A large-fruited, beefsteak-type variety native to the Astrakhan region of Russia. Lovers of meaty tomatoes won’t be able to resist its fruits—large, red, distinctly rounded, and ribbed—which are perfect for sandwiches. A single fruit can weigh up to half a kilogram. Its short growing season and high yield are pleasantly surprising. The fruits taste best just before they reach full ripeness. An early-maturing variety, the fruits reach maturity after about 70 days; the plant is tall and requires staking or tying up.
Traces of its journey among collectors have been preserved in a report by Adaptive Seeds: the company received the seeds from Tatiana Kouchnareva, creator of the Tatiana’s TOMATObase database, who in turn had received them from Andrey Baranovsky of Minsk. This is the story of how this variety spread, making this regional tomato available to gardeners outside its place of origin.
