Quick facts
- Long keeping tomato with a thick skin
- Low-impact food alert! No processing necessary. Eat fresh and local through the winter.
- Landrace alert! This population is diverse regionally adapted to its place of origin- NE Spain
- Keeping culinary traditions alert! Tomaquet de Penjar is a rare, traditional variety used by kitchen gardeners for hanging in clusters and eating through the winter.
Solanum lycopersicum
We love growing ramallet tomatoes, so when we found out about Tomaquet de Penjar we had to try them. In Catalan, Penjar means to "hang up" which is exactly what ramallet tomatoes are best for- hanging up in beautiful red and green clusters at the end of the season, to be eaten through winter. As the fruits hang, they will continue to ripen and then begin to shrivel slightly. However, because of the unique genetics of ramallet tomatoes, their thick skins make it so that this drying out happens very slowly. Still totally edible and delicious, these shriveled tomatoes are on their way to becoming sun dried tomatoes and can be added at any stage of drying to pastes and sauces, grilled, or our personal favorite- broiled and added to pizza. Tomaquet de Penjar fruit are the size of a cherry tomato, have pointy ends, and taste great. Their flavor intensifies as they dry down, making them a fun winter snack.
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We encourage all who purchase and grow these rare and threatened varieties from us to save and share the seeds themselves. Learn more about the super easy process of saving tomato seeds in our step by step blog post about it here. More about ramallet tomatoes: Ramallet tomatoes (as they are called in Spain), also known as winter tomatoes and piennolo tomatoes (in Italy), refers to a class of Mediterranean heirloom tomatoes that grow in clusters or tresses. Fruit tresses are strung up at the end of the season and stored at room temperature for fresh eating, ripe and unripe fruit alike. Fruits have thicker skins than ordinary tomatoes and ripen progressively. As they dry off the vine like this, their flavor becomes concentrated. Fruits are great for fresh eating, drying further to sundried tomatoes, and/or saucing. If you're into self-sufficiency and eating well in all four seasons, this is the tomato for you. A great choice for short season climates with long winters. Read about this traditional Mediterranean method for storing tomatoes here. |
How to grow it:
|
Germ Temp |
Indoor Start |
Germ Days |
Frost Tolerant |
Sun |
Seed Depth |
Plant/Row Spacing |
|
65-85 |
4-6 w. |
6-9 d. |
No |
Full |
1/8” |
12”/24” |
|
Start seeds indoors 4-6 weeks before average last frost date. Plant seeds in sterile potting soil and provide 7-10 hours of direct light each day. Thin to the strongest plant per pot. Transplant 24"-36" apart in full sun, benefits from trellising. Harvest tomatoes at full red. Suitable for container gardens. Seed specs: Packet size- 30 min. |