Juliet

Juliet is a paste-type tomato in a saladette shape — small, elongated, plum-like fruits with a glossy, deep red skin. The skin is notably crack- and split-resistant, keeping fruits intact even after extended time on the vine. Clusters typically carry 12 to 18 fruits, each weighing about 1½ to 2 ounces and measuring roughly 2 to 2¼ inches long. The flesh is juicy and sweet, with a rich, full tomato flavor suited to both fresh eating and cooked dishes.

Juliet works equally well raw and cooked. It suits fresh salads and snacking as well as sautéing, roasting, and drying, and its paste-like character makes it good for stewing and sauce. Often likened to a mini Roma, it moves easily between the salad bowl and the saucepan.

As an indeterminate variety, Juliet keeps producing fruit throughout the growing season rather than ripening all at once. Its harvest window runs roughly 12 weeks, and well-supported plants can yield several hundred tomatoes, with some accounts citing around 350 per plant. Fruit is reported to hold on the vine longer than other grape tomatoes and to keep well after picking, extending the period over which the crop can be gathered and used.

Juliet was bred by Known-You Seed using conventional hybridization techniques and introduced in the 1990s. In 1999 it received the All-America Selections honor for best vegetable variety, a recognition that helped carry it into wider cultivation.