THE classic, early-to-mid-season, indeterminate heirloom that still ranks among the very best all-purpose canning and processing tomatoes more than 120 years after its introduction.
 
Fruits are bright scarlet, smooth, globe-shaped, and remarkably uniform and blemish-free, averaging 6–8 oz  — large enough to be on the small end of beefsteak size yet perfectly suited for canning whole or in quarters. Flesh is meaty, firm, coreless, with small seed cavities and mild, pleasant old-fashioned flavor.
 
Plants are compact and sturdy (4–5 ft tall), rarely need heavy staking, show good all-season productivity and notably good cool-weather tolerance and disease resistance. 
 
HISTORY: Bonnie Best was developed around 1902–1905 by George W. Middleton of Jeffersonville, Pennsylvania, who selected a superior plant from a field of the earlier variety Chalk’s Early Jewel. It was introduced commercially in 1908 by Stokes Seeds of Philadelphia under the name "Bonnie Best". A very similar (and for many years confused) selection named John Baer was released almost simultaneously in 1914 by W. Atlee Burpee after being developed by John Baer Bros. of Indiana, PA. While the two were long treated as synonyms and sometimes sold interchangeably, most tomato historians now agree they are distinct lines — Bonnie Best is slightly earlier, more compact, and smoother-fruited, while John Baer runs a bit larger and later. 
 
Sold as a single plant in a 3.5" pot.