Oma's Orange

Large orange beefsteak. Dark orange flesh. Great balance of sweetness and acidity, delicious flavor, juicy. Fruit weigh 0.5-1.0lb and measure 3-4.5" wide. Tall, indeterminate plants with regular leaves. Plants measure 5-6' high. Fruit born singly or in a cluster of 1-3. Moderate productivity when grown on Heritage Farm in 2018. Mid season maturity. Brix 5.1. Betty Moore of Stow, Ohio has stewarded this variety since 1983 when she received it (and another family heirloom, 'Oma's Pink' tomato) from her mother, Oma Rachel Lively Miller. Oma was given seeds of the orange tomato around 1937 by a relative when Oma was married to Howard Ernest Miller in 1937 near Hinton, West Virginia. She continued to grow the tomatoes through subsequent moves to Fredericktown, Ohio, and Bellville, Ohio. In 1965, Oma and her family moved to Chesterville, Ohio, where Betty remembers Oma starting tomato transplants in old dishpans on her glassed-in back porch. Oma used her garden produce, including these tomatoes, to make a juice called tomato cocktail that is five vegetables simmered together and then canned. Betty also cans the tomatoes whole. SSE Accession # 133087