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About Mrs. Maxwell’s Big Italian
30 years ago Mrs. Maxwell of Mexico, Missouri was given tomato seeds by a friend from Italy. She valued the tomato so much that for the next thirty years she saved the seed, choosing the largest, earliest, non-cracking tomatoes each year. Her son passed the seeds on to Gary Ibsen, of TomatoFest, to share them with others. Large, indeterminate, potato-leaf tomato plants that yield 1-2 pound, 3 to 4-inch, dark-pink beefsteak tomatoes with incredible flavor. A perfect tomato for eating fresh off the vine or as a canning tomato or for cooking into a tomato sauce. Midseason.
- Culinary Use
- Paste / Sauce / Canner / Slicer
- Flavor Profile
- Well-balanced
- Flesh Color
- Pink
- Fruit Color
- Pink
- Fruit Shape
- Oblate
- Fruit Size
- Large
- Leaf Type
- Potato
- Maturity
- Early
- Plant Type
- Indeterminate
- Species
- Solanum lycopersicum
- Variety
- Heirloom / Open Pollinated
Reader Comments
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Mrs. Maxwell (Mom) got the the seeds in the early sixties. When we started these tomatoes were large core, ugly shaped and the best favor. Mom always selected the earliest, largest and best shape. The family continues this tradition. This is the only tomatoes my son will grow in his gardens.
Hi Nancy, wonderful story, thank you so much for sharing! Happy gardening!