I've grown this variety for a number of years and it has never failed to produce well, despite being one of the first to succumb to disease every year. This year and last year I've been growing it inside a high-tunnel greenhouse and it has been disease free and continued to produce tomatoes all season long. The tomatoes are essentially always blemish free, slightly firm, tasty, and great for using in a salad as well as for making sauce, salsa, juice, etc. They are easy to pick, not the type that needs to be cut off the vine with scissors, and yet they don't fall to the ground with a touch or bump either. The skin does tend to be a bit thicker than many tomatoes, but it isn't unpleasantly so even for eating fresh and it makes peeling easy. I would note that one of the comments indicates that it is an open-pollinated type, but the seeds I have purchased have always been listed as hybrid. It also tends to get taller than most determinate types, mine usually get to about 5 feet tall.

Reply to this comment

This is an egg-shaped, paste-style tomato, similar in size to Roma. As an open-pollinated variety, this is a good candidate for seed-saving for future years. Fairly compact plant, and very productive. I think the flavor is a little richer than Roma, and the texture is not as mealy, so they are good for eating fresh, as well as cooking and canning. My favorite go-to paste tomato.

1 reply

Viva Italia is a producing workhorse. Last year I planted 4 different varieties of paste tomatoes (Roma, Amish Paste, Viva Italia, and one other), and Viva Italia outperformed the others without question. It had the longest period of production, and was absolutely covered in fruits. All had decent flavor, but Viva Italia was the most flavorful of the four, making it the only paste I really enjoyed eating fresh.

Reply to this comment

I grew Viva Italia for the first time last season and am growing some again this year. A paste type oval tomato similar to Roma but with much better fresh flavor and texture. I made stewed tomatoes, roasted tomatoes and actually just ate some fresh. Exceptional cooking tomato. Viva Italia is much less prone to getting blossom end rot than Roma.

Reply to this comment