One of our favourite tomatoes of the 2025 season, is of course, one that almost didn’t get planted. There was no room in the garden, but at the last minute we decided to plant a few ‘Fire Drill’ seeds and find a spot somewhere. So glad we did!
Fire Drill is an old Tim Peters’ variety (circa 1990s). We acquired seeds from a Seed Savers Exchange member in Montana a few years ago. But this year noticed the member is not listing it, nor is anybody else (nor is it offered by any seed companies) so we thought now or never.
Fire Drill is an all-around great tomato. The plants are small, sturdy, and about 18 inches tall. And the fruits are so lovely – perfectly round, no blemishes, nice saladette tomatoes that look like small apples when ripening.
They are huge producers – both early and late in the season — the plants were still full of tomatoes as we moved into the fall.
And the taste – very good, full tomato taste – which to me means, both the sweet and tangy taste you expect in a tomato. They are perfect for salads.
It looks like Tim introduced Fire Drill around 1998. Here is his write up in the 1999 Garden Seed Inventory: “50-55 Days – Det. Plants, Fireworks type, red fruit, uniform ripening, PSR [Peters Seed Research]”.
We have no idea how this tomato has gotten lost to the seed trade!
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How to Plant: Start seeds indoors 6 weeks before the last frost. Plant seed 5mm (¼ inch) deep. Transplant after the danger of frost has passed/later spring.
