This Year's Beefsteak Tomatoes
And where to buy them
This is the third instalment of which tomatoes I’m growing this year. The Bush tomato article is here and the vining indeterminate tomatoes are here.
My bush tomatoes are grown in large containers surrounded by wildflowers and borage so they get the full pollination effect from the insect population early in the season. All the coloured and unusual tomatoes are grown against a south facing shed in self-watering 25L buckets and all the beefsteaks that need help to ripen in a typical British Summer all take up valuable space in the high polytunnel.
I grow tomatoes in three areas so that I get a spread of tomatoes from June to November which gives me all the fresh tomatoes we can eat and enough time to make a batch of Passata for the freezer every few days.
I’ve got maybe 25 different beefsteak varieties but I’ve only really got space for 10 in the polytunnel - I’ll germinate them all and I’ll only transplant the strongest.
Is there any advantage to growing Beefsteak tomatoes?
They’re often not pretty and rarely perfect. They require support, take up more space than a bush tomato, they take longer to grow, they need side shoots pinching out every few days and require steady watering and feeding. They need their lower leaves removing to ripen the fruit before the possibility of late blight arrives and the rewards are slim because there are few fruits per plant … however, you’ll rarely see them in stores because they’ll just bruise under their own weight and there’s nothing like growing a tomato that is so big that you can only carry one at a time to the kitchen!
This year I bought a lot of tomatoes from a Ukrainian supplier and maintainer who have around 900 varieties of tomato available, all of which are heirloom or open-pollinated but I’m only germinating 5 new varieties this year - so it will be interesting to compare the disease resistance and possibility of late blight to all the F1 hybrids I’ve bought from UK suppliers.
From Ukraine I’m growing a few that may be familiar to American gardeners; Sudduth’s Strain Brandywine, Giant Belgium, Carol Chyko’s Big Paste, Dixie Golden Giant, Mary Robinson’s German (Organic, Ukraine)
If I had to choose three from previous seasons for performance, shape and taste I’d go with Cuore di Bue, Gourmandia F1 & Knockout F1, but none on this list will disappoint.
The Beefsteak varieties that performed well over the last few seasons from British suppliers are these:
Cuore di Bue, Beefmaster F1, Big Mama F1, Knockout F1, Buffalo Sun (Premier Seeds)
Fenda F1 (Marshalls)
Gazzy F1, Maisey F1 (DT Brown)
Red Bodyguard F1, Big Daddy F1 (Fothergills)
Gourmandia F1, Country Taste F1, Buffalosteak F1, Burlesque F1, Ananas F1 (Thompson & Morgan)
Limonita F1 (Suttons)
As a rough guide to some of the varieties I got from Eastern Europe …
Sudduth’s Strain Brandywine - This is widely known as the original Pink Brandywine strain, obtained by Ben Quisenberry from Dorris Sudduth Hill, whose family had grown it for more than 80 years.
Many gardeners consider this strain the best Brandywine with fruit that is superior in taste and smoothness. Its tomatoes are indeed special, 1 to 2 pound pink beefsteaks with the delectably complex, rich, sweet flavour that has made Brandywine justifiably famous.
Giant Belgium - This sweet, low acid beefsteak tomato, sometimes used for wine making, is an 1930s heirloom variety from Ohio. Often known as Giant Belgium, this meaty tomato can reach up to five pounds; because of its size, it is an old favourite for sandwiches because just one slice covers a piece of bread.
Carol Chyko’s Big Paste - This is an heirloom from Carol Chyko’s family in Hazleton, PA. The seeds were first introduced by Bill Ellis in 1988. The plants produce plenty of blocky red hearts in the 10-16 oz. range.
The fruits have a meaty interior with small seed cavities and very few seeds. This variety is too juicy for a paste tomato, but is excellent as a slicer with an outstanding sweet/tart balanced flavor. Rare!
Dixie Golden Giant - Fabulous, sweet fruity taste in a huge, clear lemon-yellow beefsteak tomato make this variety outstanding. Some of the 1 to 2 lb. fruit have a pink blush on their blossom ends. This is an heirloom variety that grows on large plants.
Mary Robinson’s German - A standout in every growing condition, this tomato will blow you away with its beauty and superb taste, Mary Robinson’s German Bi-color tomato is a late producer, but fear not, it will come through with the most gorgeous and tasty, 14-17 ounce tomatoes.
“I use many hybrid, experimental and regenerative techniques, I run a Cattery and I’m a YouTube junkie.”