Vernal & DaughtersSeed Library, Est. 1911

Solanaceae · in the live register

Frost Pear Tomato

Solanum lycopersicum. Rebuilt over nine seasons from three surviving fruits of the 1983 hard freeze.

Germination
91%
Days
82 days to fruit
Habit
Indeterminate, 6 ft
Light
Full sun
Sowing
Start indoors 6 weeks

A small amber pear that laughs at cold nights. We keep it for the sauce that gets us to March, and for the story we tell about March.

From the grower's notes

“Don't baby it. Give it ordinary ground, keep the row marked, and write down what you did. Next year's borrower will be reading your note, not ours.”

The packet carries a pinch of seed and a copy of these notes. Sowing depth, spacing and the season's quirks are penciled on the back by whoever last returned it.