Only two tomato varieties from this year's crop are still producing and ripening full sized fruits with little or no insect or disease damage. The most prolific of these is Limbaugh's Legacy Potato Top. The plant is large and vigorous and the tomatoes are, too. The shoulders of some fruits exhibit considerable cracking, but the tomatoes are so large that discarding the top half inch is no hardship.

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This indeterminate pink beefsteak has "potato" leaves (as you'd guess by the name). It's my favorite for both flavor and productivity. I've shared seeds and plants both locally and across the country, so I can report that it's a favorite across a wide variety of growing conditions. There's some variability in seed sources, but if you look closely you'll see small vertical marks on the skin of "true" 'Potato Top' tomatoes.

The Limbaugh family has been growing and sharing 'Potato Top' tomatoes in the Pittsburgh PA area for four generations! Fred Limbaugh's grandfather distributed thousands of seedlings each spring to Port Authority workers. Fred (who didn't even like tomatoes) continued this tradition of generosity until his death in 2008. His daughter keeps the strain going now, with massive help from newspaper columnist Doug Oster, who organizes a huge seed giveaway each spring.

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