Livingston's Giant Oxheart

A wonderful old heirloom with excellent flavor that has been around for a very long time – 90 years! The large, rosy pink fruit can be irregular in shape, having both heart and beefsteak shapes. They are juicy and have a great smooth texture. The flavor is very good - sweet but with a full old fashioned flavor. 

The meaty fruit average 8-18 oz and are usually produced in clusters of 2 or more. They have very few seeds making them great for slicing and processing. The plant has typical heart wispy foliage on vigorous plants. Yields are usually good with this variety. 

I figure any tomato that people valued enough to save seeds from for almost 100 years is worth trying.

Story:

From Tatiana’s TOMATObase:

  • Appears to be Livingston's (Livingston 1925) as per Craig LeHouillier. Craig obtained the seed from the USDA and sent it for trial to Mike at Victory Seed Company .
  • From USDA seed collection. PI 645197. Donated to the USDA in 1964 by Reuter Seed Company, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States.
  • USDA narrative: "Burgess 1960 catalog, p. 9 (as "Oxheart")"
  • Both red and pink variants are in circulation (SSE Yearbooks and commercial seed vendors)

The 1933 catalog description of this 1926 Livingston introduction follows:

"Oxheart is truly the giant of all tomatoes. Its attractive shape, large size and excellent table qualities has quickly brought it into deserved popularity among backyard gardeners. Market-growers are finding it in great demand. There is now great rivalry in gardening neighborhoods to see who can grow the finest Oxheart in shape and size. Three pound specimens are quite common. One customer sent us a five pound specimen.

The Oxheart is smooth, thick, tender and almost seedless; frequently showing two inches thick without a seed cavity. The color is pink and it has that delicious mild flavor that every lover of this fruit likes so well. Rich soil adds greatly to its productiveness. Late variety."

This was the first pink fruited heart shaped tomato and was first introduced in the Livingston 1925 Seed Annual as Oxheart - see the listing here. Apparently sent to them by a customer and they liked it enough to grow it out and add to their catalog. It was added in color in the 1927 Seed Annualhere. The name was listed as Giant Oxheart starting in 1932- see listing here.

Color: Pink
Shape: Beefsteak, Heart
Maturity: 85 Days
Plant Type: Indeterminate
Leaf Type: Regular
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