Amish Paste
The Amish Paste heirloom tomato is, as the name implies, a plum tomato of Amish origins, that is commonly used for cooking, although it's sweet enough to eat fresh.
History
The Amish Paste tomato is reputed to have originated in the 1870s with the oldest Amish community in Wisconsin; Medford.[1]
It became popular once acquired by Tom Hauch of Heirloom Seeds organization, from the Amish of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, and was first distributed nationally in the Seed Savers edition 1987, by Thane Earle of Whitewater.[2]
The plant
This is one of the larger "paste" varieties of tomato, its fruit growing from 6 to 12 ounces (170 to 340 g). It varies widely in shape, from "oxheart" to plum, and though coreless, is somewhat seedier and sweeter than normal paste cultivars. They tend to ripen 80 to 85 days after planting.[3]
The plant is an indeterminate variety, growing continually until it dies (like all tomato plants, it's a delicate perennial, that would not die if growing in the warm climate to which tomatoes are native). Because it has relatively sparse foliage, the fruit is more exposed to sunlight than a normal plant, making sunscald an issue.
