Scott, First of all, with all the rain you had, it is remarkable that you had any tomatoes at all! We had that kind of rain here in April-July of 2004 (believe it or not) and I was the only person here among our "gardening circle" of friends, neighbors and acquaintances who had tomatoes at all. Our raised beds saved the day for us, because the folks who had their plants at grade level lost them when 12" of rain fell in the month of June and drowned the poor plants. I did have a lot of concentric cracking, and some vertical cracking as well, and to me the flavor of the tomatoes was not as strong as usual, but....the people with whom I shared the tomatoes were just so thrilled to have any tomatoes at all. Non-gardeners always think that rain is "always" a blessing for veggie gardeners, but the truth is that too much rain is, in some ways, more damaging than too little rain. If I had a choice (and I couldn't have "normal" weather"), I'd choose raising my veggies in drought over raising them in flooding rains. I thought about growing Celebrity, and there is NOTHING wrong with its flavor, but I am spoiled by the unique flavors of the heirlooms, so I usually don't grow it. I do, in fact like the flavor of several hybrids, among them Better Boy, Big Boy, Early Girl, Porterhouse, Little Brandywine and Bucks County. Every heirloom tomato is NOT superior in flavor to every hybrid, although a lot of them are. Roma was my dad's standard go-to tomato for sauce and salsa, so I grew up eating them and I like them. I do like LaRoma better (and so did he, once he tried it), but I quit growing it when I found Viva Italia, which is similar but has better flavor and much better disease resistance. THEN I found San Marzano which put the others to shame and I was sure it was "the" best paste tomato ever, until I grew San Marzano Redorta. At that point I was sure there couldn't be a better-tasting paste tomato, and for me, there probably isn't. And, yet, I love the flavors of Amish Paste, Martino's Roma, Grandma Mary's Paste and others like Heidi. Growing tomatoes is such a "journey" and it always amazes me when I find a "new" (to me) tomatoe that supplants one I had previously thought was the best. LOL And, guess what? In the winter, when grocery store tomatoes are all that are available, we happen to like salsa made from store-bought Romas just fine too! With salsa, it really isn't the tomato that contributes the most important part of the flavor....the tomato is just the base, and it is the peppers, onions and seasonings that make salsa taste like.....salsa! I always say to myself in winter that I won't "waste" garden space on Brandywine ever again, because 3 out of 4 years, they are very poor producers. Then, I think of their incredible taste and end up sneaking one or two into the garden somewhere. Brandy Boy has been a huge improvement, though, and gives tomatoes that taste almost as good as Brandywine, but not quite. I grow it because its' taste is close and its productivity is so much higher. Earl's Faux (grown from seed saved from Brandywine that had clearly crossed with something else, or at least that is what most people think) is close to BW in flavor and is more productive, but is not as productive in my garden as Brandy Boy. True Black Brandywine from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds was a great new find in our garden this year. It outproduced all my other blacks and purples, and the flavor is great, although it is not quite as good as Brandywine Sudduth. It may be the only Brandywine I grow from this point forward. If you garden on level land, the best way I know to get early tomatoes is to plant them using Wall O'Water or Kozy Koat devices. Unfortunately, I garden on a slope and I can't use them because they tip over and the water spills out. Gordan Graham (now deceased), the gardener from Edmond, OK, who holds the world record for the largest tomato ever grown, liked to use WOWs to get an early start.....and he started his plants so early with them that he had to stack a second WOW on top of the first to protect his plants until all danger of frost had passed. I'll try to find a description of how he did it and post it in a separate thread. Since I can't use WOWs, I mulch heavily to keep the ground warm, and cover my plants with buckets and blankets during cold spells. For a couple of years I wrapped the cages of the early-planted tomatoes with plastic, but that is a huge job and interferes with air flow. So, now if a severe cold spell with several consecutive days of sub-freezing temps threatens, I build a quick hoop house over the plants using 6mm plastic. I've managed to protect the plants from late sleet by doing that. Some of the older tomato varieties that are most resistant to cracking (some are true O-P heirlooms but some are just really old hybrids from the 1950s or earlier) include Sioux, Super Sioux, Homestead 24, Santa Clara Canner, Carnival, Mule Team, Champion, Box Car Willie, Earl of Edgecombe, Akers West Virginia, Traveler 76, Arkansas Traveler, Rutgers, Zogola, Porter (barely larger than Large Red Cherry), Porter Improved, and Bradley Pink. Most of the processing tomatoes that have "Heinz" or "Campbell" in their name are very crack-resistant, and so are some of the newer hybrids like Cobra and Amelia. If enough rain falls, though, or if you over-irrigate (and I know you wouldn't), any tomato will crack though because the excess moisture makes the inside flesh grow faster than the outer skin. I've never had any of my heirloom Livingston tomatoes crack either but I've never had the kind of moisture that you do. My favorite Livingstons are Golden Queen, Gold Ball and Paragon, but Stone and Perfection are outstanding too. Victory Seed is the only company I trust for authentic Livingston tomato seed. One thing about the Livingstons that I adore is that they grow and produce in the worst of our droughts. I don't know why they are so much tougher than other tomatoes in drought years--perhaps it is superior genetics Early tomatoes can be quite vexing. There are many years when some 70-75 DTM tomatoes give me ripe tomatoes before Early Girl does, and I have no idea why. Among the better ones for early tomatoes are Bush Early Girl, New Big Dwarf (slow in some people's gardens, but an early producer in mine), Sophice's Choice, Matina, Kimberly, Stupice (pronounced stoo-PEECH-ka, by the way), and Glacier. I use Better Bush as an early, but it is only early because I buy it when it is already quite large--clearly started by the growers in November to give early-bird gardners like me large plants in 6" pots in mid-Feb. to mid-March. Among the cherries, both Grape and Black Cherry produce very early for me. Finally, if you are looking for tomatoes that produce in our climate, one of the best (and few) "local" seed sources is Wilhite Seed, based in Poolville, Texas, west of Fort Worth. Although Wilhite's specialty is watermelons (oh my, their selection boggles the mind), they cater to market growers, so if they offer a variety, it is a good producer. Since Porter and Sons Seed went out of business in either the 1980s or 1990s, Wilhite is the only company in Texas that I buy seed from. Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: Willhite Seed Co. website

Burpee lists them a 75-78 days. But for me, the past two years I've grown them, they have only been a week or so behind my Early girls. I recall being very surprised they ripened as early as they did. Just another reason this variety has endeared itself to me. It's my earliest beefsteak, by far. I'm hoping maybe someone else who has grown them can back me up on an earlier harvest than the published 75-78 days. Unfortunately, I didn't keep careful records from planting to harvest times. Wish I had now.

Gardening in south central WI, zone 4b, very cool and wet until mid August this year. Four weeks of "summer" and I was picking a bushel of tomatoes a week for those four quick weeks. Italian Heirloom - Pink beef steak type. Very prolific, some fruits in excess of two pounds. Excellent fresh eating and the only tomato my mother will can. Excellent fruit to jucie ratio. Good disease resistance, only some early blight but as of last night's hard frost vines were still green and leafy. Helen's German - I got this seed from a local heirloom garden where inspite of absolutely brutal growing conditions it produced amazing fruit. In my more pampered conditions it is a stellar plant. Medium to large pink / red fruits, my absolute favorite eating tomato, fresh or preserved. Good disease resistance, some early blight. Crnkovic Yugoslavian - another beefsteak type, though more average sized fruits, excellent flavor, though slightly lower yeilds. This plant is tough, hot, dry, cold wet, over the years it has thrived through them all, and keeps producing superior fruit. Berkely Tye Die - This was a new one for me. A green tomato shot through with red and yellow. Average to good flavor, but I had a terrible time with shoulder cracking and then almost imediate rot. I'll grow it again, only because the conditions were so odd this year. Low to average yeailds on an extreemly vigorous plant. Jet Star - a hybrid, but producing a more typical grocery store type fruit. Excellent for slicing and good flavor. This one excelled in storage qualities, keeping twice as long as any of the other varieties, and maintaining texture and flavor. This goes on my must plant list. Amish Paste - disappointing this year where it is usually very good. I did not save any seed this year but will buy fresh seed next spring. I have only a small backyard plot that also has to grow a lot of other things for my family, so I am able to only grow three plants of each variety. But, as I said, yeilds this year were prety impressive. Garden and culture has been totally organic for about 15 years. I am also looking for recommendations for a yellow / orange and a green when ripe variety for next year. Thanks in advance! Steve

Hi Patrina We are still at IT here but will post my list soon....I am interested in all the early ones of course as well as any cool tolerant vars...plus... Alyesha Popovic...cool tolerant Black Early.......just in case Brandywine (Sudduth)...Last year a Brandywine from an Amish community was one of my earliest and most prolific Crnkovic Yugoslavian...maybe it will do ok Mariannas Peace...because they all rave about it Pale Perfect Purple....maybe it will do ok Pearly Pink Cherry...same Principe Borghese...same Stor Gul....same and some real Whippersnapper ...do you have any idea what mine may have been...could it have been a hybrid...my Dog it is prolific though Possums and ravens and rats and even a bandicoot are enjoying mine...but I am getting plenty so far Will answer your other emails soon cheers Peter