"HEIRLOOM. 80 days. This huge heirloom beefsteak (up to 4 pounds; average 2 1/2 pounds) consistently wins taste-tests. Developed in the 1930's by a gardener who planted the four biggest varieties he knew, and crossed one with pollen from the other three. He did this for six seasons and created a variety that produced immense, tasty fruit. He sold the plants for $1 apiece $1,000 a year - and paid off his mortgage in six years. Indeterminate."
Average Customer Rating:
4.4 out of 5
9 of 9 (100%) customers would recommend this product to a friend.
Productive and Delicious!,
October 2, 2008 Submitted bysddcgardenguy from Eastern South Dakota
"I selected this variety out of approx. 30 different varieties I started this spring. The M.L. produced nice sized tomatoes suprisingly early! It was the first of all my mid-season varities to ripen.
The M.L.'s are a very pretty shade of pink, with very few of mine being misshapen. They were always taken first when I would give away them away to co-workers.
It has a very smooth flavor with plenty of juice and very few seeds. They also have excellent size and most of the tomatoes had a very nice shape to them. I froze several pounds of these and have really enjoyed.
As far as productivity goes these were above average only losing out to my Brandy Boys. These are definately a tomato I will grow again next year. The disease resistance was fine after I pruned vines a foot from the ground. They went into a lull during the end of August and now as of October 1st they are starting to put on more fruit!
Just a very good tomato!"
Reviewer Information
Would recommend: Yes
Type of gardening:
Large Garden
Gardening skill:
Moderately skilled
State of residence:
SD
Types of plants:
Vegetables
Gardening experience:
5-10 years
Mortgage lifter,
June 9, 2008 Submitted bycowdiddly from Oklahoma
"I bought one spindly bugshot plant at a clearance sale, stuck it in a 5 gallon bucket of plain topsoil, gave it a good douche of miracle grow and Blamo. the plant was twice as big about ten days later. I bought one of those el-cheapo tomato cages and by the third week the vine had completely outgrown the cage. I then staked it and had to wire an extension on it before the season was over. Good old fashioned tomatoes. I would highly recommend this one but even thought my particular vine became nicknamed Attila for trying to take over my patio there are some slight drawbacks. Even though the tomatoes you get are huge "a few in the 2-3lb range", I found some were a little more mishaped than average. Also when weather gets warm, seems more blooms drop than normal. Vine will keep growing though and return to production even better in the fall but not to many had a chace to get ripe. This might be more a problem for my area that the tomatoes fault. The tomatoes are top notch slicers though and the taste to me is in the top 10 that I had tried. This year I have ten plants tied to 2 cattle panels stacked two high and the vines are loaded. One plant just wilted one day but although knocked back a few weeks it seems to be recovering. Can't hardly wait till they get ripe. I can't help myself as Im an ole country boy and my salt shaker hand is a twitchin. Top notch allround tomato and I'll aways grow a few of these."
Reviewer Information
Would recommend: Yes
Type of gardening:
Large Garden
Gardening skill:
Moderately skilled
State of residence:
OK
Types of plants:
Vegetables
Gardening experience:
10+ years
Excellent Tomato Flavor....,
January 31, 2008 Submitted byTomatoBug from Mount Upton, NY
"This is one of my favorite heirloom tomatoes. They are sweet and juicy without having a lot of seeds. They make a great BLT or even are surprisingly good for a sauce or canning. Plants tend to be a little delicate, and need a little extra TLC, but they worth the extra time."
Reviewer Information
Would recommend: Yes
Type of gardening:
Large Garden
Gardening skill:
Very skilled
State of residence:
NY
Types of plants:
Vegetables
Gardening experience:
10+ years
Fantastic tomatos!!,
January 7, 2008 Submitted byAudicat from Redding, Ca
"The seedlings are fragile, but the fruit is SO worth it! The tomatos are HUGE and fleshy - no wimpy, watery tomatos here! - and the perfect size for hamburger buns - the LARGE ones!!"
1 of 1 people found this review helpful.
Reviewer Information
Would recommend: Yes
Type of gardening:
Small Garden
Gardening skill:
Beginner
State of residence:
CA
Types of plants:
Vegetables
Gardening experience:
1-5 years
Great purchase-great tomato,
January 1, 2008 Submitted bygrannie from south east Texas
"I purchased seeds for this tomato 3 years ago & have very pleased with the outcome. Flavor in a tomato comes first with me & this one tops them all. I saved seeds from one tomato the first year & I think each one sprouted several plants as I gave family members & many neighbors plants as well as setting out twice as many in my own garden. I did the same the next year & best of all the plants have remained the same - not reverting to anything else. I have eaten them fresh, frozen them, canned them plain, & canned with peppers - all good!! The only problem I have had is they start blooming early & tomatoes don't set. I have sprayed the blooms with bloom set & once they begin setting, they continue setting. Don't know if they're not setting due to early coolness or something lacking in soil but, I'm still saving seeds to plant again."
Reviewer Information
Would recommend: Yes
Type of gardening:
Small Garden
Gardening skill:
Moderately skilled
State of residence:
TX
Types of plants:
Vegetables
Gardening experience:
10+ years
Brandywines best friend,
November 29, 2007 Submitted byLakeErieGarden from Lorain, OH
"If you like Brandywine, you'll like this too. It is more red and shaped better than Brandywine, not that I care at all about color or pretty shapes. It is the flavor we're after and this one has plenty of it. As with most Heirlooms, this variety defines what a tomato is supposed to taste like. If you are new to Heirlooms or have never tried this variety, it'll make the team for years to come."
2 of 2 people found this review helpful.
Reviewer Information
Would recommend: Yes
Type of gardening:
Small Garden
Gardening skill:
Moderately skilled
State of residence:
OH
Types of plants:
Vegetables
Gardening experience:
5-10 years
Just the best !!,
August 8, 2006 Submitted byMistertomato from San Clemente, CA
"Huge, 6' plants with lots of foliage to shelter clusters of large round, beautiful fruit. These are a joy to the eye as well as the palate.
Make sure your ground is well prepared with lots of gypsum prior (if you plant tomatoes in the same area each year) Use the big box stakes because the triangular ones will fall down from the weight. One plant can weigh up to 75 pounds, so stake well.
I've been growing tomatoes for over 30 years, and these are my favorite."
12 of 12 people found this review helpful.
Reviewer Information
Would recommend: Yes
Type of gardening:
Small Garden
Gardening skill:
Very skilled
State of residence:
CA
Types of plants:
Vegetables
Gardening experience:
10+ years
Can't buy these in any store,
March 14, 2006 Submitted byzuzu petals from Chicago burbs
Plant performance:
3
out of 5
Taste:
5
out of 5
Yield:
5
out of 5
"Mortgage Lifters are about the best tasting tomatoes we have ever grown. They are not as disease resistant as some of the newer hybrids, but for the short period of time you are able to pick the fruit, before disease sets in (in our area) you will have the most tasty, succlent, sweet tomatoes ever. The pinkish fruit stands out in the garden, the "boxing glove" shape draws attention from freinds, even those who are not gardeners, and these are fine for sauces and raw salsas, but best for fresh, raw eating. We can't wait to have these tomatoes, with steak and homegrown potatoes, or with a BLTs, or when our vegetarian daugter just eats a tomato and mustard sandwich on whole wheat. Worth the extra work of starting the plants from seed (chances are you won't find these plants in your garden store) and fighting blight and other diseases. If you have a dry enough summer, you'll have a longer yield, but even with a short fruiting season, these are worth every minute of work. I didn't start these from seed last year, thinking we could find them at one of our garden centers, as they had then the year before, but this year we will not make that mistake. The BEST tomato ever. "
8 of 8 people found this review helpful.
Reviewer Information
Would recommend: Yes
Type of gardening:
Large Garden
Gardening skill:
Moderately skilled
State of residence:
IL
Types of plants:
Vegetables
Gardening experience:
10+ years
Best Flavor, But a Bit Ugly,
February 23, 2006 Submitted byOl' Hippy from Shawnee, KS
Plant performance:
4
out of 5
Taste:
5
out of 5
Yield:
4
out of 5
"Moratage lifter taste the best of any tomatoe I've had. The fruit is dark red with typically cracked and green top. The size of fruit is huge. Yummy stand alone item."
11 of 11 people found this review helpful.
Reviewer Information
Would recommend: Yes
Type of gardening:
Large Garden
Gardening skill:
Moderately skilled
State of residence:
KS
Types of plants:
Vegetables
Gardening experience:
10+ years
