This stunning Basque tomato is back in stock for 2026.
Aritzkuren Black hails from the village of Aritzkuren in the Basque region of Spain.
It has beautiful ribbed tomatoes with tones of pink, brown, burgundy and black. The fruits are medium to large in size (150g to 250g) with good sweetness. The 3 ft plants are sturdy and robust. And very productive. Year after year this tomato shines in our gardens.
If you have wanted to try a tomato from Spain (or a warmer part of the world) but were worried about how it would do in a shorter season garden, Aritzkuren Black is a good one to try.
A bit of history:
Aritzkuren (also spelt Arizkuren) is an ancient village in the Pyrenees mountains in the province of Navarra, Spain.
It is an isolated village in a difficult terrain with a tumultuous history. By the 1940s it was mostly abandoned, and for years the sturdy stone village was almost empty, although today its population is slowly recovering. The village’s name, Aritzkuren, comes from the Euskara word aritz, or ‘oak’ (Euskara is the Basque language spoken in this area).
In the following quote from the book Trip through Navarra (2004) we get a sense of Aritzkuren’s character and isolation as the author describes his visit to Aritzkuren:
“We ascended to Aritzkuren. Terrible climb, under a fiery sun, marching along an almost vertical path, between red pines and green and yellow boxwoods. Sweating and breathing our last, we reached the town. Honoring its Basque name, at the entrance are some large, old oak trees that look as if they have been there for many centuries. All the houses, rather large, are built in stone, with powerful buttresses, also made of stone. Despite the solidity of their construction, some appear dilapidated and on the verge of collapse. For centuries its ancient inhabitants would support themselves from livestock. They had to be very tough people to be able to survive at this altitude and in these terrains that are impressively rough and unproductive. No wonder they abandoned them as soon as they could.”
Not only did the people have to be tough to survive, the tomatoes did too. This extreme selection in a harsh environment probably explains why Aritzkuren Black does so well in short season gardens.
Now you can bring the taste of the Basque region to your garden.
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Our pictures of the village of Aritzkuren come from: https://www.valledearce.com/pueblos/arizkuren/
St Peter’s Church (1976)
Old suspension bridge on the way to Ariztkuren (around 1985).
House in Ariztkuren (1976)
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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.
