(Lycopersicon esculentum) Karen Olivier is an independent tomato breeder here in the PNW, based near Victoria, BC, on Vancouver Island. We are very excited to have been introduced to her work (on the recommendation of a farmer friend with impeccable taste) and had the opportunity to trial some of her varieties at the home farm. Taiga (and its sibling Midnight Sun) are part of her "True North" series of ox-heart tomatoes bred for a combination of cool season production, beautiful and unusual bi-color appearance, and, most importantly, flavor.
Taiga has an unusual beauty, green streaked with bronze and red, cut to reveal flesh with a marbling of more of the same but with even more intensified colors. The flavor is 10/10, with a balanced combination of sweetness, richness, and depth. The meaty flesh has very few seeds or gel cavities and is equally at home sliced for a sandwich or cooked to passata.
Potato leaf plants produce quite large fruits with minimal cracking.
Oxheart types grow differently than many of our favorite tomatoes and require a different strategy to maximize harvests. Rather than a strong central stem and abundant foliage that lends itself to more common two-leader pruning and "florida weave" style trellising, most oxhearts display slender willowy leaders, sparse leaf coverage, and many suckers that we only very minimally prune in order to prevent sun scald and maximize fruit yield.
80 days, Indeterminate. UO

Packet: 20 seeds

[split]

Growing Info

SOWING:

Sow 5-8 weeks before your last frost date.

Transplant out after danger of frost (45+F nighttime temps).

Note: Don't start too early or plants will be leggy and root-bound! Tomatoes do well in clay to loam soils.

PLANTING DEPTH:

1/8-1/4"

SPACING:

18-30" spacing in rows 5' apart.

EMERGENCE:

5-10 days @ soil temp 70-85F

LIGHT:

Full sun

FERTILITY:

Medium-Heavy. Prefers well-drained, well-balanced fertile soil with a pH between 6.0-7.0. Note that excess Nitrogen will encourage foliage, not fruit! Low calcium and irregular watering will result in blossom end rot.

ADDITIONAL NOTES:

Row cover may be used for extra warmth and possible earlier fruit set.

Irregular watering can result in blossom end rot. Even watering and supplemental calcium can help prevent this.

Plant deeply to encourage healthy root structure.

Indeterminate varieties may benefit from pruning suckers to encourage air flow, plant health, and energy towards plant top and fruit.

Determinate varieties do not need pruning.

Trellis Indeterminate varieties! We really like the Florida weave.

Tomato, 'Taiga'