What are your favorite Tomatoes For Texas?
wantonamara Z8 CenTex
8 years ago
last modified: 8 years ago
Featured Answer
Sort by:Oldest
Comments (25)
PKponder TX Z7B
8 years agoRelated Discussions
What's your favorite Heirloom tomato?
Comments (56)We grew about 800 heirloom tomatoes this summer, testing 11 varieties. We sell to several restaurants in the Central Arkansas area and the farmer's market. Our niche is large, great tasting heirloom tomatoes. We need flavor, good size, productivity and a tomato that makes it to ripe with a decent appearance. Our best three without a doubt were Carbon (a big dark red), Goldie ( a large golden, not yellow, high acid tomato and Annis Noir, a tomato that when dead ripe is green with red marbling. A little experience is necessary to know when this French heirloom is perfect but you learn quick and it is a fantastic tomato. I almost forgot, we also were extremely pleased with German Giant--big early flush of huge great tasting red tomatoes then a quick die off. There is a lot of competition growing heirlooms and we find it helps to have a color different from fire engine red and we also have found that small heirlooms are more common that truly large ones. Large is tougher to grow--they cat face and often, not as prolific and sell for more. I agree with Pauln that in the South, Brandywine is a non-productive tomato, one that I don't think taste any better than a Carbon. Other years we have had great luck with Oxxacan Jewell and Mariannas Peace but when we planted in subsequent seasons, they did not come through. These four appear to be great, dependable heirlooms in a very harsh climate....See MoreWhat is your favorite way to preserve Early Girl tomatoes?
Comments (6)Variety doesn't make any difference as the same methods apply to all varieties. So it depends on how you would use them the most. Canned plain tomatoes can be used for any number of recipes so the instructions for canning crushed tomatoes (linked below) is one of the most popular methods. If you'd use more tomato sauce than whole or chopped tomatoes then you can turn any tomato into sauce and using anything other than Romas will deliver a better tasting sauce. Most use a mixture of many different varieties to make sauce for either canning or freezing as it will deliver a far superior flavored sauce. Canning salsa is probably the next most popular method but it can be tricky since it also includes low acid ingredients so only tested and approved recipes can be used for it. Of course you can also freeze them plain and use them for cooking if you don't want to get into canning. Check out all the canning and freezing instructions for them at NCHFP Hope this helps. Dave Here is a link that might be useful: NCHFP - Canning Crushed Tomatoes with no added liquid...See MoreWhat is your favorite Texas wild flower ID book?
Comments (7)That is on of two of the best I have found. I have them both at work and can't recall name of the other author. Great book good price and for me has been worth every penny at full price. The other is wild flowers in the Hill Country so more of the ones I directly encounter in my area. I still use both after 8 year when nailing down specific types that I don't remember off the top of my head and for the growing conditions that that are most often found in which really helps tell me where, when, how I should consider them for domesticated uses. Happy Planting David...See MoreYour Favorite Cherry Tomato: Cherry Tomato Maze
Comments (16)I ended up with a cherry fort - not a maze. The signif other decided to downsize the whole deal... so I ended up with a 10 X 10 area. We were starting with lawn... So I planted a tomato every 6-8 inches. I know inches... I put in: Gajo De Melon Suncherry red star sungold green doctors zebra cherry black cherry snow white Riesentraube OSU Blue Oh heavens, I'll have to go home and check again... there were others... I got a lot of people who wanted to donate seed, so I took them up on them and added them to the 'fort'. I have to take recent pictures, but this is what it looked like early on. I haven't been gung-ho on documenting this because I didn't want to document a complete failure if it happened... :) Then I went back to the original farm (without my camera) this weekend and they have extended their tomato maze - lots more varieties and much bigger this year... I will bring the camera next time I go. Again they told the kids "come back with your basket and belly full." SO cute and SO gets them excited about gardening. I want that!!! I'll take pictures tonight and post them tonight or tomorrow....See Morewantonamara Z8 CenTex
8 years agowantonamara Z8 CenTex
8 years agowantonamara Z8 CenTex
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agowantonamara Z8 CenTex
8 years agowantonamara Z8 CenTex
8 years agogarybeaumont_gw
8 years agowantonamara Z8 CenTex
8 years agomissouribound
8 years agowantonamara Z8 CenTex
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agowantonamara Z8 CenTex
8 years agozippity1
8 years agowantonamara Z8 CenTex
8 years agolast modified: 8 years agoAshley Sanchez (8a)
7 years agopatty Vinson
7 years agowantonamara Z8 CenTex
7 years agogarybeaumont_gw
7 years agopatty Vinson
7 years agowantonamara Z8 CenTex
7 years agolast modified: 7 years agoL Alaniz
7 years agogarybeaumont_gw
7 years agolast modified: 7 years ago
Related Stories
EDIBLE GARDENSSummer Crops: How to Grow Tomatoes
Plant tomato seedlings in spring for one of the best tastes of summer, fresh from your backyard
Full StoryCOLOR10 Reasons to Make a Splash With Tomato Red
You won’t duck at these tomatoes. See how bold red shades can play up architecture, light up a dark spot and add drama
Full StoryLIFEKitchen Traditions: Tomato Season Meets a Family Legacy
Somewhere a Sicilian great-great-grandmother is smiling at a bowl of American-made sauce
Full StoryARCHITECTUREHouzz Tour: Fresh Ideas in a Former Tomato Packing Shed
A formerly metal-clad structure is now a beautiful wood home designed to capture the light and preserve open space
Full StoryECLECTIC STYLEHouzz Tour: Eclectic Down-Home Style in Texas
A Texas family goes for comfortable, colorful furnishings and crisp white walls for a look they call ‘Southern Americana’
Full StoryMY HOUZZMy Houzz: Streamlined, Contemporary Texas Home
An in-house darkroom, stainless steel accents and a flowing layout make this Austin home a graceful retreat
Full StoryHOUZZ TOURSMy Houzz: Cozy, Colorful Retreat in Texas
A first-time homeowner turns a 750-square-foot South Austin space into a cool and colorful haven amid stands of bamboo
Full StoryGARDENING GUIDESGreat Design Plant: Asclepias Viridis
Green antelopehorn is a milkweed that is short, drought-tolerant, not aggressive and a monarch favorite
Full StoryRANCH HOMESHouzz TV: An 1880s Texas Fort Influences a New Forever Home
See how this just-built Texas ranch home captures the look of history
Full Story
hibiscusmaniac