The color (and flavor!) is a full-blown assault on the senses-lavender and purple stripes, turning to technicolor olive-green, red, and brown/blue stripes when fully ripe. Heat mat helps to warm soil and speed germination. Growing Tips: Start indoors 6-10 weeks before last frost. Vines in our 2016 trial here in southern Missouri were not excessively vigorous but yielded well nonetheless and with no apparent sunburning. Vines are indeterminate with medium to very large red fruit. Buckbees in 1923, this meaty variety has incredible thick flesh with a tiny seed core and great old-fashioned tomato flavor. He said he grew the original Abe Lincoln tomato-not the ones that were later sold but from the 1923 seed catalog.” Released by H.W. She writes “A man (in his 80’s?) and I got to talking while pumping gas and I told him I collected seeds. The Original Abe Lincoln Tomato: This wonderful old heirloom was shared with us by Diann Dirks- The Garden Lady of Georgia (Her gardening blog can be found at Diann is a seed saver and seed sharer at heart and received this variety from a gentleman she had struck up a conversation with one day while pumping gas. Hold at warm temps, 70-85F do not allow soil to dry out. Growing Tips: Start transplants indoors 6-10 weeks before last frost, barely covering. You can grow litchi tomato just as you would grow regular tomatoes. A very pretty and attractive plant that originated in South America, but has been naturalized in many countries. Lovely to look at, but be careful with the thorns! The fruit is about the size of a cherry and tastes like a cherry crossed with a tomato. Large plants grow to 5 feet and are covered with thorns, sweet red fruit, and large white flowers. Botanists believe the litchi tomato to be native to South America, yet early accounts mention it as a plant growing in the islands of the South Pacific. The Wilson’s catalog also told of the fruit being used as a condiment for a cannibal’s meal of human flesh in Fiji. It was described as a bright red fruit that lends well to pies and sauces. The 1896 Wilson’s Seed Farm catalog featured a plant referred to as Solanum anthrophagorum. While the alien-like plants may seem like a new innovation, litchi tomato was celebrated in seed catalogs of antiquity as an exotic and delicious fruit. It is a favorite fruit here at Baker Creek and has even been seen growing in the home garden of Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau. Its Latin name is Solanum sisymbriifolium, but it goes by many aliases: Vila Vila in Latin America, litchi tomato in the U.S., and in France, Morelle de Balbis. A totally unique fruit, it is delightful to imagine litchi tomato into myriad culinary interpretations, from mock cherry pies to chutneys and pickles. The most intriguing garden berry we have ever seen, and with superb creamy and mild cherry flavor.
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