Hillbilly

Hillbilly produces beefsteak-type fruit weighing one to two pounds, round and heavily ribbed, with orange-yellow skin and flesh streaked through with red. The flavor is sweet and fruity with only a hint of acidity. A separate strain, Hillbilly Potato Leaf, carries the rounded, potato-like foliage that sets it apart from the standard leaf form. Among potato-leaf heirlooms, Hillbilly stands alongside well-known names like Cherokee Purple and the Brandywines in terms of recognition.

The large ribbed slices and low acidity make Hillbilly a natural sandwich tomato, valued for laying meaty, sweet slices across bread. Its color and juiciness also lend themselves to sauce, producing a pinkish result when cooked down.

Hillbilly grows into a tall, indeterminate plant that is otherwise low maintenance once established beyond frost season. It thrives in full sun of at least six hours a day, and its deep root system makes it fairly drought tolerant, though mulching helps keep moisture even. Growers have reported good disease resistance and strong performance in hot conditions, and the variety has won a regional tomato taste-off competition in the Pacific Northwest.

Hillbilly is an heirloom tomato that originated in West Virginia in the 1800s. One seed source traces its parent stock to a community garden in West Virginia's eastern panhandle, in the vicinity of Cacapon Resort State Park not far from the town of Berkeley Springs.