London Grove Tomato
Lycopersicon lycopersicum
 
Long considered a Quaker tomato due to its association with the London Grove Plant Sale near Kennett Square, PA, this is an excellent Quaker heirloom of recent vintage. The creator of this distinct variety was Leo Robert Daiuta (1922-2014), an Italian-American who converted to Quakerism and joined London Grove Meeting, hence the tomato’s name. Leo grew up in the West Chester, Pennsylvania Italian community and during the 1970s, contacted relatives in Italy for seed for a paste tomato that met the criteria he recalled from his mother’s cooking. They sent him seeds for Corno de Vaca which is generally hollow (usually a good feature for paste tomatoes). Not happy with the Italian variety, Daiuta crossed it with Rutgers to produce a meatier more flavorful progeny, hence the London Grove Tomato, which still retains the cowhorn shape of its Italian “grandmother.”  Dr. Weaver knew Leo Daiuta and in honor of Leo’s Quaker activism, is proud to list this unique tomato as part of the Roughwood Collection. Documentation of the tomato’s history was provided in a June 9,2015 blog by Leo Daiuta’s daughter, Amy de Rosa of New York City.
~25 seeds per packet.