Calling All Gardeners-Which Tomato Varieties Should I Grow?
I'm in Zone 5B. Anyway have any favorites? Also, among the sweet pepper varieties, what works best for you? I prefer oranges, yellows and reds. Thanks! Kristine |
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| is it Purple Cherokee? something with those two words - earlier than brandywine, not as pretty but a good tomato for everyday use. |
| Well, like the brandywine it's a family heirloom and highly rated for taste. It's not real disease resistant nor productive, but if I can find some already started I'll give it a whirl and let you know. Have you grown it yourself?
Thanks! Kristine |
| Yeah I found it very prolific and provided big tomatoes. I bought it started at the local feed store. Heirloom tomato says it's both disease and crack resistant which is consistent with what I found - I never got brandywines the year I grew the Cherokee (they all cracked), but we had plenty of the Purples. |
kerry wrote: Yeah I found it very prolific and provided big tomatoes. I bought it started at the local feed store. Heirloom tomato says it's both disease and crack resistant which is consistent with what I found - I never got brandywines the year I grew the Cherokee (they all cracked), but we had plenty of the Purples.
I do have a problem with the brandywines cracking if watering is at all uneven. Good point. I'm experimenting with different irrigation this year. It's a small plot, don't get me wrong, but I tend to get busy with the dogs so need to make the veggie garden as low maintenance as possible. 
Kristine |
Mad Dog wrote: kerry wrote: Yeah I found it very prolific and provided big tomatoes. I bought it started at the local feed store. Heirloom tomato says it's both disease and crack resistant which is consistent with what I found - I never got brandywines the year I grew the Cherokee (they all cracked), but we had plenty of the Purples. I do have a problem with the brandywines cracking if watering is at all uneven. Good point. I'm experimenting with different irrigation this year. It's a small plot, don't get me wrong, but I tend to get busy with the dogs so need to make the veggie garden as low maintenance as possible. Kristine My issues exactly - dan always says he waters when I am away but the tomatoes never lie  |
kerry wrote: My issues exactly - dan always says he waters when I am away but the tomatoes never lie
Poor Dan. Dogs don't lie. Tomatoes don't lie. What's a guy to do? 
Kristine |
| When we lived in Michigan every year my Dad always put in Beef Steak Tomatoes. I don't remember him ever having a bad season with the
Good luck with your garden! |
| My husband plants heirloom tomatoes each year. By far, my favorite is Big Rainbow. They are big, meaty & sweet - great for tomato sandwiches.
Can't go wrong with beefsteaks. We like Brandywine too! |
| Excellent! If I go with Burpee's Early Pride and maybe Big Beef I've covered my early producing and beefsteak needs. And I love playing with the heirlooms so will try Big Rainbow as well.
The irony is that I work for a large produce grower/distributor and one of my co-workers (in charge of picking varieties) can't for the life of him understand why many of us still grow our own. I ran the list of sweet peppers and tomatoes we grow commercially by him once and when pushed he admitted they weren't exactly selected for taste...
If I end up with a good crop maybe I'll present him with a choice selection of the heirloom varieties come fall 
Kristine |
| They really vary around the country. Some are better suited to hot weather like here but are real pains in cloudy more humid climes.
Better Boy and Girl are old standbys. I always have a Celebrity. Roma or San Marzano for paste are fine. Sweet 100 for cherries. Many like the yellow pear for little minis but I don't find much flavor. Brandywine does real well here...............if we don't have a real wet summer, otherwise they crack. When you look at the varieties, look for a mix match of letters following the name....F-V-N...etc. This indicates the variety is resistant to that problem: fusarium 1 or 2, Verticillium, Nematodes, etc. I can skip the N as we don't have nematodes (or enough to get excited about) but I must go for the F's and V's. Of course none of that helps if the leaf hopper passes on curly top virus which I why I grow my tomatoes in covered tomato cages.........I cover it with floating row cover material. Looks like little lanterns out there. If you can grow the heritage type tomatoes: Brandywine, etc, they do have wonderful flavors! |
Don't forget to plant some basil for fresh buffalo mozzarella, tomato & basil salads! Yummm. I can't wait until the tomatoes are ready.  |
| Ones that taste like tomatos
I Like the little ones that go great whole in salad and have that sweet real taste of tomatos. Shop brought ones arent the same as home grown in taste.
Now is there a dog proof fence around this veggie patch to keep sheepies taste testing the produce? Mine love tomatos we tried growing in pots on the patio the tom thumb and grape varities, wee tiny ones for whole in salad they never made it to the kitchen for us to even taste test 
Darn those sheepies  |
VerveUp wrote: Don't forget to plant some basil for fresh buffalo mozzarella, tomato & basil salads! Yummm. I can't wait until the tomatoes are ready.
Oh, never fear...that salad is my all time favorite! I like to plant a fair selection of culinary herbs, and with my tomato fetish, cilantro is another must. This year my goal is to grow my own "salsa" If I could grow avocados (I can't) and citrus (hahaha) I would grow my own "LeAnne's Guacomole Recipe". Or at least that's what I call it. YUM! I picked up my first plants last night: Brandywine, Purple Cherokee, Supersweet 100 and romas so far for the tomatoes. Jalapeno, hungarian wax peppers, and a couple of yellow sweet pepper plants I really know nothing about. I still need to find a good red variety though. And I don't know enough about the use of hot peppers to know what else would be good. (suggestions?) Though I haven't grown it in years, I decided to try some eggplant again this year. Again, no clue about good varieties, so I guess I'll just have to experiement a bit. I don't use it a lot, but maybe I'd use more if I had it available. I use the squarefoot gardening method for ease, plus it makes more sense harvesting-wise, since it's just me. I find I had much more success getting the timing of things right in upstate NY and I'm still very much learning here in Wisconsin. Susan - yeah, you're right. What works well in one area may not work so well in another, evening when in roughly the same zone. My biggest challenge here is that the back yard has so many mature trees that sun is at a premium. Of course, gardeners are a pretty optimistic bunch. Or something
Kristine |
lisaoes wrote: Mine love tomatos we tried growing in pots on the patio the tom thumb and grape varities, wee tiny ones for whole in salad they never made it to the kitchen for us to even taste test
Darn those sheepies
It is fenced off to some extent. Not enough to survive, say, a Sybil onslaught. But it's in an area where the dogs only have supervised access. Belle's granddaughter reportedly is a tomato theif. Sunny and I were talking gardening just this week and she discussed "Ruby proofing" their garden. Since I have her dam and her granddam, there's a pretty good chance that given the opportunity they'd be tomato thieves as well, thought they are quite well behaved when supervised. I do, however, imagine Sybil leaping the fence while we're out doing agility under the pretext of "I thought it was part of the course!" 
We shall see. 
Kristine |
| Yep my suggestion was going to be "the dog proof ones"
I have a paved courtyard and have given up on a vege garden in pots.
I even tried alpine strawberries one year, they are small but really sweet. I dont think the birds even got a look in, the dogs would have a good sniff around about 3 times a day and gently pluck out the ripe ones. Yum, yum. None for the rest of us  |
| I'd still get a modern slicer just in case the heritages don't work out. On the other hand, looks like a yummy selection.
You know those yellow peppers will turn "red" when ripe.....but if you want a dedicated red pepper with fire but not a conflagation look for Serrano or Thai. If you want death by fire, Habanero. |
| Our garden is started - just barely. This weekend I am off to get plants.
We have a few tomatoes - they are rutgers - the heirloom ones. We also usually grow a variety - Celebrity, Better Girl, romas and whatever cherry tomato variety that looks good. Peppers - bell, sweet and hot ones - again whatever strikes my fancy when out shopping. Already in: onions, vines (pumpkins, squash, zuccini), salad mixes, corn, sunflower, beans, peas. In a separate big pot I have my herbs - spicy basil, cilantro, sage and rosemary. The melons are getting planted this weekend too - needed the soil temp to warm up. While I was writing this, my freind Mary called and we are planning a trip tomorrow to a nearby town to a couple of our favorite garden centers. Mostly flowers on that trip. I have all my planters and hanging baskets to get going still..... And help Todd with the tree that blew down in the last wind - he needs to chainsaw it up and get it off the lawn. And then move my agility stuff so he can mow that entire part of the yard. Nice weather forcast, so it will be great to be out! |
SheepieBoss wrote: If you want death by fire, Habanero.
LOL - did that by accident about 10 yrs ago. Had a bumper crop too!!!! 
I dehydrated them. I would use 1 dried pepper like a tea bag in my salsa batch (big stew pot). and pray it didn't pop open and set the seeds loose! Todd had a hispanic coworker who was coveting them - he would bring a bag full into work for him periodically. We eventually GAVE him all the rest! |
Mad Dog wrote: I picked up my first plants last night: Brandywine, Purple Cherokee, Supersweet 100 and romas so far for the tomatoes. Jalapeno, hungarian wax peppers, and a couple of yellow sweet pepper plants I really know nothing about. I still need to find a good red variety though. And I don't know enough about the use of hot peppers to know what else would be good. (suggestions?)
This nursery has the largest crop of pepper plants I've ever seen. (We are fortunate that they are only an hour from us) http://www.chileplants.com/ They do ship, and personally, I feel that the cost is small in comparison to the variety of pepper and tomato plants that they have. They pack the plants very well too. |
SheepieBoss wrote: I'd still get a modern slicer just in case the heritages don't work out. On the other hand, looks like a yummy selection.
You know those yellow peppers will turn "red" when ripe.....but if you want a dedicated red pepper with fire but not a conflagation look for Serrano or Thai. If you want death by fire, Habanero. I grew Habaneros once. Why, I don't know, because I never actually used one for anything. Too afraid!!!
I can't make up my mind on which slicers to get. I'll go back again tomorrow and see if I'm less indecisive. But, yeah, nice to have as a back-up. Funny bell pepper story:I can walk the dogs on some dirt "roads" in between farm fields that the company I work for owns. Some times things don't work out quite right and they ended up leaving a fair amount of peppers on the bush and just walking away from the harvest. Great for me. I picked some. As they got overripe they dropped to the ground and then things REALLY got interesting. I was walking the three older girls when Belle figured out that there was a sweet, sweet pepper extravaganze right under her nose. She trotted into the field. Of course, the others followed suit. They ate them, they rolled in them, they did everything but frame them. I have never seen them so happy or so DEAF. No sooner did I get one out of their when another would bolt. Took me 30 minutes to cover a quarter of a mile.
Remind me to tell you my OES and the pumpkin patch story some day  
Kristine |
| My m-i-l planted an acre of garden for 20 years for herself and the 4 kid's families. It was at my s-i-l's house and we all had to contribute labor. Salad veggies to potatoes to beans to herbs - multiple varieties.
My m-i-l is a Master Gardener and judges flower shows. She is "one of those people" who can bring the dead plants back to life. She had a notebook with a map of the varieties and recorded how they did on a weekly basis. Saved seeds and such. We had multiple soaker hoses going on different schedules. It broke the bank the first year, but the improvement in the crops made it worth it. The county agricultural extension office for your county can be a great source of information/help. |
Used to plant a huge garden before I went back to work.............when I was still a stay at home mom. Over the years it has dwindled to 6 tomato plants. I tried to convince Jim to give up & just buy them at our local farmer's market on Saturdays. Wouldn't do it. That was until 2 years ago when the resident ground hog ate the 6 plants to the ground twice (had to rebuy & replant of course) & I caught Jim sitting in a lawn chair out by the tomato patch, drinking some beer, aiming a loaded pistol at the ground hog! He finally agreed purchasing them from the local farmers was not only cheaper but much safer!  |
| ^^^^^ LOL ^^^^^^
That is SO something Todd would do......or wait - he HAS done that!!!!
(just substitute the beer for a cigarette....) |
Quote: Over the years it has dwindled to 6 tomato plants. We are down to five!! This after a 1/4 acre garden and 70 fruit trees............now 4. The spirit ain't even willing!
Tuesday there is a class for advanced Master Gardeners.......a friend stopped me in the store and asked if I was teaching it?......nope.......am I attending?........nope........Do I care?........nope. My green thumb died. |
| Geez, guys. Such optimists. I'm half afraid to walk out to see if what I planted is still there.
My stuff's in raised beds, fenced, though not deer proof or even determined racoon proof fencing, so we shall see. I wonder what the gun ownership laws are like in WI? 
Kristine |
| We don't fence ours, if that helps - and everything is still present and accounted for.
Our son Travis and GF Nicole just fenced their's yesterday - the bunnies from h*%% are getting their garden.
It is he and Nicole's 1st summer and garden in their new house, and they really want to have a garden grow!! |
| We started a garden this year too. Unfortunately, everything didn't do so well OUTSIDE of the blue and black berries. They're still alive and producing a few things (peppers, tomatoes, strawberries, etc), but we didn't have the right ratio for our mulch/dirt Mr. J thinks. I don't know anything about gardens, but that's what he says. He's gonna have to start fresh next year, so he doesn't care if this stuff dies. I didn't know there were so many types of tomatoes!!!!!!!!! We'll have to see what is best for our area. |
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