Schematic diagram, not a photo. A reference illustration is in progress.

No. 077 · heirloom

Bonny Best

Bonny Best is an indeterminate heirloom slicer with bright red, slightly flattened globe fruit. It ripens in about 78 days.

Typeslicer
Habitindeterminate
Days to maturity78
Fruit size4 to 8 oz
Colorbright red, slightly flattened globe
Difficultyeasy

Flavor

Described as a firm, mildly tart classic red tomato with a balanced sweet-acid taste, a longtime canning favorite. This is the recurring catalog and grower description, not a measured claim.

Origin

An old commercial heirloom reported to have been selected by George W. Middleton of Pennsylvania from a field of Chalk's Early Jewel, long prized for canning.

What it does well

  • A century-old canning and ketchup classic
  • Uniform, firm, small-cored fruit
  • Reliable and productive

Where it frustrates

  • Indeterminate vines need staking
  • Mild flavor compared with later heirlooms

Like Bonny Best, but...

Sold out, or after a change? The closest alternatives, and how they differ.

Rutgersbut an older canning classic and a parent of later varietiesMarglobebut indeterminate rather than a determinate globe

Where to buy seed

Sources