No. 028 · heirloom
Aunt Ruby's German Green
Aunt Ruby's German Green is an indeterminate heirloom beefsteak with green ripening to greenish yellow or amber, with a pink blush at the blossom end fruit. It ripens in about 80 days.
Typebeefsteak
Habitindeterminate
Days to maturity80
Fruit size8 to 18 oz
Colorgreen ripening to greenish yellow or amber, with a pink blush at the blossom end
Difficultymoderate
Flavor
Described as terrific, sweet and spicy with a refreshing, almost fruity intensity balanced by a hint of acidity. As with every flavor note here, this is the recurring catalog and grower description, not a measured claim.
Origin
A family heirloom traced to Ruby Arnold of Greeneville, Tennessee, who died in 1997; popularized through the Seed Savers Exchange after being introduced in the 1993 SSE Yearbook.
What it does well
- Large green beefsteak with a distinctive sweet, spicy flavor
- Won the Heirloom Garden Show taste test in 2003
- Indeterminate and productive
Where it frustrates
- Hard to judge ripeness since it stays green when ripe
- Highly prone to crossing, and crossed plants give ordinary fruit
- Irregular shapes and can crack
Like Aunt Ruby's German Green, but...
Sold out, or after a change? The closest alternatives, and how they differ.
Where to buy seed
Sources
- Aunt Ruby's German Green · Wikipedia
- Aunt Rubys German Green Tomato (Heirloom, 80 Days) · Pinetree Garden Seeds