unique | Grow Your Health Gardening

With the big cross-country eclipse coming up in April and all the exciting things happening with Space X lately, I though it might be fun to try out some space-themed tomato varieties to release this year. Two tomato varieties in particular did not disappoint. Here is the first of the two space-themed varieties Grow Your Health Gardening is releasing this growing season:

Heaven Oregon

Heaven Oregon Tomato is an open pollinated variety and a favorite in 2021 by other growers and I can see why. It is an unusually shaped tomato. It is primarily red with a globe-shape that comes to a point at its base like a tear-drop and has purple shoulders. It has a hint of orange flecking and shading on the lower half near the purple shoulder on the skin (see photo below), but the interior flesh is bright red throughout. Its flesh is watery and best for slicing. Heaven Oregon tomato is about the size of a golf ball and looks so pretty on a plate!

This is an indeterminate tomato and needs support as it grows to around 70 inches tall. I enjoyed watching it ripen on the vine. As you’ll see from the photo below, the Heaven Oregon tomato as a whole is green with dark purple shoulders while it is growing. It slowly fades to red as it ripens. She’s a no-fuss tomato with no disease issues or cracking. The hard part for you as a grower will be to be patient enough until it reaches that deep red indicating it is ready to enjoy!

One tip I want to offer is to harvest the whole cluster and keep the vine that holds the cluster attached if you want it to hold a couple of days indoors. Do not put these in the fridge. They’re best enjoyed harvest to table in my opinion. They are especially lovely roasted whole and added to any dish — especially pasta (yummmm)!

Our line of seed for sale comes from Oregon Heaven Tomato plants that were grown hydroponically / aeroponically in zone 7B Atlanta, Georgia, so unlike the line of seeds that come from the NW, we’ve adapted this variety to grow hydroponically in hot and humid conditions as well. As we have discussed in the past, research has found that plants can store 5+ years of environmental survival conditions in its DNA for future generations. Our seed will be adapted especially for hydroponic growers, but soil growers should also have no problem growing it.

Heaven Oregon hangs on the vine to ripen a little bit more.
Photo copyright 2024 Grow Your Health Gardening.

I tried to track down the back-story on this pretty tomato. One grower said it was developed by Dr. James “Jim” Ronald Baggett, a professor for 30 years who in 1973 became the head of the vegetable breeding program at Oregon State University OSU.¹ I could not find anything that supported that claim. Baggett has been credited for developing Oregon Eleven tomato, Oregon Spring, and Oregon Star, so it’s quite possible Heaven Oregon might be part of his work given the similarity with naming (even though it doesn’t seem to start with Oregon?) As a side note and nod to another great variety to try, Honey Boat Squash was also bred by Baggett’s program.

For now, I am not going to attribute Heaven Oregon Tomato to him until I get confirmation. For now, Heaven Oregon Tomato’s history remains unknown to us. If you happen to have a source to show Baggett should be attributed as the breeder, please feel free to share with our community in the comments below.

This is a chef’s delight and perfect for the home grower alike. You definitely won’t find this as a seedling start at any big box retailer garden center as a start, so it’s best to grow from seed. You also won’t find it in the grocery store where produce is bred to last 10+ days from harvest (yuck old food!) Grow this beautiful tomato and enjoy it at home knowing that you get to try what most folks miss out on!

Get Heaven Oregon Tomato seed for your own garden here >
(while supplies last)