The first year I planted Abraham Lincoln tomatoes was a fluke. I had tried to grow some tomato plants from seed and they didn’t do well, too spindly, so I headed for Snow’s Nursery. I saw two tomato plants that looked healthier than the rest and bought them. I noticed that they were Abraham Lincoln tomatoes and I picked literally bushels from those two plants that summer. Not coincidentally, it was an excellent growing season that summer, but I have never had tomatoes like that before or since. For the next year or two, I couldn’t find any Abe Lincoln plants, then a couple years ago my friend Mark Scott found some at Eltzroth and Thompson and picked me up a few. I planted them, and again, had great success despite a hot, dry season.
This year, I had 3 Abe Lincoln plants – got them at Eltzroth again. They didn’t do much during the early part of the summer. The few red tomatoes that came were snatched up by squirrels, but when the temperature finally dropped below 90, my plants got to work. They are now raining tomatoes – faster even than the squirrels can get them
Abraham Lincoln tomatoes are a hybrid variety, but they do especially well in our climate and can resist heat and drought fairly well. They don’t produce big tomatoes, like Big Boys and Better Boys. They get to be about the size of a tennis ball, but they make very good sliced tomatoes and excellent stewed tomatoes – a great flavor.
Next spring, look for them at your nursery and put a few plants in the ground. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.
Old Abe comes through most every season.