origin. Quite long with a curved pointy end, giving it the appearance of large plump banana pepper. Here is your first chance to promote heirlooms, as it is a great attention grabber. Meaty, red-fleshed, with very small, long seed cavities. Heavy harvests and large red fruits, 5.5” long, with some growers remarking that their fruits hit the 1 lb mark! Few seeds AND a real saucer! ? Ind. 80 days       Pkt…$3.00
  8. Hungarian Italian – of special note for this one: sets out to produce a “gazillion” brilliant red pear-shaped Italian type tomatoes that hybrids cannot match! One of the most flavorful and crack-free productions ever found. Flesh is excellent, rich a classic! Size is medium…3-4oz. Ind. 75 days
  9. Hungarian Oval –  find more info. in “Oxheart” section…   Pkt…$3.00
  10. Italian Red Pear – what is very special, is its shape. The fruits are large, scarlet red, pear-shaped with some ribbing on the top half of each fruit, giving it a indented appearance. Their thin skin make them easy for peeling and their sweet flavor is a bonus. A “Roma” with many fine qualities. Great for eating AND for processing. Ind. 80 days    Pkt…$3.00
  11. Italian Stallion Paste – A very dense paster, with more ruffles than usual. Fruits are slightly more deep orange/red than actual deep red. Heavy producer, like the best in this field.   Pkt…$3.00
  12. Jersey Devil – The ultimate scarlet, deep red “paster” tomato made popular by a seed company, no longer in business. Known for its pointed, almost twisted style of fruits. The impressive plants are prolific, pumping out very slender long “pepper-like”, slim fruits of 4” to 6” long. This “banana pepper” tomato is very meaty, and unlike hot peppers…very sweet, with few seeds. I love the look of this one as the color is gorgeous! Ind. 80 days  Pkt…$3.00
  13. Jersey Giant – Back for 2025! This New Jersey heirloom canning variety is on the verge of extinction says B. C. seeds! Long 6″ pepper-shaped fruits pack a real tomato flavor punch. Flesh is very thick, rich and tastier than typical Romas would be…yummy enough to be eaten straight from the tomato patch. Long season producer. Skin is smooth and slips easy for canning. Will “bulk” up sauces real well. Few seeds. Move over Jersey Devil! 75-85 days        Pkt….$3.00
  14. Kalman’s Hungarian Pink – this heirloom originated in (?) Italy and later found to be grown by Kalman Lajvort of Edison, New Jersey (family came from Hungary….) Healthy plants produce medium to large, oblong (oval) to heart-shaped pink, meaty fruits with fabulously rich flavor. The foliage is said to be wispy, yet regular leaf. Fruits are generally 8-14oz, with a pointy bottom end. It is hard to say whether this one is an oxheart or a roma, but time will tell all. A long season producer. Ind. 80 days  
  15. Kibit’s Ukrainian – Back for 2025! I was very impressed with this unusually compact (18″) Roma in ’09. 4-5oz. scarlet red elongated fruits with “pushed in” or pointy tips on the bottom end. The small plants showed more fruit (en masse) than either stems or leaves! This heavy worker continued its production for the rest of the season! The flesh was meaty, sweet & juicy and despite it being a Roma, was quite tasty. A great welcome in the sauce pan and the pot! Determinate 63 days     Pkt….$3.00
  16. Long Tom – Back for 2025! Another from the collection of Ben Quisenberry (?1891). A long paste (1.5” x 4”) tomato of 8oz, red, with a nipple on its blossom end and few seeds. Great producer, good to eat and easy to peel. Ind. 85 days     Pkt….$3.00
  17. M’s Mystery Big Fat Roma – It was discovered in seed of another growout this year. Resembling for all the world like “Dad’s Mug”. Fruits are huge, oval, meaty with few seeds. However, skin coloration and plant strength is different. For my sanity, I’ll keep it separate and regrow it again (right beside its namesake) to make sure they are (or not) one and the same. Sometimes placing a variety in another area causes it to preform slightly different. However Dad’s Mug is quite distinctive so shouldn’t be a problem second time around.    Pkt…$3.00
  18. M’s Mystery Red Chubby – A strange true roma that showed itself few years ago that I happen to like its different shape and production. So its a “keeper”.                 Pkt…$3.00
  19. Memorial Polish Paste – I lost this one some years ago…suddenly right after, a number of people wanted it. I could not find it anywhere. While putting in a request of seeds from my friend Micky, SHE included this one as a Bonus…saying it won’t grow well in her “hot” state! Thank you Gods of the gardening world! [My original 2009 history was:] Original seeds were obtained from Carolyn Herriot of Victoria BC, 1995, via a Polish Immigrant. [I have to ask Micky how she obtained it?] Trials of 2016 found this one to be more roundish “pear” shaped & huge, combined with some fluting. So was very pleased with that, as I don’t have another quite like it. Plants were heavy producers!  Ind. 75 days    Pkt…$3.00
  20. Napoli – (aka ? Napoli V. F. Fiascetto) the bushy 4 ft. sprawling plants offer high quality fruits and high production. Known in the industry…more as a commercial variety, for its very heavy production. Fruits are typical paste, crimson red, elongated oval, with thick walls. It has been said that some growers’ plants produced up to 100 tomatoes per plants…where there were so many fruits, they covered the foliage! I guess one plant would be enough…unless you are in the tomato paste business! Fruits are small to medium-sized. Great, all-around variety. Determinate 70 days   
  21. Opalka – From Poland to Amsterdam, NY in the 1900’s. In 1998, I grew these out and were so impressed by their size, that they became my personal favorite. It is fine to grow them in rich soil. Fruits appear as elongated pointy peppers (6.5” x 2.5”) of heavy proportions with dull rose/red skin and few seeds. The plants’ production was also impressive, with fruits littering the ground. This true paste variety was meaty, with great flavor. Ind. 75 days       Limited Pkt…$3.00
  22. Polish Linguisa – a New York family brought this one from their Polish garden in the 1880’s. Another very large “Roma” that happens to be early and very productive. The 5” long fruits are heavy (about 8-12oz), sausage-shaped and meaty. Lasting a long time on the vine if left on. The plants offer large yields and produce until frost. Another excellent salsa and paste maker. Ind. 73 days   Pkt…$3.00
  23. Principe Borghese – For all my customers who have grown this var. in previous years and found it unsuitable:1) for being too juicy and 2) for growing too tall…Hurrah! After much searching…I have finally found the original heirloom from Sicily! Time to grow it again! This very compact variety (grow it in lean-mean soil!) is used to make sun-dried tomatoes. The plants are pulled up whole, when loaded with fruit in the early fall and hung to dry, while the winds and air is still warm. The red fruits are small (about 1.5”) mealy, with little juice and only a few seeds. Their shape is oval/oblong with a tiny point at the blossom end. When they are dried, their flavor intensifies, retaining more of it than other varieties. The plants are heavy producers (thank-goodness) Determinate 70 days
  24. Prue – Regular wispy foliage, sparse and droopy. Large elongated red plums of various shapes, bearing pointy or nipple tips. Rich, flavorful, juicy and delicious, with few seeds. A wonderful heirloom where the original heirloom was obtained from Tom Gallucci of Connecticut.
  25. Red Pear Piriform – (aka Pomadora, aka Pomadoro Red) An Old North Italian variety. My tomato friend Frieda Steinke, tells me that these became the size of Anjou pears (8-18oz)! The taste cannot be forgotten…..excellent like a beefsteak! Fruits are red skinned, deep red fleshed, with most showing heavy ribbing. Growers report that these were most luscious and full bodied. Excellent for almost anything you wish to put them in. Plants were putting out mega production. Ind. 75 days      Limited Pkt…$3.00
  26. Rocky – Tall (7’) rangy plants are capable of producing large (8oz-12oz-1lb.) long thick blunt-ended, pepper-shaped fruits that remained true to variety, despite their seed being grown out for several years. (One producer calls them ”bomb-shaped lunkers”!) Flavor is unusual: tangy and meaty. Have to wait awhile for this one to pop them out. Ind. 80-105 days
  27. Roma – the old reliable, whose characteristics have not changed for hundreds of years. Environments have been known to change the nature of a lot of plants, but not this one. It remains a thick-walled, pear or plum shaped 3” long deep red fruit with few seeds. Good for whatever ails you…salsa, sauce or drying. Plants are known prolific producers. Determinate! 75 days 
  28. Royal Chico – formerly distributed by Johnny’s, but left in the dust for shorter season growers. Well, I’m going to pick this one up out of the dust and spread it far and wide! What one grower does (in his short season, when frost starts knocking) is pull up the entire plant, with green & red fruits, hanging them from the cellar beams until they ripen. Therefore this variety’s late crop, gives this grower an advantage, when overwhelming garden bounty puts them behind! Plants that are producing right into a late fall, offer fruits that tend to be a bit drier, because of reduced rains and cooler weather conditions. Fruits hold well in storage. All the better! Very uniform large pulpy, meaty, paste tomatoes, are shaped like red pears. Excellent for canning. Plants do not grow huge and are disease resistant. Determinate 75 days
  29. San Marzano – should I dare to say that this one is from Italy? The Frenchi Sementi Seed Co. has been offering this one for more years than most of us are old…226 years! A rectangular-shaped red pear of 3.5” length with mild flavor and meaty texture. The ultimate “Roma” for many years. Excellent for tomato paste, puree or drying. Crack resistant fruits grow on large prolific vines. Ind. 80 days
  30. San Marzano Gigante 3 –  Just when one thinks “pasters” can’t get any bigger…along comes this one! A jumbo version of our famous variety. Bragging rights claim fruits of 2 1/2″ wide by up to 6 and even 7″ long! Typical Roma red with some green shoulders or yellow streaking. 90 days   
  31. Sausage – (aka Red Sausage) Its form resembles that of a hot chili pepper or a red banana. Fruits are long, about 6” with small seed cavities. Not much juice can be found within, making this one a great keeper as well. One can use it to provide “body” to canning tomato recipes. Ind. 70-75 days
  32. Teton de Venus – What a weird shape. Beefy, pointy and twisted! Yes dry and meaty like a typical roma. You want to know more…you grow it! I won’t tell!     Pkt…$3.00
  33. Turnadot – Here is another strange shaped variety, that I can’t stop talking about. These look like wee balls with last minute sausages attached! (Sorry!) Plant were prolific but not too tall. Fruits averaged about 6-8oz per. More dry than juicy. Have to see to believe these.    Pkt…$3.00
  34. Ukrainian Pear – in 1995, this heirloom variety was brought back by a Peace Corps volunteer, who served in Yalta, Ukraine. Prolific and vigorous vines produce a pink/purple pear shaped tomato that averages about 5-8oz., becoming about 4″ long. What is unusual is their shape and deliciously sweet flavor. Vines will reach 6 feet! Ind. 80 days   Pkt…$3.00
  35. Window Box Roma – I trialed this one for the first time in pots in 2006. I could not believe the health and production of such a small robust plant. The plant grew only to 18”, producing about 3 trusses, with 5 to 6 fruits in each, with each fruit weighing in at 4 to 8oz.! The following year, I planted several in the garden, right beside the other 102! Well! They performed even better! The stocky plants were so heavy with fruit that they finally just had to lie down! The foliage is not a true “rugose” type, just healthy, large and deep green.   Considering it is a “Roma”, the fruits were very delicious, smooth, oval, deep red and heavy. I would recommend this one to anyone who has room for just one! Fruits keep well. Det. 70 days   Pkt…$3.00
  36. Wuhib – A very classic paste tomato var. that will grow to 4 ft. with regular leaf. Fruits are scarlet red (2.5″ x 3.5″) 3 – 4 oz plums that are quite juicy and very tasty. Plants are also extremely productive and healthy. Ind. 83 days     Pkt…$3.00