Quick facts
-
*Saving Kitchen Garden Traditions ALERT* This is a culturally significant variety traditionally grown for a specific culinary purpose.
- Crack resistant
- Winter tomato
- Traditionally used for for sundried tomatoes and fresh winter storage
- Plum shaped
- Italian heirloom
- Few seeds, great for paste or sauce
Solanum lycopersicum
I really think this is an "small indeterminate" tomato the requires caging but it is listed as a determinate elsewhere :) In any case, this cute, pointy tipped, Italian heirloom is very versatile. Great for hanging in tresses for fresh winter storage, it can also be sundried, made into paste, or eaten fresh. Possibly the brightest RED we have ever seen in a tomato! Fruits grow in clusters of 7-10 tomatoes.
We have experienced ramallet tomatoes as being somewhat prone to cracking after big rain/irrigation events. I suspect its partly due to their naturally thick skin- it just doesn't give. However, Principe Borghese seems to be crack resistant- it's a special ramallet/piennolo in that way!
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.
Ramallet tomato varieties are considered culturally significant and by the Slow Food Ark of Taste. Read a super fascinating history of ramallet tomatoes from the food historians at Slow Foods 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” |
24”/36” |
|
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. Transplant 24”-36” apart in full sun, while trellising is not necessary it is beneficial for easy of harvest and continued productivity in fall. Seed specs: Packet size- 30 seeds min.
Slow Food ARK OF TASTE: For their rich history and cultural significance, ramallet tomatoes have been featured by the Slow Food Ark of Taste. The Slow Food Ark of Taste is where "culinary heritage meets biodiversity." Varieties placed on the "ark" are those whose rich history and cultural significance is well documented, yet whose existence is threatened simply by the lack of people growing and perpetuating it. Varieties of crops, like species of plants and animals, can (and do) go extinct from lack of habitat and unfavorable conditions. These varieties deserve preservation not just because they each have a great story, but because the futures of our evolving food crops depend on a rich well of genetic diversity with which they can continually adapt, and be adapted by plant breeders, to thrive in changing conditions. In the case of our food crops, the unfavorable conditions leading to a decrease in diversity are many, but one we can immediately address is the decrease in the number of people growing these crops and saving these seeds. |
