We have NEVER been more excited about an article than today’s post of a secret heirloom tomato plant that will truly change the art of growing tomatoes forever!
It is a secret we have been entrusted to keep under wraps for nearly two full years now. And I have to say, it hasn’t been easy.
But today is the day to finally tell it all, along with the story of the man behind it.
For folks who love to grow tomatoes, it will be hard to believe. But then again, there is little doubt for us that this tomato will rock the entire tomato industry.
Introducing The Most Incredible Secret Heirloom Tomato Plant Ever! The Lirpa Yadsloof Heirloom Tomato
Yes indeed, although the name may sound a bit strange, the Lirpa Yadsloof heirloom tomato plant is nothing short of astounding.
The sheer volume of tomatoes picked from a single plant will blow your mind. And that is just the beginning!
The Lirpa Yadsloof heirloom tomato, named as you will soon see in honor of it’s founder, produces beautifully round, large, baseball-sized heirloom fruit in staggering numbers.
In fact, without spilling the beans too early in the story, (or should I say tomatoes), a single plant last year in a very remote hidden trial produced 9 bushels of tomatoes. In a single month!
And it kept on producing. By the time it finally succumbed to a very hard frost, it had produced 25 bushels of gorgeous, flavor-filled heirloom tomatoes! That is not a misprint – 25 bushels!
But there is more…
But there is so much more with the Lirpa than a record-breaking harvest.
It’s meaty, sugary-sweet bright-red flesh oozes with unrivaled flavor. One taste and you simply will never want another tomato.
And, it’s naturally resistant to blossom end rot, blight, and a host of other diseases. Diseases that can easily cripple most tomato plants.
As if that wasn’t enough, this unbelievable secret heirloom tomato plant is also nearly drought proof. It’s long vines and deep root structure can store enough water and nutrients to keep it thriving for weeks without water!
The Story Of Lirpa Yadsloof And His Amazing Tomato
So how did this all come about?
And how were we lucky enough to be the ones to tell the Lirpa tomato story?
To be honest, it is something we still wonder for ourselves. As the old saying goes, sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good.
The Story…
In the summer of 2017, we received a bit of a strange email from a gentleman just south of Lexington, Kentucky.
His name, Lirpa Yadsloof, was nearly as odd as the story he wrote to us that day about his secret heirloom tomato plant.
Now, you have to understand we receive quite a few emails every day from fellow gardeners. Usually, folks write to ask for gardening advice. Or, perhaps share with us a story about a recipe or a project.
But Lirpa’s email was not one of our typical emails.
A Story Almost Too Good To Be True…
He started the email stating he had followed our blog since late 2012. And that he liked and appreciated our down-home approach to simple living.
But he went on to tell us his purpose in writing was to share a secret. Or moreover, a secret project he had been working on at his homestead for nearly 25 years.
Lirpa was absolutely obsessed with creating new tomato varieties by cross-pollinating old-time heirloom tomato plants. In the previous two and a half decades, he had developed over 100 new varieties. Some good, some okay, and some that were complete disasters.
Never quite satisfied with the results, he kept up at his passion every year. Until something magical happened in 2016.
“That is when I hit the tomato jackpot” he wrote, “and created a vining heirloom tomato plant that grew nearly 35 feet long. Much to my surprise, it produced between 10 and 20 bushels of harvest for each of the 3 seeds I planted and grew!”
Proof Of The Perfect Tomato…
At that point, we really thought it had to be a joke. Until we looked at the photos he sent along with his email. They were all stunning. The plants. The harvest. The sheer growth of the vines.
He ended his email with a simple and generous invitation:
“I would like to invite you and your wife down to my homestead here in Lexington. I want you to see the plants growing for yourselves.”
And then came the kicker.
“I want to give you a few seeds to try in your garden for me next year to see if we can replicate the results. All I ask is that you keep it a secret between us fellow gardeners until we know for sure it can replicate.”
I have to admit, Mary and I were skeptical. But at the same time, if it was true, and the photos were real, then it really was the most incredible secret heirloom tomato plant ever!
The Road Trip To Lexington
And so it was in the summer of 2017, we took a road trip to see Lirpa and his incredible tomato plant.
As we pulled into Lirpa’s meticulous homestead, one thing was very apparent. Lirpa loves to garden!
The driveway was lined with flowerbeds on either side. And just to the left of an impeccably painted white clapboard house, a large expansive garden could be seen just in front of a gorgeous barn.
And then Lirpa appeared. Like out of a scene from an old Southern movie, he opened the front door and strode out in a light tan suit.
It was almost as if Colonel Sanders traded in his trademark white suit for a tan one.
“Jim? Mary? So very glad to meet the two of you!” he said in a deep, bellowing voice.
And then, just like that, even though we were out in the middle of nowhere – he lowered his voice to a whisper.
“Now, I have followed you two for years, and I really feel like I can trust the both of you. Am I right?”
A Visit To The Garden
We both looked at each other in complete bewilderment and nodded yes. Not really knowing what to think. Maybe even more, wondering what we had just gotten ourselves into.
“I figured I could” he said, and with that we headed toward the back corner of the garden.
As we walked through the rows of vegetables, it donned on both of us that it was set up entirely with Raised Rows, almost identical to our garden at home.
He saw us smiling and spoke up, “I started using your garden system in 2013, and I absolutely love it. I have always grown nearly all of my food, and it is amazing how it keeps the weeds completely out.”
As he finished talking, we we stopped in front of a huge 10 foot tall fence, secured with a large padlock on the gate.
He pulled a big silver key out of his pocket and opened the lock. And as the gate swung open, the sight of the three plants growing behind it dropped our jaws to the dirt!
The Big Reveal
There, right in front of us, were 3 massive vines trained up and down a huge trellis. Every single inch of the vines were filled with deep, dark red tomatoes.
So many we couldn’t even begin to count. He snapped off two tomatoes, handed one to each of us, and said try them.
At this point, we were just stunned, and so we bit into them like an apple. To say it was delicious would be the understatement of the year. There were simply divine.
I looked at Lirpa, and all I could muster up was “What are these? What do you call them?” He laughed and said he hadn’t come up with a name yet.
I looked at Mary, then back at him, and said, “well, to me – they are going to be called the Lirpa Yadsloof Jackpot Heirloom Tomato.” And that was that – they had a name!
We took those seeds with us all the way to Tennessee last year to grow. Since we were away from the farm for the year, We rented a little space in the country, and as promised, never told a soul.
And they didn’t disappoint. In fact, they grew to nearly 40 feet in length. And we stopped counting at 19 bushels from a single plant.
At this point, we have probably taken up enough of your time reading all about this incredible secret heirloom tomato plant.
So, we will cut to the chase and the BIG question?
What happens now? Is Lirpa going to sell the seeds? Well, you are probably going to be shocked by the answer below.
The Final Chapter of The Lirpa Yadsloof Tomato.
Here is where the story takes the craziest turn yet. Lirpa is not going to sell the seeds. Not ever. Why, you might ask?
Well, you see, today is April 1st. And if you spell Lirpa’s full name (Lirpa Yadsloof) backwards – it spells April Fools Day!
As in, none of the preceding story was true at all. Not one bit. Just our sad attempt at an April Fools joke for all of our followers!
Sadly, there is no Lirpa – and no incredible tomato plant. But hey, hopefully we put a little smile on your face and you had a little fun with today’s article.
We promise to go back to our regular very truthful gardening stories from here on out.
Happy April Fool’s Day Everyone! – From Old World Garden Farms
Happy Gardening – Jim And Mary
You can reach us via email for comments, questions and suggestions at : thefarm@owgarden.com
Jim and Mary Competti have been writing gardening, DIY and recipe articles and books for over 15 years from their 46 acre Ohio farm. The two are frequent speakers on all things gardening and love to travel in their spare time.
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