Here is a group of tomato varieties, that were at one time exclusively, favorites of European families. Judging by the demand of these in the last 15 years, they are surging upwards in popularity as never before. I remember Oxhearts (always) in our family garden being some of the largest fruits, even larger than some beefsteaks my parents grew. (Oxhearts grown out in 2021 out performed all others in size and production.) Trade-marked for their typical wispy foliage, new forms of leaves have also been discovered, such as regular and potato-leafed varieties. Thanks to selective breeding improvements by die-heart tomato lovers & growers, this once “frail looking” family appear no longer frail in appearance, in production, nor late for maturity. Today, we can also find a rainbow of colors and flavors, that special one for almost anyone!

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

1. Amish Paste – cultivated in Pennsylvania since the 1870’s and a heirloom variety from Wisconsin. Name can be confusing. Plants produce scarlet red oblong heart-shaped fruits of 8oz. with solid meat and sweet flavor. One grower says…”somewhat flattened in cross section with a point at the end, 2 seed cavities with fairly good flavor, well balanced leaning toward tartness.” Ideal for canning, making paste and fresh eating. Very meaty , with few seeds. Resembles an acorn. A prolific producer under difficult conditions. Ind. 85 days  
   
2. Anna Russian – one of the first oxheart tomatoes that I grew in 1997. History records indicate that a Kenneth Wilson received it from the granddaughter of a Russian immigrant coming to Oregon, pre 1900’s. Dark pink/red heart-shaped fruits of 1 lb. Great flavor. Wispy foliage, very typical of most in this category. Very prolific for an oxheart! Plants are aggressive and grow tall. Ind. Early! 70 days
3. Bull’s Heart – From Andrey Baranoski of Minsk, Belarus. A very old Russian variety. I just acquired this variety from a different source. I want to make sure that its attributes are either different or improved upon the 4th in our listing. The only way to find out is to trial them together! Large pink oxhearts with excellent flavor and noted as an equally great canner. Strong plants can reach 6 ft. Huge fruits of 12 oz. to 2 lbs are produced in abundance. Few seeds. Ind. 87 days      Pkt…$3.00
   
4. Bull’s Heart Russian – I have grown this one for quite some time. It reminds me of old-fashioned oxhearts that I grew up with. Plants are strong, yet its foliage has that typical “oxheart”…wispy form with not much of them. Fruits are some of the largest I have had the pleasure of growing…ranging from 14 oz. to a 1 1/2 lbs and more. Color is a rose/red…more rose than red, with smooth skin in typical “oxheart” form. A late season producer.    Pkt…$3.00
5. Cuor di Bue – (aka Bull’s Heart Italian, aka Cuore de Bue) A heirloom from Italy. Huge pink oxheart-shaped fruits that weigh up to 2 lbs. A very sweet tomato that is also an excellent producer. Determinate! 89 days
6. Dad’s Mug – From the Ben Quisenbury collection. About the same time, I grew my first “Banana Legs”, “Costoluto Genovese” and “Isis Candy“, I was also growing this one. I choose not to stake any of these and instead just let them have lots of room to lay down and do their thing! It must have been a great growing year’02, because I have never had such a production from all these 4 as that year! Here is the heaviest producing fruits that I have ever held in my hands. Soooo much meat was packed into these. And this tomato tasted quite delicious! The skin (a pearly pink/rose) is so smooth, just bursting from the pressure within. Fruits are very blocky, coming to a gentle rounded point. It would be a waste to stuff these, as there are so many others to do the job. The money is in the meat! Stores well with tiny seed cavity and therefore few seeds. Fruits had no problem growing to 1.5 lbs. Will always be one of my favorites. Ind. 80 days      Pkt…$3.00
   
7. Dinner Plate – Unknown history which is a shame, as its been around for quite some time. A jumbo sized tomato that can and will produce fruits up to 6″ across! It is a huge ”mama’ of deep rosy pink tomato, one of the largest and oldest, I have ever grown! Indeed, it can fit a dinner plate with little room to spare! (…By all appearances, a big Beefsteak with an Oxheart type shape…) Delicious flavor (sweet & acidic!), juicy and meaty at the same time with fine texture, more reminiscent of an oxheart. Superior slicing tomato AND a heavy producer! Plants are sturdy and strong. Ind. 90-100 days   Pkt…$3.00
8. Frank’s Heart Scarlet – Obtained this one from a wonderful “grump” old man, who I befriended through work. Our “garden conversation” was the highlight of his day…something he always looked forward to. I saw this very gorgeous tomato one day sitting on his window sill and asked him about it. He said that he always grew this kind and had brought it with him as a young boy from his homeland in Poland. His son was presently taking care of his garden in his absence and had brought it in for him to look at (he was too ill to eat it…) A few days prior to his passing, he gave me this one fruit. I have since grown it out and much to my surprise it is quite different from others that I have grown. I am honored to keep growing his ox-heart legacy and am now offering this fine specimen to you. Don’t forget to check it out in my photo album section (see photo on Flickr). Wispy foliage combined with real great taste and large sized RED fruits. An old timer…from an old timer! (Gosh! miss this grouchy/nice little old man!) Ind. 78-85 days      Pkt…$3.00
9. German Red Strawberry – German heirloom. Now here is a tomato you can have oodles of fun with! For starters, the plants are vigorous and tall, 5 ft., with real decent yields. Staking is needed or let them crawl all over your grape vines! Big red strawberry-shaped fruits, with mild ribbing which converge to a defined point (just like a big strawberry)!. Some versions have green shoulders, which make them that more interesting. They average from 12oz to 1lb.(some have recorded between 2-3 lbs!) with meaty flesh and an excellent taste, that is on the acidic side! Do not be afraid to plant them in rich soil. They will reward you! Ind. 85-90 days       Pkt….$3.00
10. Giant Yugoslavian – Another heavy duty monster. A true Oxheart with vispy leaves and heavy fruits.  More info….later      Pkt….$3.00
11. Giant Red Oxheart – Wow! The size of these! Interesting Oxhearts with more acidic flavor than most, for you to try!   Pkt…$3.00
12. Grightmire’s Pride – Originated from Yugoslavia, via Fred Grightmire who resided at Dundas, Ontario. Large, beautiful, heart-shaped fruits, with gentle ribbing, pink-purple tones and a mild, low acid flavor. I trialed this one in 2008 for the 1st time and was pleasantly surprised, when it (along with “Jerusalem”) were the first 2 tomato varieties to put on the “Ritz”! No others were ripening…just these 2… both oxhearts! Fruit production and size was in line with typical varieties that are much later. Taste tests indicated a 7/10. Plants are vigorous and the production is nothing to sneeze at. Ind. 65-75 days     Pkt…$3.00
    
13. Hungarian Heart – Obtained from a seed swap…they say. This tomato was brought to America in 1901 from a little village 20 miles from Budapest, Hungary. Plants are very leafy, producing pink heart-shaped fruits with few seeds. Some have fruits reaching 1 to 1.5 lbs with a sweet, excellent flavor and grand meat. One of the highest producing oxheart varieties. Ind. 80-90 days       Pkt…$3.00
14. Hungarian Oval – Unknown history. Large flattened, pretty oval-shaped pink-red fruits with few seeds. Plants are vigorous and fine producers, too. The flavor is interesting, fruity, meaty and some say almost seedless. A variety that produces early. Ind. 78 days     Pkt…$3.00
15. Jerusalem – From Israel. Large heart-shaped rose/red “heavy” fruits of .75 to 1lb. weights with very good flavor, rated @ 8/10. Plants grow un-typically large for an oxheart type, with huge yields expected and received! Ind. 70-75 days    Limited  Pkt…$3.00
    
16. Jewish – unknown history. Huge (1.5 lbs. !) heart-shaped fruits with outstanding flavor. Some say…new favorite. Shapes are not consistent, showing much irregularity. This colour is not common for oxhearts: intense scarlet/orange/red! Flavor is zesty and flesh is meaty. Flavor taste test was a 10/10 for this category! Rare. Ind. 80 days   
    
17. Kosovo – This wonderful variety comes from a former UN worker who was stationed in Kosovo, who passed it on to Glenn Parker. This variety offers huge, flattened, purple-red, heart-shaped fruits with weights of 10oz-18oz-1lb. possible. Their insides shimmer…a deep rose/pink. The flavor sets it apart from most others: sweet, rich and juicy, with intense acid to sugar balance. Delectable! One grower says they received 24 fruits from one plant. Wow! Wispy foliaged plants are very productive as well. Ind. 75-80 days     Pkt…$3.00
    
18. Manitoba Oxheart – Given to me by my friend Tammy C. She said she had received it from a seed grower in BC. Not the biggest Heart on the block, but nicely packaged in a short plant form of less than 20″. True oxheart flavor with juice and meatiness all rolled up into one.     Pkt…$3.00
19. Mate’s Big Pink Heart – Given to me by a friend of mine (Mate Paulic…now passed on) originally from Croatia. Exclusive only to this GH. Has the untypical form of a potato-leaf, which is still wispy! The fruits are also very large, oxheart-shaped and light pink, produced in modest amounts. Needs rich soil and lots of moisture. Should be supported. Well worth the wait. Ind. 100 days    Pkt…$3.00
20. Monomakh’s Hat – Back for 2025! A Russian heirloom named after a Tsars’ crown! (said to be named after the Diamond encrusted coronation crown that Peter the Great wore…) These plants produce huge wedge, heart-shaped fruits growing close to 2 lbs! Flavor is honey-like sweetness and crave-able! Raspberry red in color and meaty. Semi-Det. & early! 75 days    Pkt…$3.00
21. Pink Oxheart – Originated from Geza Korbely of Hungary. Some gardeners have won ribbons with this variety! This one reminds me of the kind my family used to grow. Just a regular wispy leafed variety that looks like nothings going on and BANG…then arrive these oval, deep pink, heavy, pointed, wedge shaped fruits late in the season! Flavor is old-fashioned, sweet with a sharp bite. For the most part we always enjoyed one like this, because it started when most others were petering out. Plants will need to be staked and production is good. Ind. 89 days
22. Portuguese Bullheart – Back for 2025! Now we can’t leave out this one! Here is a Portuguese heirloom oxheart! And what a performer! Healthy, very productive plants AND very early for an oxheart of this size. Fruits were huge, mostly 2 lbs, deep scarlet red and heavy. Most trusses had from 3 to 6 on each! Personal favorite. Regular leaf. Ind. 70-75 days        Pkt…$3.00
23. Russian #117 – Here is one I never want to be without! The only known DOUBLE-hearted form of oxheart! Fruits are deep, deep dull red, huge and most times quite flat, with some ribbing, right to the tip. Excellent flavor: rich with real old-fashioned overtones. Also unusual…these large sized fruits are some of the heaviest for their size, as well as the driest I have ever experienced! Watch out Romas! Plants are not large, putting their energy into creating fancy fruits and wispy foliage! Ind. 85 days       Pkt…$3.00
24. Russian Heart – Some more Russian hearts to confuse you! Deep pink/red oxheart shape with some irregularities: some with tapered bottoms, some with rounded bottoms! 12-16 oz. fruits with wonderful blend of sugar to acid flavor. Typical wispy foliage. 2011 proved to be just right for this one, producing huge fruits all season long. Ind. 80 days    Pkt…$3.00
25. Sylvan Gaume – An old heirloom from Canada. (I’m told…) that it was obtained from an elderly gentleman (in his 80’s) who seemed to think it orig. from Russia. Everyone who sees this one, their chins drop! Its super red huge hearts can reach 3 lb.+! Chubby and very heavy. Not only that, its flavor (classic old-time tomato, wonderfully rich, sweet & meaty) and its yields are both outstanding! Once again, the plant and its leaves do not follow a typical ox-heart style…producing regular lvs. Ind. Early….75 days   Pkt…$3.00
26. Wes – Hopefully I have sourced a “truer” version of this one. Another variety (that I had) kept showing more beefsteak type fruits rather than oxhearts. Trials this summer (’22) showed me it is a real huge chubby oxheart after all and flavor is quite strong considering. Certainly worth a try…    Pkt…$3.00
27. Yasha Yugoslavian – Tons of production bearing medium to large fruits. More info coming…   Pkt…$3.00
28. Zorica’s Croatian Bull Eye – My “tomato” friend Ken Cooke, upon hearing my husband was from a certain area of Europe, sent these on to me as a matter of interest. Seems they truly are a Croatian heirloom, from Zorica Dukie. Are a huge 1lb. oxheart-shaped red fruits, meaty with few seeds and great flavor. In past trials, I cannot trumpet enough about this one! Plant “pooped” out a ton of monsters, ranging from 1 to 3 lbs...scarlet red with a mass of weight and meat. Has become my favorite (all season) oxheart. Plants are Ind. and long season producers. 75 to 90 days     Pkt…$3.00