We are excited to offer this rare strain of San Marzano. This is a strain of the ‘original’ 1.0 Version of the famous San Marzano tomato.
We were fortunate to acquire our seedstock for this tomato from the USDA gene bank. In 1957 the USDA acquired their seedstock from the Italian canning company, Stazione Sperimentale per l’industria delle Conserve Alimentari, located in Parma, Italy.
This donation is significant because:
(1) This strain is likely (one of) the original strains of the famous San Marzano tomato dating back to its earliest days as a paste tomato in Italy. That is why we are calling it a 1.0 Version of San Marzano (see below for the 2.0 Version). We will point out that there has never been only ‘one’ strain of San Marzano, but the canning industry in Italy has been very selective about which tomatoes can be called San Marzano and which seeds were selected for sowing. The seeds we offer are likely part of the original San Marzano strain(s) that date(s) back to the 1880s. (See our description of ‘San Marzano Lampadina 2’ in Paste Tomatoes for more details.)
(2) In the 1990s, a virus swept through the San Marzano tomato population in Italy, effectively wiping out the 1.0 Version of San Marzano in Italy (including strains going back to the 1880s). However, the 1.0 strain we are offering was safely housed in the USDA genebank. Today, the San Marzano tomatoes grown in the D.O.P. region (Designation of Origin) of Italy (Sarnese-Nocerino region in Campania) and the seed sold as San Marzano are the 2.0 Version of San Marzano that were created by Italian scientists in the 1990s in response to the virus.
How is the 1.0 Version different from the 2.0 Version? We think the 1.0 Version of San Marzano is:
– Earlier (we can start to harvest tomatoes in mid-August, which is unheard of for the 2.0 Version)
-More compact in size – about 3 feet tall (+ the seedlings and plants are very, very healthy looking)
-The fruit is more blocky in size (50g-70g) rather than elongated
-The plants may be more productive; but both Version 1 and 2 are high yielding varieties.
Taste-wise both versions are excellent. The vibrant red blocky fruits shine when you cook them down in a sauce or slice them on pizza. That is when using a San Marzano tomato makes all the difference. In our experience, a pasta sauce made with San Marzano tomatoes needs no other spices besides a bit of salt and pepper.
Although we also like the 2.0 Version (see ‘San Marzano Lampadina 2’ in Paste Tomatoes), we will focus on offering the 1.0 Version going forward.
San Marzano ‘Original’ strain is limited to one seed packet per order please, thank you.
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.
