Achatado Longkeeper Tomato Seeds

Tomato, Achatado Longkeeper

Achatado is a rare Spanish hanging tomato from the long keeping tradition of Catalonia. The fruit ripens to a beautiful salmon peach with a pink blush, and it is meant to be hung and eaten long after the garden has finished. My plants came through a drought with only irregular watering and still produced the tomatoes in these photos.

Origin and name

Achatado simply means flattened in Spanish, which describes the fruit’s flattened, ribbed shape. In Catalonia, a matching tomato is sold under the name Tomàquet de penjar Xatu, with its origin given as Terres de Ponent, in western Catalonia. Other Xato lines have been kept in Jorba and at Can Burgada in the Vallès Oriental, so Xato may be a family of flat hanging tomatoes rather than one variety. I have not found a named originating family or a date of origin for Achatado.

Plant and fruit

Achatado is an indeterminate, mid season tomato at about 80 days, with fruit of roughly 1 to 2 oz. It is described as firm, thick skinned and crack resistant, with a juicy, sweet flavour. It is also known as very productive, with pale orange fruit and a pink underside.

History of hanging tomatoes

Tomatoes reached Europe in the 1500s, and Balearic paintings from about 1630 to 1650 show fruit resembling the related de Ramellet type. That suggests about four centuries of selection. The greatest range of these long keepers is found in eastern Spain, the Balearic Islands, southern Italy and Sicily, all once part of the Crown of Aragon.

Before tomatoes were available year round, the last fruit of summer was sewn or braided into strings to keep it fresh well into the following months. Growers stitched the fruit stems onto a rope and hung the strings from the beams of ventilated sheds. In Mallorca, fruit was also hung on olive branches or laid out on racks. The village of Banyalbufar built an export trade in these tomatoes, shipping mainly to Catalonia, and seed may have travelled between the regions the same way.

How it is used

These tomatoes are best known for pa amb tomàquet, where a cut tomato is rubbed over bread. In the Balearic Islands, the tough skin of traditional de Ramellet tomatoes comes away clean, leaving the pulp on the bread. Some Balearic growers keep flat fruit especially for rubbing on bread and elongated fruit for cooking. Achatado is also recommended for preserves. A related Xato is used in preserves, salads and winter dishes, and is said to stay sweet and crisp for months after harvest.

Drought tolerance and dry farming

Hanging tomatoes as a group have a well documented record of drought tolerance. I have not found a trial of Achatado itself, so my own plants are the direct evidence I can offer for this variety.

Traditionally, these tomatoes were watered only in the first stages after transplanting, then left to rely on occasional rain. In Mallorca, de Ramellet is grown in dry farmed areas, often among melons. One Catalan farmer lets a related hanging variety sprawl unstaked without irrigation.

In a trial at 40 percent of full water demand, Catalan de penjar lines averaged the same yield with or without the water deficit, about 3.7 lb per plant. Among 48 de Ramellet lines, about 29 percent yielded more under water deficit, while the average was 82 percent of the well watered yield. Water deficit also significantly raised sugar content in de Ramellet. Research on de Ramellet points to tight control of water loss through the leaves and changes in leaf structure that make photosynthesis more efficient. De penjar tomatoes also evolved under low input growing, with reported nitrogen needs well below those of intensive tomato crops.

How long it stores

Hung fruit is said to keep until early the following summer, although I have not found a measured storage trial for Achatado. In published work on the wider group, one study of de penjar averaged 127 days, with a range of 78 to 139. De Ramellet is reported at 6 to 12 months, with 49 percent of fruit still sound after 6 months. A reasonable expectation is 4 to 6 months, with anything longer a bonus.

Long storage in de penjar and de Ramellet is linked to the alc gene mutation, though it does not explain the full effect by itself. Storage life also changes with growing conditions, and both Italian and Spanish types lost some of their usual keeping ability outside their home regions. Your results may differ from these Mediterranean figures.

Harvesting and storing

For storage, pick just as the colour breaks, after several days without rain or irrigation. Traditional fruit in the wider group is also often picked fully ripe on the vine, with no cold storage needed. Too much irrigation shortened storage life in some de Ramellet lines, so go easy on water late in the season. Hang the fruit in clusters or on strings, or set it on racks, somewhere with good airflow.

These tomatoes usually go through an aging period of at least 1 to 2 months before eating. In de Ramellet, sugar and acidity fall during storage, with most of the change in the first two months. For rubbing on bread, wait until the fruit is bright red and slightly soft.

I grow out and save all the seed I sell. My plants are grown naturally, without sprays, chemical fertilizers or manure.