Granny B Farms: April 2014

Catalog #0249A Photo, description, and our seed purchased from Seed Savers Exchange.

(Solanum lycopersicum) Family heirloom from Ruby Arnold of Greeneville, Tennessee. Introduced to SSE in 1993 by Bill Minkey of Darien, Wisconsin. Large beefsteak fruits weigh one pound or more. Sweet juicy flesh with a hint of spiciness. Ready to harvest when soft to the touch and yellow-green in color. Indeterminate, 80-95 days from transplant.

Reviews from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds customers.

I am a novice gardener. This is by far the best tomato I have ever eaten, much less grown myself! The fruit is quite large -one slice covered the bread in my BLT sandwich. The flavor is to die for! It's incredibly sweet & juicy, much more flavor than the typical beefsteak tomato, but the same texture. It grew very easily in the garden (I had added fertilizer to the soil before planting because the garden plot had been a grass lawn, but no fertilizer later on) with just regular watering throughout the season. When I tried to grow Aunt Ruby in a container, the plant wasn't as bushy & did not bear much fruit. I'm sure it was an error on my part - maybe should have fertilized more. I will keep planting every year because it is so worth it. The only other challenge for me is that it was hard to tell when it was ripe because the tomato stays green.

You really must try this tomato!! If I could only grow one for fresh eating, this would be it, followed by Black Krim and Ananas Noir. We live in WI zone 4. These plants were the hardiest of any I've ever seen! They withstood disease better than any of the other 20 varieties in my garden, got the tallest, hugest, and grew very very fast. I gave them each 20 square feet, in a raised bed without sides, and they filled up the entire space, producing loads of monster sized tomatoes. I was unable to water much, but they still did great with good mulch. Flavor is out of this world...I didn't expect much from a green tomato, but they had the sweetest, richest flavor imaginable! Just be sure to let them get fully ripe...you can tell more by feel, than color.

I like these nice solid tomatoes. They look nice sliced up on a plate with other tomatoes. People always comment on them. Around my house we slice these up and put them on egg salad sandwiches . The yellow and green colors go so well together. I also make a green salsa with these-I add mango and black beans to the salsa to add a depth of color and flavor (the salsa can be plain tasting due to this tomato's mild/low acid flavor-I say that, but I will point out I really like lots of spicy food-so plain to me may not be plain to you). Anyway-I can't keep the salsa on my pantry shelves for long. People taste it and want more-especially people who cannot tolerate alot of acid.Nice tomato-well worth the garden space. Mine do well in regular or drought situations.

This has been my main crop tomato for the past 10 years. Fine tomato balance between tangy and sweet, and a very complex and deep flavor. These grow nice and big, and are juicy and toothsome. Excellent vigor to the vine - do give them enough space and prune to a single stalk. This tomato is perfection.

These are incredible. Of all the tomatoes I grew this year they were the first to ripen. It was hard to tell when they were ready to be picked because, well, they stay green. But I kept feeling them (gently of course). It was well worth it. They are some of the biggest tomatoes I've seen and the flavor... EXQUISITE! Sweeter than most red tomatoes but a tiny bit tangy. Definitely what summer should taste like. All my neighbors want them. For someone with no green thumb this was a TRIUMPH SUPREME!

These are unique and beautiful looking, and I prefer the taste to any other large tomato I've tried (Brandywine and Cherokee Purple are close). Everyone should grow them. Not as prolific as I would like when spaced closely with other plants, make sure to give them enough room and compost so that they produce well.

Close your eyes and bite into this one!!! It's awesome--a little tangy and a little sweet. A real winner!!Subtle changes in color determine ripeness. Give this one a try--it's sooooo worth it.

Phyllis’ review:

I love fresh from the vine tomatoes and have an extreme hard time picking favorites. Aunt Ruby’s is the best green beefsteak I have tasted. We grow it every year at Granny B Farms. We will have potted Aunt Ruby’s German Green plants for sale at the Clintonville Farmers' Market beginning Saturday, May 17th. See you there.