Here is a previous thread with pics that may help. IME with them they are like dickie said - BIG and TALL. Google Images has many different pics of them. Dave Here is a link that might be useful: San Marzano Redorta

Although not in the Bay area, San Marzano has disappointed me for years. I vowed that this would be the last year of trying... In the past, the plants have looked bad and although the fruit tastes wonderful, the yield has been low as well. My garden is not huge and there are so many varieties to try... I am now growing SM 3. When I started the seeds, I had little faith but the seedlings were attention getting. I prepared for failure and only planted one plant, but I have to say it looks GREAT!! It has more fruit then any other variety, in my garden so far this year. A friend, that I gave seedlings (SM and SM Redorta and SM 2) to in the past, plants his in well protected areas and said that when we had a late frost, the SM plant was the best he's seen. Perhaps SM is too wussy for my garden environment, but I am surprised daily at the health and vigor of the SM 3. I'll share seeds in a few months. Email me if interested.

One of the best sauces we've made was when we add in some of our sweet frying peppers. It adds a bit more depth and a touch of sweetness. Here's a small batch getting started (mostly trying to clear counter space and make sure nothing went bad rather than making to freeze): Big Daddy Pepper, 1 or 2 Striped Romans, some Extreme Bushes, a couple small Cherokee Purple (counter ripened because they got knocked off), and Scallions Chocolate Cherry and Shimmer joined the party Gotta have herbs! Looks like sage, rosemary, oregano, and thyme in this one; parsley may have hopped in later with the salt and pepper, but I didn't take more progress pictures. And this is what actually made it to the fridge (cooked, strained, and partially used up):

thank you guys so much for the advice and tips! i have been gardening for 25 years...and cant believe i never heard of this heirloom business before. i guess up north here, the hybrids are more sought after because of their low maintenance qualities. the fun thing is that you never learn it "all", you know? always something that could be improved or changed...or learned. i will try those methods next fall dave, very interesting. i roast the scapes from my garlic, so i could probably just roast everything at once. if you havent ever tried...garlic scapes are incredible. i dehydrate mine, break em into half inch pieces and throw them in soups and dishes all winter. id grow the garlic just for the scape itself...seriously. kind of a cross between a green onion and garlic. oxhearts will probably be the thing i grow the most of next spring, as i have several kinds of seeds. anna russian, petit cuor di boeuf, cuor di bue. the paul robeson...its a black tomato, and i dont really know if it is an oxheart or beefsteak. same with the japanese black trifele. the trifele kind of looked like a mini eggplant in the pictures. the anna russian seems to bring alot of praise. what i really need/want...and didnt exactly get this season is yield. although the plants looked decent...i most likely had them too close together and they fought for nutrients. the costolutos looked like they would set a ton...but really no size to the fruit. small tangerines maybe. the redorta did better than the rest...but i want something at least twice as prolific. as a example...all we have harvested from 15 redorta and about 12 costoluto made 13 quart of sauce. i was hoping for enough to make all the sauce we needed, plus maybe try homemade ketchup as i heard it is awesome. not gonna happen, will be lucky to get one more batch of sauce (usually 6-7 quart per batch) "We put up 100+ pints and lots of freezer bags full of sauce and are still working through them" wow! LOL! i would be in sauce heaven farm girl! brian