Havestvee is an excellent-tasting, high-lycopene bush beefsteak tomato.
The high-lycopene (‘og’) tomatoes are some of our favourites for taste and hardiness.
Havestvee stands out for its dark red/crimson interior and deep, rich sweet taste. Harvestvee’s medium sized fruits (90g to 140g/3oz to 5oz) have great texture, are crack-resistant and hold off the vine for a long time. It has a compact sprawling nature (about 2.5 feet tall) that benefits from a short stake. It is productive and early and resistant to verticillium and fusarium wilt. So many good things! We love growing and eating this tomato.
A bit of history:
Harvestvee has the ‘old gold’/high crimson gene (og). See the Introduction in Old Gold/High Crimson for more details. Harvestvee was developed by Dr. Ernie Kerr, a master tomato breeder at the Horticultural Experiment Station in Simcoe, Ontario, and released in 1980. In a scientific paper written by Kerr and Cook (1981), introducing the variety, they rather understatedly mention that Harvestvee has a “complex” ancestry. No kidding, take a look:
This decades-in-the-making ancestry gives you some insight into the excellence of the Canadian tomato breeding programs of the 1950s-1980s that produced Harvestvee and some other gems. Harvestvee is a tomato more gardeners need to know about!
How to Plant: Start seeds indoors 6-8 weeks before the last frost. Plant seed 5mm (¼ inch) deep. Keep moist. When true leaves appear, transplant to a larger container if needed. Transplant outside after the danger of frost has passed/later spring.
