In our garden last year, we grew 12 tomato plants. I had lofty dream of canning enough tomato sauce to last us a year along with salsa, sundried tomatoes, and more. Unfortunately, 12 tomato plants do not produce nearly enough tomatoes for a year’s worth of tomato sauce. We did have a lot of tomatoes though and we made lots of salsa, ate numerous fresh tomatoes, and had enough for a bit of sauce and some sun dried tomatoes. So today, I’ll tell you how I got hooked on heirloom tomatoes and share my list of 2021 Heirloom Tomato Varieties.

How I got hooked on Heirloom Tomatoes
One of the varieties we grew last year, seemed rather un-impressive. That is, until we tasted it for the first time. We had gone camping for the weekend and I’d packed a few tomatoes that would go bad if we didn’t take them along and eat them. The last night of our trip, we were eating the remainder of our food which consisted mainly of hamburgers. We realized we did not have any ketchup. We did, however, have a few of the tomatoes I had packed. After slicing them, we loaded up our burgers; and WOW! I had never tasted a tomato so sweet and juicy. The burgers didn’t even need ketchup the tomatoes were so tasty. That was when I got hooked on heirloom tomatoes.
The Tomato Quest
After that I was on a quest to find the most productive, flavorful heirlooms to grow in my garden the next year. I asked other gardeners for suggestions and was overwhelmed with hundreds of responses and recommendations. I sifted through the responses and gathered as much info as I could about the various tomatoes. Varieties that were mentioned by multiple people time and again made their way on to my “I want to grow” list. Eventually I had determined which 10 varieties I wanted to order and found seed companies that sold the seeds I wanted.
I ordered the seeds and spent all winter dreaming about what the different tomatoes would be like. I know that this probably sounds a bit dramatic, but my husband will tell you that it’s true. So, what tomatoes were on my list? Here are the 10 heirloom tomato varieties that I ordered in the fall to plant this spring.
Cherokee Purple
If you hadn’t guessed, the Cherokee purple was the tomato that tasted better (and I mean MUCH better) than ketchup. While they weren’t highly prolific when we grew them last year, I decided to grow them again because of their amazing flavor and sheer beauty. These tomatoes are sweet and juicy and have an almost smoky flavor. They are a pinkish purple color on the bottom and the shoulders, if exposed to enough sunlight turn purple. As starts, these tomatoes stood out from the rest with healthy bright foliage. Now, in the garden, they are one of the first to start producing green tomatoes. We’ll see if they continue to lead the pack when it comes time to ripen.

Black Krim
The Black Krim is another ‘purple’ tomato variety. Given the intense flavor of the Cherokee Purple, I knew I had to try some more purple tomatoes and this one came highly recommended by numerous people. Also called Black Crimea, this tomato is supposed to be on the earlier side as far as large slicing tomatoes go. Of the tomatoes in my garden, they were the first to put out baby tomatoes.
True Black Brandywine
Brandywine tomatoes are said to be the best tasting tomatoes you will every try. Add to that the fact that they have potato leaf foliage, and I knew I had to try one. The True Black Brandywine is a purple version of the Brandywine (There are several different colors of Brandywines with pink being the most common). Of course, my bet is that the True Black Brandywine will not only have the amazing flavor of the Brandywines, but will likely also share the qualities of other purple tomatoes. So of course, that was the strain I picked for my garden this year. Brandywine tomatoes are generally said to have a lot of problems with disease and blight, but people say their flavor is worth the risk. We’ll see how they do. So far they seem healthy, though I have seen traces of spotting on the leaves here and there.
Blue Beauty
The Blue Beauty is also a purple tomato, though this one is said to turn almost black when exposed to the sunlight. So far, these tomatoes are doing very well and are producing lots of green…or should I say blue tomato babies.

Pantano Romanesco
The Pantano Romanesco is an earlier slicer tomato variety from Italy and was recommended for it’s production and use as an all-purpose tomato.
Crnkovic Yugoslavian
Out of the gate this spring, the Crnkovic Yugoslavian tomato has been one of the most impressive tomato plants. The starts were vigorous and healthy. They were the biggest when it came time to plant tomatoes outside. And they are still growing vigorously now. One Crnkovic at the end of the garden is taking up as much space as 2 or 3 tomatoes of different varieties and has earned itself space on two different trellises.
Hungarian Heart
The Hungarian Heart is a large oxheart tomato variety. Oxhearts are generally used for the purpose of pastes and sauces, but are much larger than your standard paste tomatoes. These tomatoes have a unique heart shape to them. Think human heart and not illustrated heart.

San Marzano
The San Marzano is the first paste tomato variety I’ve had any experience with. It was recommended on a podcast called Pioneering Today by Melissa K. Norris and when I found it near the end of the season at our local greenhouse last year, I had to give it a try. Now, this may be my inexperience with paste tomatoes talking, but I was sadly unimpressed with the San Marzano. I just didn’t seem as prolific as I would have expected. However, just like you have to try food more than once before you can decide whether you like it, I figure I need to give this variety another try. Of all the paste tomatoes I’m growing this year, the starts have looked very healthy. The foliage is a vibrant dark green and very thick and sturdy. The tomatoes are the funniest shape; oblong and kind of lumpy. So far they appear to be producing lots of baby tomatoes. If they ripen up more quickly this year, I think they will redeem themselves from last year.

Amish Paste
When the San Marzano disappointed last season, I looked for other tried and true paste tomato varieties. I tried valiantly to find a good paste tomato. Because, according to numerous sources, you really need paste tomatoes to make good sauces and salsas, even though you can use other tomatoes. This was the variety that came up the most. The Amish Paste produces tomatoes that are slightly larger than the San Marzanos. They are not uniform in shape. Some are shaped like paste tomatoes, and some are more round like a regular tomato.
German Pink
The German Pink is a classic heirloom tomato and one of the varieties that inspired the heirloom seed movement in the first place. The German Pink is one of the seed varieties that inspired the founders of Seed Saver’s Exchange. The German Pink is a large slicer variety and has potato leaves. I think the fact that the variety has potato leaves is what convinced me to try it, along with the story and the beautiful pictures of course. But, I am a sucker (pun intended 😉 ) for potato leaf varieties.

And Speaking of Seed Saver’s Exchange, that leads me to 6 more tomato varieties I’m growing this year. Seed Savers Exchange runs a seed trialing program where they have people grow and test varieties that they are considering adding to their catalog in the future. These are heirloom varieties that are not well known or ‘tried and true’ so to speak but that show potential. I’ll talk about these more in the next post though, so stay tuned.
I’d love to hear about your favorite tomato varieties in the comments. Let me know what you’re growing this year or what your favorite ‘tried-and-trues’ are.