Redfield Beauty Tomato

This historic heirloom produces smooth, round, pinkish red, 3-4" fruits that taste great, and look consistently like your classic tomato. Featured in full color on the cover of the Hastings' Seeds Spring 1918 catalog, they call this "the most satisfactory tomato you can grow." They continue: "Our Redfield Beauty is the right size, the right earliness, the right shape, the right color, the right bearing qualities, the right shipping and eating qualities; in fact, it's an alright tomato in every respect."

In 1890, Hastings' Seeds wanted to clear something up that is still being circulated today: "To refute the charge that our Redfield Beauty is the same as Livingston's Beauty we offer Livingston's Beauty to the public, and if they desire, they may compare them." Thank you to Victory Seeds for digging up this history. Our seed stock came from William Woys Weaver and his Roughwood Seed Collection.

Days to maturity: 90

Seeds per pack: 25

Germination rate: 92% on 11/04/2020

Planting / harvesting notes

Start seeds 6-8 weeks before the last frost and transplant into garden well after the danger of frost. We recommend you prune the suckers that form in the crotches of the branches by the main stem. Water tomatoes at the soil level, keeping the leaves dry. Stake tomatoes so that their leaves and branches are kept off the ground, for good airflow between plants, and for easier harvest. Ripe fruits of Redfield Beauty often drop off of the plant!

Seed keeping notes

Tomatoes are generally self-pollinating, though we isolate different varieties by 35-50 feet, in hopes that flying insects will not cross pollinate them unexpectedly. Tomato seeds are ripe when the fruits are ready to eat! Cut the fruit at the equator and squeeze or scrape out seeds from each of the cavities. In a cup or bucket, add a little water (1/2" is probably plenty) to your seeds and pulp to keep them from drying out, and allow them to ferment away from direct sunlight. Ideally, you will stir the concoction every day for 3-5 days. In the end, add more water to fill the vessel, stir one final time, and allow to settle. Pour off the floating material and then strain the seeds through a strainer. Sometimes, you will need to add more water and pour off the floating material several times until the water is clear and you can see the seeds sunken at the bottom. Squeeze dry the strained seeds in a towel, and then lay out to dry on a labeled screen or paper product in a ventilated place away from direct sunlight for a week or two.

Photos used with permission: Copyright 2009 Rutgers NJAES, Jack Rabin. Source.

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