We grew the Black Russian tomato this past season. It was an experiment, as we’d never grown the variety before. The plant produced a good crop, enough for two people. But, while it’s said to have a strong flavour, we didn’t find that to be the case.
A tomato’s tale
Fiona, my partner, isn’t all that enthusiastic about the variety. She says there are better tomato varieties we could plant. I agree.
It is now mid-May, the weather in these southern latitudes is getting colder and our Black Russians are at the end of their fruiting season. A few are still ripening on the vine, but soon they’ll be done. We’ll remove the vine and toss it into the compost. As for the remnant fruit on the vine, some that are still green will go into home made green tomato pickles.
Our edible history
The Black Russian tomato is a good example of how the food we eat has a history, a long tail carrying the story of its development. Black Russian has been bred over the decades by farmers to have specific characteristics, like flavour, size, resistance to pests and diseases and adaptation to climate
We talked about this when we taught the permaculture design course. Most people have no idea that the vegetables they eat have a story behind them. They don’t occur in nature in their familiar form. They’re human creations developed by traditional farmers and growers of the past, as well as plant breeders of contemporary times, by working in cooperation with nature, not against it, to paraphrase permaculture’s Bill Mollison.
Looking ahead
As spring approaches we’ll be browsing seed catalogues and selecting new tomato varieties. We will also be planting our saved seeds from the ‘Crazy Barries’ tomato, a highly productive, small and bright yellow heritage variety from Diggers Seeds. We’ve had good results with this one in the past when the plant hung heavy with the small yellow fruit.
So, will we grow Black Russian tomatoes again? Probably not. But, we’ll keep experimenting with different varieties. Learning about them leads to learning about the history of the food we eat.
Black Russian tomato
COMMON NAME: Black Russian Tomato
FAMILY: Solanaceae
GENUS: Solanum
SPECIES: lycopersicum
Centre of diversity
Historical records are scarce, but the tomato is believed to have been developed in mid-to-late 1800s Russia, possibly by Eastern Orthodox monastic communities in present-day Ukraine or western Russia that were seeking cold-hardy tomato varieties.
The variety was adopted by Russian cottage gardeners and small-scale farmers.
Diversification
The black Russian tomato probably reached Western Europe by the early 20th century through immigrant gardeners and trade. From there it spread to the rest of the tomato-growing world, riding on the popularity of the heirloom seed revival of the 1980s and 1990s as gardeners sought alternatives to industrialised hybrid varieties.
Growth form
- grows to a height around 1.5m with a spread of 70cm —the plant requires staking or trellising
- small, yellow, self-pollinating flowers with five fused petals.
Fruit
- globular to slightly flattened or pleated
- weigh 170–300g
- diameter 7–10cm
- turns from unripe green to blackish, sometimes with red areas due to high concentrations of anthocyanins — antioxidant pigments that develop in response to sunlight
- flesh ranges orange to dark red
- fruits continuously until temperatures drop below 10°C
- moderate resilience to fruit fly and cooler-weather pathogens.
Environmental adaptation
- prefers a temperate climate with a temperature range through 20–30°C; well-drained, slightly acidic soil; full sun; consistent moisture
- temperate climate gardener might start the seeds in early spring to make sure the fruits ripens at the right time to take advantage of summer’s warmth
- temperatures above 35°C increases susceptibility to fungal diseases and reduces fruit quality
- the dark pigmentation of the fruit enhances heat absorption, enabling fruit maturation in regions with shorter growing seasons.
Reproduction
Seed.
Uses
Food.
Eaten fresh, cooked, dried and in preserves.
Comment
Open-pollinated and genetically stable with traits consistent from one generation to the next, you can fulfil your role as an agent of agricultural biodiversity by collecting and saving the seed of Black Russian tomato for planting next season and to swap with other gardeners. Our Black Russians came from The Australian open-pollinated, heritage seed company, Diggers Seeds.
Like most of our vegetables, Black Russian tomatoes are the result of experimentation to adapt vegetables to regional environmental conditions and to improve qualities such as taste, size and pest and disease resistance. By working with nature to adapt the variety to climate, the black Russian tomato comes to us via the ingenuity of small-scale farmers and monastic communities in preindustrial Russia, the growers who cultivated the plant in Europe and the seed saving organisations and non-hybrid specialist companies who cultivate and market the seed.
A true reminder the long history of our vegetables, the Black Russian tomato is a testament to the legacy of traditional farming practices.
Photos
The Black Russian tomatoes in the photos were grown over the 2024–2025 growing season in composted and mulched sandy soils in coastal southeast Tasmania at latitude 42.8°south.
