It doesn't matter if you mix varieties or what variety you use in home canning as long as you follow current recommendations for acidifying and processing.

I'm not Annie, but I'm big on recommending gardeners contact their local Extension agency for the best advice on suitable cultivars for their region.

Last year I planted Arkansas Traveler as one of my new experimental varieties. It was the worst performer in the garden. I speculate it's not because it's not a worthwhile variety, but because our growing season and weather conditions were unsuitable. In a poor season, especially, marginal varieties will invariably be outperformed by those appropriate for your locality.

Regardless of what new varieties I try, I always plant tested cultivars like Oregon Spring from our own Oregon State horticultural development program because I know they'll be the most consistent performers regardless of conditions.

Here's a document from Tennessee Extension you might find helpful.

Carol

Here is a link that might be useful: Tennessee Extension Tomatoes for the Home Garden

For salsas, sauces etc., if you like meaty and little liquid, choose a paste type, sauce type, or a plum type, or several mixed vaieties. Most of these types have less liquid inside and also fewer seeds. Z6 alwways grows better if the plants are started indoors about 1-2 months earlier. Cat Face is ususlly on big watery types with also tend to slit in heat. BER is common on a long pointed end plum types, and is caused by insufficient calcium uptake for the plants, which can occur after many high heat days, sporadic watering and too fast growing, or if too much fertlizer is used. Believe it or not, Ball Pickle Crisp (calcium chloride) is mixed with water and srayed on tomato and pepper foliage will help to increase calcuum defficiency and BER. The BER condition usually occurs in rapid early growth, so any that have it now should be tossed out. Your list includes many big 'salad and eating' types. Suggest you look at the Tomato Growers web site, as well as Totally Tomatoes web site. Both offer many choices suitable for home canning sauces. Last year, I must say that an Oxheart type was planted, big round with point end, tiny seed/water cavities tells me its a 'meaty' tomato. The taste, however was a bit bland, but still decent.

I like to mix them. The different flavors seem to blend and balance each other in a sauce. And roasting first REALLY adds flavor to even the blandest tomatoes.

Deanna

I agree with Deanna that it is the mix of flavors that produces the very best salsas and sauces. I would never restrict myself to canning just 1 or 2 varieties or even just 1 or 2 colors, especially with the 1000's of wonderful varieties available. We grow 100+ plants of at least 25 different varieties each year and they all go into the pot together. ;) And salsa with some yellow varieties mixed in is extra special.

IMO the only advantage to using plums and paste types for canning is that they some times require less cooking down for sauce as they have less water. But there is an associated loss of flavor too with paste varieties with a couple of exceptions - San Marzano and Opalka - both are very flavorful.

Catfacing can occur with with any variety as it is weather effect on pollination and bloom damage that causes it so one should never rule out a variety for catfacing alone. AR Traveler is perfect for zone 6-7 as it was created here but as Carol said it wouldn't like her neck of the woods. Too chilly . ;)

TN Ag extension is a great source of local varieties as they are responsible for developing many of them. Be sure to check them out.

Dave

I grow Principe Borghese (am Italian Plum meant for sun drying) for everything I want kinda chunky with a big flavor: dehydrated, sauce, paste, ketchup, salsa. I also love them fresh though they don't LOOK like a sandwich tomato, it is the taste, not the look that makes a sandwich and you cover it with bread anyway! This tomato needs to be caged because the branches are very heavy with clusters and the fruit does not like to touch the ground, or slugs will get them, or the branches will break. It has been very dependable - it is the one that sprouts up on the edges of my compost pile every year without any help.

For good sized dependable tomatoes, especially for the South, I grow Homestead. This heirloom provides an abundance of round red tomatoes for canning whole, for juice, spicy V-8 style juice, and for crushed/stewed. My husband swears by them for his special spaghetti sauce (he freezes it - it is not for canning since it contains a lot of meat sausage and mushrooms), and it also makes a delicious fresh soup. This tomato is resistant to many Southern diseases and sets fruit even in our very hot and humid summers. I cage some, I let some sprawl. Many of my neighbor organic farmers grow the pinkish German Johnson's for the same reasons.

I also grow 100 or so assorted heirloom tomatoes per year. I especially like the yellow or golden ones for Tomato Preserves (Persimmon), the black ones for eating fresh (Black Krim, Black from Tula), and the striped ones for stunning salads (Red and/or Green Zebra, Tigerella). I'm hoping the white ones I'm growing are as citrus-y as they have been touted to be.

My suggestion is to grow two or three varieties of tomatoes until you find the ones you really like, then grow those as the main crop and experiment later on. I only grow heirloom or open pollinated tomatoes so that I can save the seeds for planting next year and after and I do like the flavors so much better than hybrids.

You might want to wander over to the Tomatoes Forum on the GardenWeb and do search on Tennessee. Why reinvent the wheel when others have already gone 'round?

Nancy

I'm right up there with the "plant a variety" crowd. For one thing no one tomato imo is the "perfect" tomato. The variety of flavors and textures pretty much demands growing a few different kinds. Another reason is to protect yourself against ma nature. Some years just aren't good for some varieties but may be good for others. By having several you may be able to minimize the impact of a bad weather year.

Oh Persimmon. What a glorious tomato. In a good year it can be very happy here in the PNW. Unfortunately the last three years have been marginal, even for our local cultivars. But if things continue as they are (knock on wood) this will be a very good tomato year indeed.

I'm sure the deer are smacking their lips in anticipation.

I always plant varied tomatoes. Some are T&T's like Early Girl, some I grow specifically for elderly neighbors, some are heirlooms I've not tried, some are experimentals Oregon Extension is testing.

I totally agree that varied stock helps reduce loss in a challenging garden year.

One thing to keep in mind about any garden plant, but tomatoes in particular, is you need to get to know your own measure of ground. You'd be surprised at the number of microclimates possible even on a city lot. So you may find some or all tomatoes perform better in one area of the garden than another.

Carol

I am so glad to have all this info - I really like growing different kind. I have found a couple that I don't care for and will weed them out next year.
Carol, you are one of the experts that I wanted your imput. The reason I mentioned Annie and posted on this forum was because of her salsa and all the raves. I thought maybe it was so good because of the tomato she used
but I made six pints last night and it tasted pretty good while cooking. Now I have to try it cold.
Do you ever get the feeling that if people didn't get so caught up in this forum and ask the same questions over and over, the forum would go kaput? I have looked at some of the others and they are not very active and I do like this forum and the tomato one. I think sometimes I just post to hear from everybody.
Digression, again. Sorry,\. :)

Try Opalka. Extremely meaty and very few seeds.