my neighbor put in Ramapos, so we will be trading back and forth so I can get some "red" ones from her for color!

A

"never leave home without your CF BFF phone numbers in your cell phone"

Over half my entries are CF members!!!! How many have I called to ask for help in the middle of the supermarket when I wanted a recipe, or called to see how he survived the latest ice storm.

You'll be happy with the Yellow Pear. We have planted it for about 8 years, and it is delicious, prolific, and neighbors line up to get some!
We've never grown Russian Black Krim, but posters on another forum rate it highly.

I am in NYC, about the same climate zone as you are. I started seeds early. I am already getting ripe ones now.

I never had luck with Aunt Rubys, but have done well with other GWR types.
Green Zebra always have problems with BER.

Next season you may want to try starting earlier and have a few early season varieties.

dcarch

I'm sure you'll be happy with all of them. Just being able to go out and grab and eat a ripe tomato is one of life's great pleasures. Even my grandchildren love them off the vine.

We will have to compare notes on the Black Crim. I have one plant. I also have one that I think was called Snow White and a couple of cherry sized tomatoes. That's the extent of my garden other than herbs. There is just no room here for a real garden.

I hope this year is a good tomato year, I really need to can a bunch. Thankfully there are many local farms close.

I've had the yellow pear and green zebra ....those are both good. Pretty in salads.

Nancy

I love the Black Krim. They grew well last year so I have four more of them to go into the ground this year. It hasn't been warm enough here to plant so mine are still in the little mini hot house.

I also have a few other varieties, 13 plants in total.

Ann

Black Krim is a nice tasting tomato. Annie said she didn't care for Brown Berry, but I've never grown it. Aunt Ruby's German Green is very good although you might not get a lot of production, at least that was the case the one year I grew it.

Yellow Pear has a well known rep for being bland. But it's been around since Jefferson or longer and there are likely more than a few strains out there. About ten years ago a co-worker brought a huge bowl in to work and I ate them all in a couple of hours. There were delicious. I grew them and found them bland...so your mileage may vary.

With all that being said any homegrown tomato is a million times better than any store bought 'mater. Enjoy your garden and I hope the fruits of your bounty are plentiful!

Duane

I've grown Black Krim successfully and liked them, and I've also done well with Aunt Ruby's German Green, as soon as I figured out how to tell it was ripe. Also had BER problems with Green Zebra.

I've grown yellow pear but gave it up in favor of SunGold, and I only need two cherry tomato plants, they are so prolific. I wasn't too excited over Brown Berry.

I like a variety of colors for a plate or salad of tomatoes, but I like a bunch at once for canning and Rutgers tolerates our short growing season and sometimes cool nights very well.

Be aware that with heirlooms they are often/mostly indeterminates. That makes them BIG plants, they'll need staking or caging. I've had Cherokee Purple grow taller than my head, but I'm 5'1" so it can get bigger than that. Be prepared...

This year I planted 60 Rutgers for canning, one Big Rainbow, one Taxi, two SunGold, a Cherokee Purple and Tigerella (also called Mr. Stripey). We'll see how they do, last year everything got hit with late blight.

Annie

Having had NO luck with tomatoes since we moved to the woods, I am trying a new strategy this year. I bought a bunch of 23 gallon tubs and planted veg's in them. Put them in front of the garage where they will get a lot of sun.

I have just a few tomato plants, I'll still have to buy canning tomatoes from the farmers market, oh well.

Here's what tomatoes I have going this season:

Purple Dog Creek
Pink Brandywine
Yellow Pear

I have a tub of green beans, a couple of cucumber plants, a couple of Delicata squash plants and three smaller pots of various peppers, green, red and jalapeno.

Hope this plan works!

Linda

Annie,

Tomatoes such as Rutgers, which were developed for processing, can be among the tastiest for fresh eating. You may like them as well or better than some of the others you are growing.

Jim

Jim, I've grown Rutgers or Bonny Best nearly all my life, that's what Dad always liked and what did well, so I like them as well as I like anything else, better than a lot of others. I just like some cherry tomatoes to take to work for snacks and some yellow and purple for different colors. Nothing makes a better tomato sandwich than a Rutgers, in my opinion. I use them for everything, even homecanned tomato sauce and catsup, although I was told by a certain guy on Harvest that they were too juicy and I was just stupid, I should grow Roma, they were the ONLY type worth turning into sauce. Um, yeah, well, you can guess how that conversation went.

I keep trying the Cherokees and they are OK, but I get three or four and the vines are done, I think my growing season just is not long enough, but I never give up. I'm relatively persistent. (grin)

My favorite for flavor, besides Sungold, is Taxi, and I've never grown Big Rainbow so I just had to try it.

Annie

Well THANKS! I really appreciate all the feedback and it is so much fun to read what people I *know* are growing or have grown. Annie is right - the Tomato Forum is scary! LOL!

I am going to keep my fingers crossed and do the best I can with the ones I have.

Thanks again everyone and lets keep updating each other on the results. This might even become a worth FAQ entry for growing the most worthy tomatoes according to the COOKING FORUM!

Alexa

Annie1992, I can't believe a guy on Harvest forum told you that you were stupid for loving Rutgers. How crude and rude. I hope others jumped in to put him down. No matter what one's own opinions are, they are no excuse to act like that. I'm a regular on Harvest and if I'd seen that post, I would have said something about it, but not rudely like that person.

I am planting Rutgers this year because so many people love them. I am growning 12 different types of tomatoes this year including five different colors of cherries. People's tastes vary so what may be loved by some are just so-so to others. That's okay with me. I will try any at least once. Black Krim is my tops, but I'm really looking forward to the Kellogg's Breakfast because I've heard of so many people that love them.

Caliloo, enjoy what you plant and if there's anything in there that you aren't that fond of, mix it with others for a sauce or juice. Mixtures bring out such nice delights for the taste buds.

I don't know about the others, but I love German Queens. It is usually large and very mishaped (sp?)and can be a little on the pink side. Some people don't like it because of it's shape. It's acidic which I like and the best thing of all about it is that it's nearly all meat, instead of seeds.

bcskye, I started on Harvest even before I came to Cooking, probably 10 years ago. That particular person is gone, just recently gone within the past few months, so you probably know exactly who I mean. I even got threatening emails from him a few years ago because I said I didn't care for most Roma types, just used my Rutgers or Bonny Best.

I'm afraid I've neglected Harvest badly, I post when I actually have something to can, LOL, which is pretty much July through November here in Michigan.

In fact, Harvest is where I first posted Annie's Salsa and all the time, testing and years it took to get it 'approved" was documented there.

Annie

I don't think the Tomato Forum is scary anymore. Most of the trouble makers left after there was no audience left for their hijinks. One of the members started another forum: T-ville. I cant' type the whole thing out because Gardenweb banned the word because they didn't like folks going over to the new site. Pretty childish IMHO.

Annie, I'm trying Sunsugar this year.....supposed to be like Sungold but sweeter...if you can imagine! There are so many great tomato varieties out there it really is hard to narrow down what to grow sometimes. Years differ from weather and other conditions so some tomatoes like Purple Cherokee may be bland and watery one year and knock-your-socks off another year.

A few I always find delicious year in and year out are: Yellow Brandywine, Sioux, Anna Russian, Russian 117, Polish, Stump of the World, Aunt Gerties Gold, Purple Cherokee, and my fave of last year..Chapman. A big red juicy tomato that was like the energizer bunny....kept going and going and producing long after everything else was pulled and composted. Lots of them in the garden this year. I downscaled a bit and only have 62 plants this year. I few years I was in the 150 range. So far this season looks fantastic....but too early to tell for the long range!

Tomato season is my Christmas and every holiday wrapped up in one. I just love homegrown tomatoes. I hope everyone has a super season this year. It's just a fun hobby for many reasons and to eat the harvest is a delectable end result.

Duane

Out of your list, I've tried Black Krim and Green Zebra. They both did well for us and we were really happy with the flavor. Black Krim was the favorite...last year I got a 14 oz. tomato...unheard of in my short season garden, and the flavor was wonderful. Legend and Stupice were also good.

This year we're also trying Cherokee Purple, Pruden's Purple and Polish Linguisa (paste-type). IF it ever stops raining long enough to get the ground worked up!

I'll second and third the Sungolds. I didn't start any this year and now, after much request, there are two little ones started late. Let us know how you feel about the picks you made when they start producing.

The Tomato Forum isn't too scarey, except this year there seems an abundance of new experts with a lot of contradictory advice. Stick with the old timers and you're safe. Always check out bings thread - his set up is perfection.

It's been a while since I've posted over here. I still lurk occassionally.

Russian Black Krim
Brown Berry
Green Zebra
Aunt Rubys German Green
Yellow Pear
German Queen

I have read nothing but good things about Black Krim & Aunt Ruby's German Green, but I haven't grown them myself. I grew Brown Berry last year and liked them quite well. My only complaint was that it wasn't as prolific as Black Cherry. Yellow Pears are very prolific! They are very cute - not the best tasting but they do make up for it in their production & cuteness. I grew Green Zebras last year, but I think I have to give them another try. I think the seeds I had were cross pollinated with something else. Mine were a murky yellow green that eventually turned an orange-ish color. Not at all how they are depicted. I've never grown German Queen and haven't read anything about them. I'll be interested to see how they turn out.

Becky

I am thanking my stars for the farmers' market....I didn't even get my usual couple of Better Boy plants in the ground this year. Lately there are a couple of growers who have some lovely varieties of tomatoes to sell.
My grandfather took great pride in his tomatoes, and would relish some while refusing to eat other varieties.LOL!

Of the tomatoes on your list, I've grown Black Krim and Yellow Pear, and I concur with what most people have said about them, the Black Krim were delicious and the yellow pears not so delicious. Annie, I gave up growing Romas this year. I've planted them every year thinking that's what you're supposed to grow for sauce, but every year they're mealy textured and flavorless. As DH put it, they're grocery store tomatoes. So this year I'm trying Amish Paste tomatoes. They haven't ripened yet, but I'm hoping they'll be better than Romas. Anything's going to be better than Romas, though.

I'm also growing Cherokee Purple, Juliet (okay, but not great), Carnival, (okay, but not great), Italian Heirloom, Dr. Wyche's Yellow, and a yellow cherry tomato called Blondkopfchen, the last three I'm still waiting for them to ripen. The Dr. Wyche's hasn't produced much, and has been disease ridden, so I don't know what I'll get from it. Can you tell I placed my first order with Seed Savers Exchange this winter? It's been fun growing them from seed, but I ended up with too many plants that actually made it, so I've been tucking them everywhere I can. I've also had some volunteer tomatoes come up. One's a cherry which my grandson just got to sample today.

Sally

Sally, that has exactly been my experience with the Roma types, so I just use my Rutgers and make sauce or catsup. It cooks down a bit longer to get as thick, but the flavor is amazing.

Annie

I'll put Rutgers on my list for next time. We had it at the nursery this year, but since I started so many tomatoes from seed, I didn't buy any, other than the Carnival and the Juliet, mainly out of curiosity, since Carnival has been one of the most requested. I wanted to see why. I still don't know, as I haven't been all that impressed with it.

Sally

I love black cherries. I was not happy that my black cherries didn't looked like black cherries at all this year. At first I thought I had mixed up my labeling of my seedlinhgs, then recently I found out from other forums that, if you had ordered seeds from Bakercreek, you may have gotten wrong seeds.

Please send me your spare black cherries, LOL.

dcarch

Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh! I just ate my first bite of the first Italian Heirloom tomato to ripen. Oh my! If I was a smoker I'd be having a cigarette now. I'll be planting that one again.

Sally

Sally you sound like a tomato... ahhh "lover".

I have a couple ripe Sungolds. The only heirloom would be the Rutgers. No early start for the Rutger just planted a row of seeds.... see what I get. One of those 20 cent seed packs so no loss other then the garden space if I get nothing.

Over in my spot for pets I have an Early Girl and a Roma to keep the Sungold company. Maybe one more pet for the collection but I'm waiting for the nursery plants to go on sale. I keep the pets in a tarped over section of the garden. When I lifted the tarp this year there was a good sized snake den... lots of healthy garter snakes to keep bugs out of the garden. The tarp keeps the weeds out so no chemicals and the soil stays extra warm. I plan to come out money ahead on my garden so I'm careful what I spent on plants... mostly seed. A fine collection of hot peppers going... jalapenos already. Was still 40 degree range at night last week so some risk putting my garden out... my cayenne plant wilted from the cold but seems to have recovered.

I have a pet rabbit again so lots of the best tomato fertilizer on hand. I do think good soil has some to do with flavor.

: )
lyra

The FREAKIN DEER ate the tops off all my tomatoes last night. They also ate the tops off my Jalapenos, Poblanos and Thai hot peppers! I could scream!

I think I still may get a few from the plants... they didnt get the ones INSIDE the cages :-(

Alexa

Alexa...arghhh! One year they pulled all my broccoli and cauliflower. Didn't eat it, just laid it in neat rows. That's why we have a 7 1/2 ft. fence.

Maybe they'll come back. Mice got into my baby starts this year...even the peppers that only had seed leaves left are hanging in there.

We're just setting out tomatoes tomorrow...it'll be awhile before I see a ripe one.