I had these seeds for some time, a gift from a tomato-loving friend that I was finally able to grow just this year. I generally prefer to withhold my judgement of tomato varieties until I have had the opportunity to grow them multiple times over a range of different seasons. I recently posted about ‘Snow White,’ one of the break-out stars of the year. ‘Pink San Marzano’ was another.

As I have mentioned numerous times, 2014 was an oddball year. The season was short, wet, and cold — not exactly ideal tomato-growing weather. ‘Pink San Marzano’ had a slow start, but by the end of the season I was astonished by how well it performed. The plant, a large indeterminate vine, was thick and lush with foliage, another in a long line of monstrous, many tentacled plants. And boy was it ever productive! Each week I’d find new stems that had grown, producing more and more clusters of fruit. This continued right up until the hard frost.

Whats more, the bulk of the green fruit ripened indoors. ‘Pink San Marzano’ was a late producer in an already late season and I assumed that I would be left with the burden of piles of green fruit to pickle and preserve. Most varieties need to have developed/mature into a certain degree of colour in order to successfully ripen indoors. In this case it was only the under-sized fruit that didn’t make it to ripeness. And what did was sweet, juicy, and good enough to eat fresh. Many varieties that ripen late indoors tend towards mealiness and require cooking. It is December 2 and I am still enjoying fresh fruit from this plant!

There is a downside. It was a wet year. It was also the worst sort of wet with short, dry spells followed by a deluge of water. When it rained, it poured. This condition can lead to cracking in ripening tomato fruit and ‘Pink San Marzano’ was particularly susceptible to it. Once I identified it as a problem I made sure to watch the forecast and harvested ripening fruit before a downpour. This made all the difference.

Despite a glowing report, I’m not yet certain how well this plant will perform in a hot, dry year. It could very well be of the sort that prefer cool temperatures and withers in the heat. That said, what I experienced this year was a very productive plant that produced legions of juicy, sweet, pink, plum-sized fruit that were as equally delicious fresh as when made into a soup or sauce.

The details:

• 85+ days (I didn’t accurately record. This is my best guess)
• Indeterminate/regular leaf
• Pink plums.
• Sweet, fruity, and juicy — consume fresh or cook.
• Heavy producer.
• Open-pollinated
• Ripens: Late-season and keeps producing until frost.
• Story: Unknown.
• Container Growing: You’ll need a really big pot, 16+ deep at least (I have never tried).
• Further Notes: Stake diligently. This plant was very large and the heavy clusters can put stress on its limbs.

Purchasing Seeds: Before I set out to write this, I didn’t check into availability. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find any sellers online! I did save some seed from this variety and if I can, may make some available in the new year.