Black Krim

Very dark maroon beefsteak, with wonderfully rich flavor, originated in Crimea, a peninsula in the Black Sea with perfect tomato summers.// HISTORY: Black Krim originated on the Isle of Krim (now more commonly spelled Crimea) in the Black Sea, part of the Crimean Peninsula. It was grown for generations by local farmers in the region (historically part of Russia, later Ukraine). Seeds were brought to the West in the early 1990s by Swedish seed collector Lars Olof Rosenström, who obtained them from a farmer in the village of Krim on the Crimean coast. Rosenström shared them with Seed Savers Exchange in 1991 under the name “Black Krim,” and SSE member Carolyn Male helped popularize it in North America. It was first offered commercially by SSE and Southern Exposure Seed Exchange in the mid-1990s and quickly became one of the most famous and widely grown black heirlooms in the world. Despite the ongoing geopolitical changes in Crimea, the tomato’s name has remained Black Krim in international seed catalogs.