Mahoning Valley Beauty Tomato

75 days, indeterminate — The regular leaf vines of 'Mahoning Valley Beauty' tomato reach five to six feet tall and produce red, four to sixteen ounce, blunt tipped, elongated paste-type fruit that are thick, meaty with few seeds, and an excellent choice for processing into sauces or salsas.

Originating from the Mahoning Valley of Pennsylvania after which it is named, this family heirloom has been grown in that region as a fresh eating and canning tomato since at least the early 1930s. Our original seed was sent to us by Craig LeHoullier, who received it in early 2018 from Mimi Koch, an attendee at a talk that he gave. Mimi, as well as her sister who still farms in the Mahoning Valley, Janice Frey Hoffman, raise this tomato every year.

Mimi told us that to this day, the people in the valley live and farm traditionally raising animal, feed and produce, and that it is from this culture that the 'Mahoning Valley Beauty' tomato was developed. She described it as follows: "They have very few seeds and are on the pulpy side. We have used them to make sauce, tomato juice, diced, and salsa. These tomatoes have a great flavor." Each packet contains at least 20 seeds.