Description

John Henry Tomato

I found this giant tomato at my local farmers market back in 2016 in Butler, Pennsylvania. I purchased it from a gentleman in his 50s. He said that his father grew this for decades prior, and he has continued growing since his father no longer gardened. He said it has to be over 90 years old, his dad grew it every year as he was growing up as a kid. So I brought the tomato home, tasted it, an excellent old-timey, well-balanced, giant slicing sandwich tomato. So I saved the seeds and started to research it to see if I could find any information on this giant tomato. I could not find any. I then proceeded to get a hold of Don Kellums who discovered Kumato tomato and Seed Savers. They, too, could not find or have any information on this heirloom tomato. We will include the email we got from seeds saver at the end of the description. We grow this every year, but this year we grew the biggest John Henry tomato, 2 pounds 10.2 oz. The rest are over a pound and a half. A late season tomato plant with regular leaf  foliage. An indeterminate variety that produces these giant tomato. A must grow tomato for your garden. You will not be disappointed in the taste. But be sure to stake your plants because of the weight of these tomatoes.

This is the email I got from seedsavers

Philip Kauth <philip@seedsavers.org>9/21/16 to me Hello Shawn, I was forwarded the email you sent customer service about the John Henry tomato. I run the evaluation program at Seed Savers and get to look at 80 tomatoes every year. But, I have never heard of the John Henry tomato. I looked up the name in our database and the member exchange, and no one has it. I even suppose if Don Kellums has never heard of it, then the tomato is rather rare. Sorry I couldn’t help more, but some heirlooms are just in a particular family and have never been released anywhere else. I hope you enjoy the tomato, and if you have more questions, let me know. Regards, Phil Philip Kauth, PhD Assistant Curator Seed Savers Exchange Decorah, IA 52101 Email: philip@seedsavers.org Phone: 563-382-5990 x 108</philip@seedsavers.org>

We included the history and all the research for the John Henry tomato. We also try to do this with all the tomatoes we sell. The reason for this because we believe the history is just as important as the tomato.