What tomatoes will you grow this year?

[Drew51]

I saved seed, or you can buy at the Victory seed company.It has the thickest stalk of any tomato I ever have seen. I also have Tennessee Cheese pepper. It’s a round sweet pepper about the size of a golf ball. Well bigger, but not as big as a tennis ball. Thick walled, excellent for stuffing with cheese!
Open pollinated heirloom too. So you can save seed. PM me your address for seeds if you want.

Here’s info I kept about them
Tennessee Suited -
Maturity midseason
Growth habit dwarf, indet.
Leaf type regular, rugose
Fruit color black, purple, striped
Fruit shape beefsteak
Fruit size medium
Fruit type slicer
Variety type created heirloom, stabilized intentional cross
Country Australia, USA
is a 6-10 ounce smooth oblate purple fruit with vertical green stripes (clear skinned black with stripes), regular leaf dwarf, very good yield, very good flavor. After one of the Alaska volunteers said she saw a striped tomato late in her Alaska season, I was sent some seeds and found it the next season here in Tennessee. We did some selections and growouts, and now, it is available to the public. It is named after the place where it thrived (Tennessee) and the two people who believed in it. Enjoy this great tasting and colorful new variety. Does well in containers. Obtained from Heritage Seed Market

Tennessee Cheese Pepper - An ancient heirloom recovered from seeds donated by a couple living in Kingston,
Tennessee. Originally from Spain, where it is still used as a staple in many dishes. Fruits are perhaps the best
we’ve seen for stuffing. Round, apple or tomato-shaped, with a flattened base and a thick, delicious skin. Use it
fresh like a bell, pickled, canned, or dried for paprika! Obtained free from Zeedman on Tomatoville

[ztom]

Does anyone grow a Roma variety called " Christopher Columbus? " IMO it tastes much, much better for fresh eating then average Romas and seems to be fairly prolific and disease resistant. I buy the plants every year from a local grower, but can’t seem to find seeds for sale online.

Christopher Columbus

[galinas]

In my tight space it is more and more difficult to find right spot for tomatoes - big enough, where they will not shade other smaller plants and where they or any other their relatives didn’t grow last year… So this year I have to have half of my tomatoes determinate, to have a low growing bed… So here is my list:
Jetsetter - my favorite large tomato, early and productive
Cherokee Chocolate - started to be disappointed with it, too uneven in ripening
4th Of July - my “working horse” - produces from July to October, tomatoes are on smaller side, but very productive and perfect for canning whole and freezing.
Tumbler(patio) - Just trying first time in the pot on the deck
Miracle Sweet 67 days - First timer as well
Warrior 71 days, D - determinate, first timer
Defiant 70 days, D - determinate, but good producer. Planted in the pot last year for “spring” tomatoes, gave good crop in summer time.
Super sweet 100 - must have it for snacking while working in the garden, I need my sugars

[clarkinks]

Drew,
I agree with what your saying. Our plant genetics in general are in danger and growing heirlooms is good for those reasons. I do grow a small Amish pink tomato for those reasons I did not mention. It’s very rare now and I’m not even sure it’s available for sale. Your motives are admirable.

[Drew51]

In my tight space it is more and more difficult to find right spot for tomatoes

You could try the dwarfs in the future, they grow 3 to 4 feet tall at best, never taller.
Many are not tried for that long, but favorites are starting to stand out. Excellent production and taste on all of them. Why they were made, made by people like us btw, all were free, and on Tomatoville users were asked to help select them. Chosen by tomato growers.not some corporation. If you helped your name was included with the descriptions. So people didn’t just choose anything to put their name on, it had to be excellent.

[northwoodswis4]

Wouldn"t the saved seed be a cross of the various varieties you have in your garden? Volunteer plants seem to be pot luck.

[Drew51]

Wouldn"t the saved seed be a cross of the various varieties you have in your garden?

Unlikely, it can happen. And you can do things to avoid it. One thing I do is take seed from the very first tomatoes. No bees when they were flowers, Sometimes the fruit is formed before I even plant out.Shake the plants to pollinate quicker. So far all have come through true to variety. I never had a cross yet. I have taken late seeds, and they were still true. Now watch I just jinxed myself! Argh! If I sold seeds I would isolate flower before they open with organza bags.Once fruit forms remove. I have a few hundred on hand for breeding, but so far have not seen a need. Also don’t throw away last year’s seed. if your seed has a problem, you have the year before.Tomato seeds will germinate well for years and years. Not all seeds do. Last year I used 4 year old pepper seed, and every one of them germinated. I was surprised! Three different varieties too.

[Derby42]

I will start Omar’s Lebanese soon and sun gold.

[Drew51]

I will start Omar’s Lebanese soon

The Podpiper gave me some of that. I was going to grow this year, but because I lost some seed, I might not. I heard it is a good one too.

[Derby42]

That is where I got it also, it sounds like the type of tomatoe I like and fairly productive.

[thepodpiper]

This is a Omar’s Lebanese from a couple of years ago. This is the only tomato that I grow every single year……and Sungold.

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[Derby42]

Just what I’m looking for Pod, the more research I did on this tomato the more I liked it. I got my peat pots ready last night and will be ready to plant tomatoes tonight I think. That is really a nice looking tomatoe.

[Drew51]

OK, well i guess I have to grow it this year too!

[thepodpiper]

This is another Omar"s, same year.

[thepodpiper]

I received my tomato seeds from a trade with a friend in Hungary and this is what I am thinking of growing but may change + or - some.

Everette’s Rusty Oxheart
Malakhitovaya Shkatulka
Livingstons Giant Oxheart
Prue
Variegated
Arkashin
Pink Passion (dwarf)
Purple Heart (dwarf
Banksia Queen (dwarf)
Summertime Green (dwarf)
Russian Queen
Super Choice
Lescana
Black Cherry
Church
Green Copia
Gogoshari Striped
Helsing Junction
Middle Tennessee
Fred’s Tie Dye (dwarf)
Dester
Brandywine Suddith’s
Purple Brandy
Palmira’s Northern Italian Beefsteak
Pink Boar
Brandywine Cowlick’s
Cherokee Purple
Lumpy Red

Oh and Omars Lebanese

[Drew51]

I’m still looking my seeds over and trying to decide. I want to grow some dwarfs, I was going to wait, but hell with it I’m growing some. I’ll find more containers if I have to!
Sweet Scarlet dwarf

Vigorous, dwarf, rugose, potato leaf plants produce a heavy yield of medium to medium large sized (six to sixteen ounces) oblate, smooth red fruit, possessing a superb, intense, complex flavor – one of the very best flavored of all of the “Dwarf Tomato Project” varieties.

Rosella Purple

Similar to ‘Cherokee Purple’ in color, size, shape and flavor but on a dwarf growing plant. Regular leaf, dark green rugose foliage, stout central stem, grows to three to four feet

These are about the best two out of 60 some. Well top ten at least! I’'ll start here, and work my way down…

Like Brandywine, some sub strains of Mortgage Lifter exist. I have some very old seeds of Ester’s strain, rare, is supposed to be one of the best strains, if not the best. This tomato does better in the south I have heard, why I have yet to grow it. Worrying about the age of the seeds, so gonna try it if I can get them to germinate?

I also have old seeds of Pruden’s Purple, I need to grow them out.
Also
Bear Creek
Goose Creek
Stump The World all getting old.
And I have to grow “Seek No Further Love Apple” I would like to seek no further, long story behind this one!
I also have one stabilized variety from a grower. He bred a cherry version of Carbon, which is one of the best dark tomatoes, called Carbon Copy. I want to try that against Black Cherry.

For sure going to grow the above, and a few others.

[NJ_BILL]

Gee haven’t seen anyone growing Ramapo tomato from Rutgers Univ. I’ve been concentrating on my two year old dwarf trees and going back to veggies this year. I’ve grown in the past Annis Noir (not sure of the spelling) a multi colored salad tomato, cherry’s for my grandkids and get seeds from Rutgers for the Ramapo.

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[BobVance]

Here’s my list of what I’m currently germinating. I’ve got a bunch of others that I’ll start in a bit. Two posters generously sent me a wide variety of seeds as part of scion swaps this year, so I’m really expanding both how many kinds and the sheer number of plants. Last year, I think I did maybe 10-12 plants, composed of roughly 5 varieties. This year, I think it will be more like 30 plants of 28 varieties. The dupes being due to a few varieties that I want to try in both full sun and partial shade.

I’m sure I’ll run out of space, but my father has a much larger garden and should be able to absorb whatever I can’t plant. Whether I can get him to take good notes is more of a question.

Big Beef- My most productive by far. Current control vs which all others will be measured.

Reccomended by @alan, seeds from TotallyTomatoes :
Country Taste
Sungold

From @thepodpiper:
Wild Bill’s Big Red
Dinner Plate
Aunt Ginny’s Purple
Viva Lindsey’s White Kentucky

From @Antmary:
Lucid Gem
Mashenka
Chocholate Cherry
Black from Tula
Mexico (actually, ThePodPiper sent this as well, so it must be good)

I didn’t use any complex formula in choosing the first round of seeds- mostly just from names that sounded cool and a mix of colors.

[Drew51]

I didn’t use any complex formula in choosing the first round of seeds- mostly just from names that sounded cool and a mix of colors.

LOL! I have done that, do that with some

I think my favs are Rebel Yell, Girl Girl’s Weird Thing, and Seek No Further Love Apple.
Rebel Yell was great but a late producer, and probably netter for the south by it’s name! A low producer here, but the tomatoes were super good. Almost a deep blood red color,
Girl Girl’s produced early and all year, Tomatoes were amazing looking and tasted fantastic, produced well, a winner for me all the way.I love the purples or what I like to call them is dark tomatoes. These are usually sweet, but with some acid. I’m growing a crap load of darks this year too.Black Sea Man, Black from Tula. And I got some new seeds of purples that I will try next year. I bought from baker, and they sent me a freebie of yet another purple.
Back to the names trying Seek No Further for the first time, it is supposed to be excellent.

Some strange ones out there, like fuzzy tomatoes. I have seed, but never grew any out yet.
These fuzzy tomatoes look like peaches.

Tomatoes are a lot of fun to grow, I love growing them.

[thepodpiper]

I didn’t use any complex formula in choosing the first round of seeds- mostly just from names that sounded cool and a mix of colors.

Thats how i always pick mine.

Drew, very nice choices. The one that I really liked is Goose Creek although smaller than I had hoped (little larger than golf ball size) they were exceptional tasting and uniform in shape. Isn’t there a thread on dwarf tomatoes here? My source for seeds in Hungary contributes to the Dwarf project and am hoping to get more varieties from him next year. Save seeds Drew and we will trade.