Many times I've been asked by gardeners who live on the north and central Pacific and Atlantic coasts, " I have difficulty growing tomatoes near the coast. What can you recommend?" This is a collection of diverse tomato varieties well suited to the conditions found in cooler costal regions...a selection of shapes, colors, sizes of heirloom tomatoes for your garden with the most delicious flavors. This heirloom tomato seed collection contains individual packs of the following heirloom tomato varieties: (20-25 seeds/pack)

• Japanese Black Trifele - Russian origin. In Russia the Trifele varieties of tomatoes (of which there are several colors) are highly prized and command big prices. This short potato leaf plant yields prolific quantities of 6 oz. fruit that looks like a beautiful mahogany-colored Bartlett pear with greenish shoulders. Very tasty flesh with a meaty core that produces luscious fruit all summer long. A work of art sliced out on a plate and a wonderful flavor that possesses extraordinary rich and complex flavors. The Black Trifele is one of the blackest varieties available and is resistant to cracking. Indeterminate. (81 days)
• Gold Dust - Developed at University of New Hampshire. An extra early, determinate shrub producer of beautiful, 8 oz., 2-inch, firm, smooth, gold tomatoes. Crack resistant. Uniform ripening. Determinate (62 days)
• Sasha's Altai - An excellent variety from Russia. Seeds were given to Bill McDorman when in Irkutsk, Siberia in 1989, by his dear Siberian friend Sasha who claimed this variety that he grew in his garden in the Altai Shan mountain range was the "best tomato in all of Siberia." Sasha's Altai was selected by Organic Garden Magazine as one of the 10 best early producing tomatoes in the world. Sasha's Altai is a hearty tomato plant that produces very good yields of 4-6 oz., thinned-skinned, bright-red, slightly flattened, round tomatoes with an award-winning complex flavor. Excellent for canning, salads and making tomato juice. Fruit sets well in cooler coastal climates and high altitudes. Determinate (57 days)
• Nikolayev Yellow Cherry - Rare Russian cherry tomato that bursts with so much flavor you will feel addicted to snacking in the vineyard. Produces huge amounts of 3/4-inch, bright-yellow cherry tomatoes. Another Russian variety that produces fruit even in cooler growing regions. Disease resistant. Indeterminate. (71 days)
• Sunset's Red Horizon - This outstanding heirloom tomato is a native to Southern Russia. Huge, red, 4 to 6-inch, meaty, heart-shaped fruits are borne from a big leafy plant with wispy vines. They are not only one of the first tomato varieties to produce, but produce fruit well into November (in Oregon and in California). Proven resistant to frost, blossom end rot and cracking. Delicious fruit with huge, complex tomatoey flavors. Indeterminate. (72 days)
• Heinz-9129 - Seeds originally sent to me by Kees Groenewegen, Manager of Operations for HeinzSeed for TomatoFest to grow out and share. This open-pollinated tomato variety was developed in Bowling Green Ohio and Leamington Ontario when Heinz had breeding stations there many years ago. This is a tomato variety that was developed primarily for Eastern Canada and the Northeast U.S. Plant produces very hearty, leafy plants in our Central California fields that yield huge crops of 3", bright-red, round, tomatoes. Determinate (73 days)
• Azoychka - A very productive Russian heirloom found at the Bird Market in Moscow. ("Azoychka" is a woman's name.). A regular-leaf tomato plant that produces an abundant crop (40-50 tomatoes per plant) of smooth, 3-inch, 10-16 oz., slightly flattened oblate, meaty, yellow/orange tomatoes with a luscious sweet citrusy flavor. Azoychka has become one of the favorite in my garden for harvesting a crop for market. Dependably productive, delicious and deservedly in demand. Unlike most yellow tomatoes this variety has a good acidic balance to it's fruity sweetness resulting in lots of robust, complex flavors. A great variety suited to coastal and both warm to cooler growing regions. Rare tomato seeds. Indeterminate. (70 days)
• Stupice - Seeds sent to the U.S. from the former Czechoslovakia by Milan Sodomka. Stupice is a cold-tolerant tomato popular with those who have short growing seasons. Indeterminate, compact, potato leaf plants produce an abundance of very sweet, tangy, flavorful 2 to 3-inch, deep red tomatoes. A 1988 comparative tasting in the San Francisco area gave it first place for its wonderful sweet/acid, tomatoey flavors and production. Produces well in northern climates. Indeterminate. (52 days)