Old Bess

• General Info
• Seed Availability
• Buy Seeds from Tatiana's

Old Bess
Maturity	midseason
Growth habit	indet.
Leaf type	regular
Fruit color	pink
Fruit shape	oval
Fruit size	small
Fruit type	salad
Variety type	heirloom, open-pollinated
Country	USA

Tatiana Kouchnareva (B.C KO T). Old Bess - sliced fruit. 2014-09-14.

B.C KO T

Indet., regilar leaf plants are extremely productive. Fruits are small, oval, pink, 1-1.5 oz. Very good sweet flavor.

Seed source:

Neil Gillard of Holland Landing, Ontario, Canada (ONT GI N) 10 / George Sims, Bonne Idee Farm, Mansfield, Missouri (MO SI G) 09

Year grown: 2014

Location: Zone 7b, PNW, Anmore, BC, Canada (760 ft above sea level)

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IL LO N

75 days, indet., regular leaf, high yield of 1 oz. pink grape cherry fruit, very good flavor.

Seed source:

George Sims, Bonne Idee Farm, Mansfield, Missouri (MO SI G) 09

Year grown: 2008

Location: Oblong, Illinois

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GERM SC K

Source 

Tatiana Kouchnareva

Year: 2015

Location: Leipzig, Germany

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History

• A very old family heirloom from the Hawkins Family.
• In 1911, Elizabeth Browder Hawkins came with her family to the plains from Georgetown, Texas (near Austin), and brought the tomato seeds with her. Elizabeth lost her own seeds in her last move, but she got some in 1940 from neighbors in Hart, Texas who had the same variety. Elizabeth's granddaughter, Sister Mary Hawkins, OSB, abbess of St. Benedict Monastery in Canyon, Texas shared the seed with a SSE member George Sims, Bonne Idee Farm, Mansfield, Missouri (MO SI G) in 2008.
• First offered in the Seed Savers 2009 Yearbook by George Sims, Bonne Idee Farm, Mansfield, Missouri (MO SI G), who received the seed from Sister Mary Hawkins of Canyon, Texas in 2008.
• Introduced commercially by Tatiana's TOMATObase Seeds in 2015.

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Picture Gallery

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  Tatiana Kouchnareva (B.C KO T). Old Bess - ripe fruit. 2014-08-22.

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  Tatiana Kouchnareva (B.C KO T). Old Bess - ripe fruit. 2014-08-26.

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  Tatiana Kouchnareva (B.C KO T). Old Bess - ripe fruit. 2014-08-26.

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  Tatiana Kouchnareva (B.C KO T). Old Bess - ripe fruit. 2014-09-14.

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  Tatiana Kouchnareva (B.C KO T). Old Bess - sliced fruit. 2014-08-26.

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  Tatiana Kouchnareva (B.C KO T). Old Bess - sliced fruit. 2014-09-14.

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Tatiana's TOMATObase is Garden Watchdog Top 5.

Order seeds from Tatiana's TOMATObase Seed Shop

Seed Availability

Year	Commercial Vendors	Seed Savers Yearbook (Member listings)	Seeds of Diversity (Member listings)
2018		.	.
2017		.	.
2016		.	.
2015	Tatiana's TOMATObase Seeds - new	.	.
2014		.	.
2013		0	.
2012		1	0
2011		2	0
2010		2	.
2009		1	.
2008		0	.
2007		0	.

Tatiana's TOMATObase is Garden Watchdog Top 5.

We are a Garden Watchdog Top 5 Seedbank.

Click here to order seeds from Tatiana's TOMATObase Seed Shop

You can buy Old Bess seeds at Tatiana's TOMATObase Seed Shop.

By buying our seeds you help us to maintain and improve Tatiana's TOMATObase website, and to preserve many endangered open-pollinated varieties.

The proceeds from seed sales and donations are our only source of funding at this time.

Thank you so much for your support!

Tatiana