Anyone Have Their 2010 Tomato Grow List Ready Yet?

14 years ago

I just finished mine. Any comments on my two undecided (Aunt Lou and German J) would be appreciated!

New varieties

1. OSU Blue

2. Hege German Pink

3. Granny Cantrells German PL

4. CowlickÂs Brandywine

5. Claude Browns Yellow Giant

6. Orange Minsk

7. Goose Creek

New varieties IÂm still debating on:

Aunt LouÂs Underground Railroad

German Johnson

Old Must Grows:

Sudduth Brandywine

Brandy Boy

Gary O Sena

KBX

Momotaro

Big Beef

Sun Gold

Big Zac

Porterhouse

MariannaÂs Peace

Juliet for baseball batting practice

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Comments (117)

trudi_d
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Put my list of over 100 heirloom types alone on my website and won't bother to repeat it here but I find it interesting that more people are planting varieties I never heard of before. Is it because of world-wide free trade that so many new varieties are showing up in the US?

Global free trade? I don't think so. It's just a lot of seed trade--some going across continents, but there's also heritage/heirloom gardening which is very popular.
mdsimenc
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I have only space for 8 plants - A pity yes but I live vicariously through Carolyn and friends - my standbys include

Brandywine (Sudduth Strain)
Neves Azorean Red
Momotaro
Marianna's Peace

I grow two cherry tomato types for my 3 and 6 year old
So that leaves 2 more spots
I will probably start
Cherokee Purple
Akers West Virgina
Kelloggs Breakfast
Prudens Purple
Jet Star
Superfantastic
- then figure out what I really want in my garden and give the others to neigbors
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Last year here in Berkeley near University and San Pablo - a couple miles from the bay - my Sungolds and Candy Isis and Cherokee Purples were prolific. Black Krim, Early Girl and Better Boy did fine. No diseases, one hornworm *creepy*. This year I'm only doing heirlooms *except* I can't imagine life without Sungolds and Candy Isis so will do those again! I plan to grow from starts and this is my list IF I can find all these varieties as starts.... Aunt Gertie Gold Aunt Ruby's German Green Berkeley Tie-Dye (have to - I live in Berkeley!) Black Krim Brandywine (black, pink..whatever I can get) Cherokee Purple Dr. Wyche's Yellow German Giant Green Zebra Marianna's Peace Mexico Neves Azorean Red Old German Paul Robeson Persimmon Royal Hillbilly (my name is Royal - have to!) Sunset's Red Horizon White Wonder Cherries: Candy Isis Riesentraube Sungold Snow White Sugar Lump I will expand my garden this year and the new spot gets much more sun! Plan on planting first week of April... Good luck all! P.S. if anyone knows any places to get these starts, I would much appreciate the info!
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Jay, I am married to a former Pennsylvanian and he still has relatives there who garden and every summer I envy their cool temperatures (you know, they think 85 degrees is hot) and their usually abundant rainfall. When we go there to visit in summertime, everything is so lush and lovely that it blows my mind, especially compared to how roasting hot and tired everything looks in this part of the country at the same time. On the other hand, Late Blight seems to be on a tear there the last few years, so their beaufiful crops can fail suddenly. Marcy, That's a great list from the Kerr Center. Thanks for linking it. Susan, I think each of us adds/drops varieties for many reasons. After growing tomatoes for 25 years on my own and for at least 15 years with my dad prior to that, I'm just through with the massive experimentation. The truth is that out of every 20 or 25 new (to me) varieties that I try, maybe one or two is worth putting into the permanent growing rotation. So, rather than constantly looking for something new, I'm trying to refine the grow list and weed out those that perform least well in a broad range of conditions. I've reached the conclusion that there really aren't many, or maybe not any, incredible undiscovered varieties out there that taste/perform significantly better than what I've already tried....so I've stopped looking. I had high hopes for the Brandymaster series, likely because it is so tempting to believe there could be anything that could match Brandywine's flavor. They've performed so poorly here that I doubt I'd see a better performance next year or the year after. While many of you may be seeing significantly hotter or drier weather this year than in your average year, for us here in southcentral OK, our rainfall has been exactly 'average' for the year to date and so have our temperatures. If anything we've had slightly lower temperatures, in general, in Love County than we usually have although higher than average heat indices. So, for me, this is a pretty typical year except the real heat arrived in mid-May instead of late June so we got hot earlier, but not necessarily hotter than average...just earlier than average. A tomato variety that didn't perform well in what was a fairly typical year here at our place this year likely wouldn't perform any differently next year. In Oklahoma we have a wide range of average annual rainfall....some folks may average 15" of rainfall per year in western OK while others in eastern OK may average 50-60" or more. Humidity varies widely as does soil type and pH. So, what grows well for someone in highly alkaline soil and water in western OK may not grow nearly as well for someone in eastern OK with entirely different weather and soil. I enjoy looking at everybody's lists and hearing how different tomatoes perform for different people but I know that works well in areas drastically different from mine may not work well here. Growing in containers is much more complicated. First of all, nothing that I grow performs as well in containers as in the ground. Heat and pests hit container-grown plants much harder every year than those in the ground. The grasshoppers have completely stripped my container tomatoes of every leaf and fruit, but have only done sporadic damage to in-ground plants. It is the same thing with spider mites....only the container plants have had issues with them this summer. For me, container-grown tomatoes are great from Jan. or Feb. through the end of June or early July. After that, I might as well yank out those plants and toss them on the compost pile because they're toast. Last year, the tomatoes in containers did somewhat better than they usually do....but we had much higher than average rainfall and much more rain/clouds/cool weather than we see in an average summer. I'm looking for plants that perform best in the worst of conditions, not the best ones, because more often than not, we get the worst conditions every July and August. In containers, I plant tomatoes that can tolerate the heat and the restriction of their root growth and still perform. That means I often grow tomatoes in containers that I don't consider 'good enough' to plant into the ground....stuff like Better Bush and Husky Red Cherry. I can't speak for anyone else, but I'm just at the point that I want what produces best for us here, and I don't want to keep looking for something 'better' because I don't think there is anything out there that's really that much better than our tried and true varieties that make our grow list most years. For a long time, I gardened for fun....trying any and every thing that interested me. We ate all we wanted fresh and gave tons away and didn't care if we put up much for the non-gardening season or not. In recent years, though, I've developed a deeper appreciation for the truly superior flavor of anything/everything that's grown locally and picked/prepared/preserved at its peak of perfection. Thus, I give away little and try to raise as much of our annual food supply as possible. In a good year I fill up three freezers, a root cellar and manage to can 2 or 3 or 4 hundred jars of 'stuff'. Since that is what is important to me now, I want plants that produce well, that provide tasty food we like and that are not prima donnas requiring a lot of pampering. Thus, I'm less inclined to experiment and more inclined to plant what produces really well with little fuss. In a lot of ways, the 'experimentation years' were a lot more fun, but the farm-garden-preserving years have been much more productive. Now my family is spoiled and I must produce as much home-grown food as possible because they don't like grocery store stuff as much as they used to. Even DS's firestation co-workers prefer fresh, home-grown and I'm going to try to plant a lot more for them next year so I can send them all the tomatoes, peppers and other yuummy things they're craving. There just isn't room, or enough improved soil, to experiment with varieties now as there used to be. I don't mind that, really, because as long as what I'm growing is producing well, I've gotten over thinking there are incredible varieties out there just waiting for me to find them. Megan, Black Plum grew very well for me for a long time and then for 2 or 3 years it didn't and I dropped it. It is odd how that happens....and I loved Coyote too. If my garden were twice as large as it is, I'd bring it back to the grow list. So many varieties, so little time (and improved soil). The tomatoes I grow from seed invariably outperform storebought ones and I don't know why, but I've seen it enough years to know it is true. Dawn
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bart1
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Carolyn -
Any chance you'll fill some of us in on this statement:

How I hate it when someone changes the name of a variety, or says it's rare when it's not, and______________ at_____________ is one who does it constantly with many varieties.( smile)

Carolyn
>>>>>>

I'd like to avoid varieties and companies who do this.

Thanks,
Bart
foose4string
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Abe Lincoln
Beef Master
Better Boy
Big Beef
Brandy Boy
Celebrity
Cherokee Purple
Early Girl
German Johnson
Marianna's Peace
Pink Russian
Porterhouse
Prudens Purple
Roma VFN
Summer Salsa
Supersteak
Super Sweet 100

Pink Russian, German Johnson, Abe Lincoln, Prudens Purple, Fresh Salsa, Super Sweet 100, and Porterhouse are all first timers for me. I always experiment with a few heirlooms every year and seldom grow the same heirloom variety 2 years in a row. I can't seem to break away from some of the popular hybrids year after year... Brandy Boy, Big Beef, Early Girl, Supersteak. Reliable, disease resistant,and productive. The people I give seedlings to generally seem happier with them too.
foose4string
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I couldn't help myself. After reading everyone's list and realizing my addiction is pale in comparison to many here, I decide to add a few more this evening. Already had the seeds, they aren't getting any younger, so figured I might as well start them. :)

Added:

Aker's West Virginia
Box Car Willie
Brandywine Sudduth's
Buck's County Hybrid
Maryland Large Red
Mortgage Lifter
lantanascape
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I got mine into flats Sunday night. Somehow I failed to order Black Cherry, it was supposed to be on the list. Grrr...

So I think I'll end up planting out 16 plants, which is pretty good, considering we're still in the middle of moving into our new house. Luckily, it already has a big raised bed.

Grow list:

Isis Candy
Japanese Black Trifele
Ananas Noir
Opalka (4)
Amish Paste (4)
Black from Tula
Earl's Faux
Kellogg's Breakfast
Principe Borghese
Stupice

I'm thinking this should give me a nice mixture of fresh, canners, drying tomatoes, and an early for that July 4 tomato to kick off the season. Might have to look around for a red or black cherry to complement the Isis, though.
aclum
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Hi,

Here's my list for 2010 (* means new to me this year or grown before but due to unfortunate circumstances never got fruit from them):

Goose Creek*
Wes*
Brandywine OTV
Pru*
Dona Hybrid
San Marzano 2
Andrew Rahardt Jumbo Red*
Odoriko
Pruden's Purple
Eva Purple Ball
Paul Robeson*
Indian Stripe*
Gary'O Sena*
Black from Tula
Carbon
Lucky Cross*
Marvel Striped
KBX*
Aunt Gerties Gold*

Lots of new to me tomatoes this year. Looking forward to a great season and the opportunity to try some of the new ones!

Anne
lantanascape
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Ha! I received a seed order from PineTree today that I don't even remember ordering, and it had my Black Cherry seeds in it. Maybe I'm not as dense as I thought. =) So I guess I'll have 17 plants this year - that's nothing for many of you, but a new record for me.
sue_ct
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
KBX
Kellogg's Breakfast
Brandywine Sudduth
Cherokee Purple
Cherokee Green
Mortgage Lifter, Estlers
Paul Robeson
Early Girl
Grape
Ildi or Sungold
Sweet 100

the question is WHERE I will put 11 plants since my garden only has room for about 7. I see some large pots in my future. :)
californian
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Here is an updated list of what I will be growing. I added four more varieties to my previous list. I have $90 invested in seed alone this year so have been selling tomato plants to try to recoup part of costs of my hobby.

Neves Azorean red
Carbon
Paul Robeson
Nyagous
Cherokee Purple
Marianna's Peace
Black Krim
Pink Brandywine
Opalka
Sun Gold Cherry
Black Cherry
Supersweet 100 Cherry
Chadwick Cherry
Fox Cherry
Yellow Perfection
Matina
Moneymaker
Ace 55 VF
Henderson's Pink Ponderosa (free seed, only one sprouted)
Isis Candy
Ildi
Jaune Flamme
Peron Sprayless
gardenathome
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Impressive lists. Many varieties we have not even heard of. Where can seed packets for the infamous Brandywine Sudduth's be found? I've been to HD recently but have not found any. Are all these ordered online? Our family just LOVES tomatoes and we'd like to be more adventurous in choosing rare tomatoes to grow in our garden for the 1st year! :-)
mya_
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
This is what I'm growing this year.

Black Cherry
Gardener's Delight
Green Grape
Isis Candy
Sungold
Opalka
Paul Robeson
Marianna's Peace
Brandywine (Sudduth)
Giant Belgium
Aunt Gertie's Gold
Aunt Ruby's German Green
Aunt Ginny's Purple
Eva Purple Ball
Indian Stripe
Black Krim
Green Zebra
Hillbilly
Henderson's Pink Ponderosa - freebie
Early Wonder - Freebie

This will be my first time with all the varieties. I've grown Brandywine before, but want to see if the Sudduth strain is any different.
highalttransplant
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
My tomatoes were wintersown a couple of weeks ago. Here's what I'm growing:

Amish Paste
Black from Tula
Brown Berry
Caspian Pink
Cherokee Chocolate
Earl's Faux (one of my favorites last year)
Giant Belgium
Gold Medal
Hillbilly
Indian Stripe (the only other one that is a repeat from last year)
Lancaster Pink
Marianna's Peace
Neves Azorean Red
Rainy's Maltese
Soldacki
Striped German

Never mind the fact that I only have room for 8 plants in the garden, and another two in an Earthbox, LOL. I plan to rent a plot at the community garden again this year, so the rest will go there. Any extras will be given away to friends and neighbors.

Bonnie
aubade
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
These lists are amazing! I have just a little garden, and can only grow four tomato plants. I'm buying them from chileplants.com, which has far too many choices! I've narrowed it down greatly, but still can't decide. If anybody would like to help me out with some recommendations, please do!

I don't like big tomatoes that crack or have a lot of seeds, so I want to grow two medium size and two cherries. Obviously, since I have so little room, the more prolific the plant the better.

1. Choose one of these for a red medium:
Rutgers or Ramapo or Stupice or Early Girl

2. Choose one of these for a second medium:
Snowstorm (exotic!) or San Marzano (a bit boring)

3. My definite small size:
Grape (red oval cherry)

4. Choose one of these for the other small size:
Black Cherry or SunSugar or SunGold
bigdaddyj
Original Author
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
aubade, I will throw my two pennies in:

Red Medium:

My pick: Big Beef
Your pick: Stupice is small not medium, Early Girl is nearly flavorless. Go with your other choices there.

My Pick for Second Medium: San Marzano is a plum tomato. I know nothing of Snowstorm. I'd go with Nepal or the REAL Red Brandywine.

My #1 tiny: SunGold

Second tiny: Black Cherry
tomatomanic
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Here's my list

Holdovers

Cherokee Purple
Black From Tula
Stupice

New:
TGS Brandywine Sample Pack--includes Brandywine OTV, Pink Brandywine (Sudduth's Strain), Red Brandywine (Landis Valley), Yellow Brandywine (Platfoot Strain). (BTW, I grew a potato leaf brandywine from Cook's Garden last year--any idea what that was?)

Paul Robeson
Hillbilly
Marianna's Peace
Kosovo
Random Commercial seed from friend in Macedonia
Aunt Gertie's Gold
Sungold
Reisentraube
Grandma Mary's Paste

Are there any glaring omissions here that I should remedy?
jwr6404
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I can finally make a list as my seedlings have progressed to the stage that they can be transplanted to their garden spots. I have 52 plants,need only 15,don't know what I will do with the balance.This year tomatos will be

Barnes Mountain Yellow
Brandy Boy
Earls Faux(2ea)
Chapman
Cuostralee
Stump of the World(favorite)
Neves Azorean Red
Rostova
Porterhouse
Anna Russian
Matina
Sungold
Gajo de Melon
Currant
cca714
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Thank you for the great discussion. It helped me to choose to plant:
Black Krim
Marianna's Peace
Momotaro
Paul Robeson
Rostova or whatever the Fullerton Arboretum is growing under Sunset's Red Horizon
Snow White
Sun Gold
plus some volunteers.
aubade
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Thanks bigdaddj. I made a final decision today - after I decided to nix two edamame plants I was going to grow as a test and instead, grow two more tomatoes. haha

My final list:

Rutgers
Snowstorm
San Marzano
Grape
Black Cherry
AND
SunGold
treeshaker
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
am trying some new ones this year--does anyone know anything about--FIREWORKS-SUPER SAN MARZANO-CARMELLO-SOLAR FIRE-BRANDYWINE heirloom?? found these online --thought what the heck--tryem once.
tn_veggie_gardner
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Ok, who here isn't growing Sungold or Sungold Sellect II? ;-)
jongy
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I started the seeds for 20 plants just last week.

Anna Russian 2x
Box Car Willie 3x
Black Cherry 1x
Brandywine Red 3x
Cherokee Purple 2x
Giant Belgium 1x
Isis Candy 1x
Kellogg's Breakfast 2x
Neves Azorean Red 3x
Stupice 2x
sprtsguy76
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Steve, I'm not growing SG or SS, not cause i dont like them I just wanted to try some new stuff. I'm all planted finally, here is my list.

kosovo
german red strawberry
aunt gerties gold
green doctors
paul robeson
danko
new big dwarf
yellow brandywine
sudduth brandywine
wes
evans purple pear
berkely tie dye heart
druzba
nar
ludmilla's pink heart
japanesse black trifiele
bronze
goose creek
bulgarian triumph
8 homemade cross growouts
purple russian
big sun gold select (or something like that,lol)

Damon
lantanascape
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I love reading everyone's lists. They make me want to grow more, though! I am dying to try Neves Azorean Red, Hillybilly, Pineapple, Aunt Gertie's Gold, Aunt Ruby's German Green, Marianna's Peace, Stump of the World, Carbon, and I grew Paul Robeson once and would love to again, not to mention feeling sad about not having a Sungold plant. I think I know now why that tomato variety is named Sophie's Choice - it is so hard to keep the list whittled down each year. It is like choosing between my children! Well not really, but this is the only place where everyone understands!
mrs.b_in_wy
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Last night, I sowed these 19 varieties:

Alpine
Arkansas Traveler
Banjan Roomii
Black Cherry
Bloody Butcher
Caspian Pink
Cherokee Purple
Heidi
Murhurlu
Opalka
Oxheart
Rio Fuego
Romeo Roma
Rutgers
San Marzano
San Marzano Redorta
Sun Gold (F1)
Super Marmande
Super Sweet 100s

I might be able to find room for 6 more. I have seeds for these:

Aurega
Beefsteak
Garden Peach
Medford
Striped Stuffer
Roma VF
WinterSown's Blend :)

And I'm expecting seeds for these from trades:

Amish Paste
Big Rainbow
Black from Tula
Ceylon
Copia
Egg Yolk
Japanese Black Trifele
Marglobe
Marianna's Peace
Rose
Stupice
Wes
Wuhib
Zapotec

How on earth will I ever decide which 6? :)
dave1mn2
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I moved to another wooded lot and have no place for in-ground yet, so just 16 plants, all in pots. A smaller list than usual and none new. Letting a few days of storms pass and then these will be going to their spots, hoping for no late freezes.

Lucky Cross
Indian Stripe
Missouri Pink Love Apple
Brandywine OTV
Gardener's Delight
Carbon
Sunset Red Horizon
Black Cherry
Yellow Pear
Sprite
Jet Star
Lemmon Boy
Red Robin
dragonfly_wings
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I am so new to growing tomatoes/veggies I still have that newbie smell. So I'm only growing a handful of varieties (and only ONE of each) and have a few questions if any of you more experienced folks would be so kind.

First I'm just curious why everyone here grows so many varieties? I can understand the love for fresh tomatoes, the fun of growing them and exploring new varieties, but am just curious what HAPPENS to all of them at harvest? What are you doing with the ones you don't consume?

The other question is about varieties. I'm curious if people find the heirlooms tastier than the hybrids? For instance, regarding cherry tomatoes, is there a substantial difference between the taste/other qualities of the Black Cherry vs. the Juliet?

I'm growing three hybrids and one heirloom for this, my first season, and would appreciate hearing about your experiences with them if you've grown them before.

Juliet
Husky Cherry Red
Patio (det)
Mortgage Lifter

Thanks!
I can see I'll be learning a lot here in this forum.
dave1mn2
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
~~~ First I'm just curious why everyone here grows so many varieties? I can understand the love for fresh tomatoes, the fun of growing them and exploring new varieties, but am just curious what HAPPENS to all of them at harvest? What are you doing with the ones you don't consume? ~~~

When I confess to being a tomato nut, I compare it to being interested in wine. Some explore different flavors and know quite a bit about the how, why and where of the vintner's craft. They have tasting parties and will spend money and time on their hobby. Same thing once you discover there are tomato choices that have material differences to what is generally available at the market. The excess is not usually difficult to deal with. Friends, neighbors, coworkers, various forms of preservation. Other than the counter space needed, practically a non issue.

~~~ I'm curious if people find the heirlooms tastier than the hybrids? ~~~

I grow a couple hybrids for the combination of taste and reliability. I grow heirlooms for taste, that can't be had any other way.

If you're going to grow from seed, there is not much of a cost barrier to try a new variety.

~~~ I'm growing three hybrids and one heirloom for this, my first season, and would appreciate hearing about your experiences with them if you've grown them before. ~~~

I've grown Mortgage lifter. Its a very fine tomato. Large, prolific and tasty. I've grown a couple of the "Husky" plants and the plants are very nice, but the fruits didn't do much for me. Never grown patio but I do grow Red Robin. It isn't the best tasting cherry I've ever eaten but far from the worst and its cool to have a dwarf plant that fits right on your picnic table. Grows in sunny window in winter too.
allrawpaul
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
These were supremely delicious in my garden and will be grown every year:
purple russian
halley's purple comet
delicious
blondkopfchen
granny cantrells german
galina's
These were very good, productive earlies in my garden and will be grown most years:
lemon boy
taxi
burstyn
matina
These are new this year:
brandy boy
brandywine black, reg and potato
brandywine cowlick
goliath, reg and bush
bear claw
egg yolk
carbon(2nd try)
paul robeson
neves azorean(2nd try)
sungold
peacevine
guernsey island pink
toms yellow wonder
cherokee chocolate
agatha
black and red boar
siberian
azoychka
german queen
depps pink firefly
geeboss
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Santa F2
Santa F3
Super Sweet 100
Yellow Submarine
Brandy Boy
Cowlick Brandywine
Limbaugh Legacy PL
Polish Ellis
Red Penna
German Queen
Chapman
Cuostralee
Momotaro
Mule Team
Goose Creek
Toedebush Pink
Top Sirloin
Big Zac
Porterhouse0
NAR
Donskoi
Kosovo
Yellow Brandywine
Tom's Yellow Wonder
Rose Beauty
Pork Chop
Summer Cider
Lucky Cross
VA Sweet
Beauty King
Indian Stripe
Spudakee
JD Special C Tex
Cherokee Green
Jersey Devil
San Marzano
Opalka
Rio Grande
New Big Dwarf
Demidov
Lucky Leprechaun
Citron
Golden Dwarf Champion
Sophie's Choice
ianna
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Out of curiousity, how many of each plant do each of you grow? And do any of you practice container gardening?
bbrush
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
holy cow some of you obviously like your toms, my feeble list

5 X Sungold
2 X Gardeners delight
1 X red berry
2 X Marmande
bbrush
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
ianna I am restricted to containers, half are grown in containers with soil the other half are hydroponically ( grown in large containers with 3 aquarium airstones)
soleilmama
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Wow! Those are some incredible lists!!! I want to come to your tomato tasting parties ;-).

This year I am pregnant and so not taking on as much as I wanted to.
*have grown before

*Cherokee Purple--my fave so far(9)
San Marzano(8)
Kransnodor (sp?) Titan(3)
Longkeeper(3)
*sungold (1)
*early girl(1)
star_stuff
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Ooooh... Slo, Miesenbacher, and Cozy, yours sound like very rare varieties! I need to do some research!

I am restricted to containers, and only one of each:

Big Beef
Black
Black Krim
Husky Red
Stupice
Sungold
Sweet Million
Tumbling Tom

But I have some great varieties for next year (thanks Ray!).
bigdaddyj
Original Author
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
OK, thanx to some last minute swapping and starting here's my FINAL list. I promise! Really! For Sure! LOL

New varieties

1. OSU Blue
2. Hege German Pink
3. Granny Cantrells German PL
4. Cowlicks Brandywine
5. Claude Browns Yellow Giant
6. Orange Minsk
7. Goose Creek
8. Spudakee Purple
9. Vorlon
10. Danas Dusky Rose

Old Must Grows:

Sudduth Brandywine
Brandy Boy
Gary O Sena
KBX
Momotaro
Big Beef
Sun Gold
Big Zac (Germination failure)
Porterhouse
Mariannas Peace

Juliet for baseball batting practice
geeboss
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Mine are grown in Self Watering Containers and by end of July my backyard is a jungle. I'm growing one of each with the exception of Cherokee Green and Cowlick Brandywine, 2 each.

George
dragonfly_wings
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
dave1mn2,

Thank you so much for your response. The discussions in this forum do seem a lot like what you might hear among wine connoisseurs! And I'm grateful to be able to eavesdrop. I will likely get more adventurous as my experience increases. I'm sure my little list of status quo tomatoes must seem about as boring as they come...the 'Gallo wine' of tomatoes.
Bigdaddyj is even using his Juliet for "batting practice"!
I expect I'll have a bit more admiration and reverence for mine since they will be like a first child...and without comparisons. But I also expect I'll have MANY children in the future that will be my heirlooms.
bigdaddyj
Original Author
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
dragonfly, Juliet is super for batting practice. They curve real well. They are small. You gotta keep your eyes on them. They don't smoosh too bad when you hit them. Also, the plant is prolific. Simply loads and loads of them to fill my bucket and trot out to the mound...;-)

Got plenty other varieties to actually eat! LOL
dave1mn2
14 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Dragonfly,

Don't sweat it. We all gotta start somewhere and if your husky is anything like the huskys I grew, they should be trouble free and help with getting you off to a successful start. Sounds like you'll have plenty of fun. There will be frustrations too but hopefully, lots o fun.

Hope your Mortgage Lifters do well for you, I'm betting by seasons end, they are your new favorite for taste. Then next year, you can try another couple new varieties and compare. If you have a successful season and choose new varieties carefully, its not unusual to find a new fav every year or so :-)

There are so many, it can never end, though its going to have to be pretty fine tomato to beat Lucky Cross from my list but I've said that before about others ... Several times :-)
jon_z6b
13 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
It's a little late for a list, but good info to plan for next year. I'm growing 14 varieties this year (6 from last year and 8 new)- so that immediately makes me an expert:) I'm trying to find the best variety for my area (and then I will reduce that number). Right now it looks like Kentucky Beefsteak (which was sent as a bonus pack), is the healthiest most vigorous tomato I have, with Cherokee Purple close behind. I'm liable to change my opinion later in the season....
kterlep
13 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I vote for your German Johnson Pink...It's one of my favorites...
why...let's see...for me, it's more productive than a Brandywine, but big, firm, and with a good flavor. Whenever I see one ripe on the vine I immediately drool and go fry some (turkey) bacon. :)

Kate
pastor_steve
13 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
My garden's just over 2/3rds in, and so far everything's looking good. With a major thunderstorm rolling through last night, planting's on hold for at least the next four or five days. But... PTL!... the tomatoes are in, and survived the first heavy rain & wind!

So... without further adieu, here's the list of seedlings in the ground and growing:

Stupice: 1
Better Boy: 10
Golden Girl: 8
Opalka: 5
Brandywine: 3
Brandy Boy: 2
Powers Heirloom: 2
Hillbilly: 3
San Marzano: 1
Mortgage Lifter: 3
Black Krim: 1
Wisconsin 55: 2
Cream Sausage: 1
German Pink: 2

Total: 44 plants / 14 types

This year finished up my seed "stockpile", and some was old enough the germination wasn't good, so the end mix was different than planned... but that's just the way it always works out for me. I'm going to be watching close and try my hand at saving some seed on the successful heirlooms, but mainly going for all new seed next spring. Also, planning on using "Florida Weave" this year... the cheap round "cages" I've used and bent and mended for the last three years are being put where they belong... and I'm glad to see 'em go! Oh if I had a rich uncle go on to his reward and leave me enough $$ I'd love to buy about 50 Texas cages... but I'll just dream about it 'till it happens...
platys
13 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I have 13 varieties.

1. Sun Gold
2. Black from Tula
3. Japanese Black Triefle
4. Blue Fruit
5. Paul Robeson
6. Zogola
7. Zapotec
8. Hawaiian Pineapple (although I might need to add another orange, if its low yielding - people loved my orange jubilee hybrid I had last year.)
9. Great White
10. Opalka
11. Stupice
12. Berkeley Tie Dye
13. Amish Paste

I lived in apartment this spring with 3 crazy cats, so I couldn't start from seed. A bunch of these came via Craigslist, in particular, a super nice guy who threw in some extra varieties I hadn't even considered (Great White, for example). The rest came from Laurel's.

We move into our house at the end of the month, which includes a mini greenhouse and grow lights, so I'll be able to start from seed next year.
buttercupia
13 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
I have just completed my list and plan to plant tomorrow or soon, as the warm weather is beginning to settle in. Here are my pics for the coming season:

Brandywine- the flavor is worth the wait

Delicious- big and delicious. A meal in a slice.. to eat on a plate with a fork, steak knife and a salt shaker.

Beefsteak- another good eating type

Mortgage Lifter- steady, prolific and good

Box Car Willie- Chef Jeff says it's named after Willie Nelson, but I remember reading in this forum that someone was a neighbor to Box Car Willie in Arkansas and that it was named after him.

Carnival- Sounds like fun

Caspian Pink- Remember it had a good taste.

Roma- to make sauce and paste and can whole, peeled.

That's about it. I like to grow a variety of my favorites-one to three of each- so if one or two types have a bad year, there will be others that will hopefully fill the gap. Now I have to put the tags on the cages so they don't get lost in the soil around the plant.

Hoping to stay one step ahead of the blight and get a good productive year. Any suggestions to beat the blight?
flower71
13 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
Oh, this is such an old thread... but at least I won't be the only one still posting in it! I was gifted a Sungold and a Brandywine (no idea which version) from a friend years ago, stuck them in a patch I dug out of the front yard... and they were amazing! I haven't been able to bear to eat grocery-store tomatoes since. But the intervening years have been focused on other things; my one attempt at gardening 3 years ago was a failure when I didn't find time to water (or weed) anything for three weeks at the end of June.

Anyway, this year I finally have the right mix of time and space so I spent the winter reading up and dreaming, and... well, let's just say my family and local food shelf will have lots of tomatoes in August...

Most seeds from SandHill, but the Sungold Select II and Green Zebra from Bakers Creek, and a handful are from cherrygal.com

Cherry Types
Blondkopfchen
Sungold Select II (soooo excited to have snagged these!)
Black Cherry
Green Doctors
Snow White Cherry (gift from SandHill)
Hawaiian
Mexican Cocktail

"Regular" (I can never keep the beefsteak/medium/etc apart in my head)
Brandywine, Sudduths
Gogosha
Green Zebra
Black Krim
Black Sea Man
Rosabec
Purple Calabash (gift from SandHill)
Lucky Cross
Potato Leaf

"Other"
Riesentraube (we'll see what tomato wine tastes like...)
Yellow Pygmy
Costulato Genovese

When I got the two extra varieties from SandHill, I couldn't decide whether to jump up and down for joy (yay, two more flavors to try!) or despair - I spent weeks choosing my list, how could I fit 2 more?? But I decided joy was the right reaction. :) I'm sure it'll be more than a jungle in the yard this summer, but it'll be an edible jungle... and I have never been so grateful for the half-acre lot we have as this year. :)

Good thing my husband is here to talk me out of cutting down our trees so I can have even more sunlight...

Unfortunately, the cutworms have already been busy - but fortunately, although I only planned to grow 2 plants of each variety, I actually PLANTED 7-10 seeds... and almost all of them came up...and then I couldn't bear to cull since they all looked so healthy... so I ended up with lots of seedlings to give away. :) And to replace cutworm-killed plants. And then to give away some more! And still have replacements on hand in case my popsicle sticks don't do the trick with the cutworms...

I'm just lucky Minnesota had an incredibly early and mild spring, my seedlings have been outside since the first week of March (with short breaks inside overnight until April) - there was no way I had enough grow-lights or space in the basement for them all!

The seeds that I saved from those unknown Brandywines years ago still germinated three years later, so I'm really hoping to increase my seed from every one of these varieties this summer. Just need to cross my fingers and toes that I can get at least one tomato of each variety to survive and ripen enough to collect their seeds! Watching the cutworm decimation last week made me doubt I'll have luck that good, but hope springs eternal...
alpinejs
13 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
These lists are great, but let me pose a hypothetical.....

IF, for the next ten years, you were restricted to only six
varieties at no more than four plants each, what would then
be your choices?

I would have started a new thread with that question, but
didn't know how.
bigdaddyj
Original Author
13 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
This post is OLD! I now have my 2011 list ready:

Orange Minsk
Liz Birt
Indian Stripe
Mrs Benson
Bear Creek
Amazon Chocolate PL
Pink Berkley Tie Dye
Claude Brown Yellow Giant
Tarasenko6
Couilles de Taureau
Barlow Jap
JDï¿½s Special Tex C Whatever Black
Terhune
KBX
Cowlick's Brandywine
Gary O Sena
Dana's Dusky Rose
Granny Cantrell PL
Claude Brown NOT Yellow Giant
Marianna's Peace
Spudakee Purple
Big Zac
Sun Gold
alpinejs
13 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
My list is rather puny compared to most of you. I primarily
raise seedlings for sale.
Brandywine
Boxcar Willie
Giant Belgium
Beefsteak
Abe Lincoln

In addition to these, for home use, I grow:
EarlsFaux
Stump of the World
Cherokee Purple
Black Krim
Kosovo

Black Cherry
Sungold
Cowlicks

These will be for my Canadian crop and I will likely
add/delete for my San Diego winter crop to savor new tastes
I am increasing my container size this year to compare
results. Unfortunately, the weather won't be a consistent
factor. I am attempting, through starting seeds here in
San Diego, eventually moving to a hot house in Canada
and then to containers, to get a jump start on a short
season. Wish me luck..
ArtistAvanycity
13 years ago
last modified: 9 years ago
so far out in greenhouse with 2 sets of leaves - Sweetie, Yel Pear , San Marzano, Nyagous

under lights and on heat - Black Krim , Stupice ( i finally found a few seeds yay! ) , Big Rainbow , Brandywine and Paul Robeson if I can get him ....

my question is .. could someone PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE send me some Siberian seeds ? seems a fat basement mouse ate mine ... and my beautiful hot greenhouse( well painstakingly erected 10foot by 10 foot backyard green TENT ) environment is going entirely to waste ... I'm so used to having tomatoes in HAND by early June ;( Thanks ! Avany@nyc.rr.com

Really appreciate Ur help !

Anyone Have Their 2010 Tomato Grow List Ready Yet?

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