Thanks, all, but I am quite determined to limit myself to 24 plants. No volunteers this year, no extra seedlings, nothing. This should prove more than ample for 1.25 tomato eaters (me and SomeOne who likes 'a slice' on 'a sandwich' - incomprehensible) and I am much more interested in getting a handle on my festering cesspool of disease so that they are healthier. But no one seems to think I should sacrifice my variety for science - thanks for the enabling there! I'm going to be dizzy with 24 different varieties to taste and keep track of. Dave and smithmal, thanks for the suggestions on varieties to cut. You're right, Long Keeper is at the top of the list to go (was more prone to ordering novelties in my gardening youth 4 years ago). Anna I'm surprised to hear since I thought she was generally well regarded, but she hasn't ever done much for me compared to Cour Di Bue, so she can go. Delicious might have to stay in just because it was a freebie 4-5 years ago and I haven't ever grown it because it's always been high on the cut list. I don't store my seeds for longevity so I might be running out of time on that one. Lucky Cross I have grown before but I don't think it did well - I don't seem to have a recollection of it -so it might need to stay in to get properly evaluated. So between new varieties I want to try, freebies I really should try, and returning players who fill a specific position, I might be down to Sungold or possibly Jersey Giant for my last cut. I've grown and liked both, but haven't come even close to consuming the Sungolds other than for some snacks in the garden, so they just make a mess. Jersey Giant has a sweetness that I enjoy, but has been rather low production and I have all my other 'Jerseys'.

Nice looking support system. Years ago, when we lived in a different town, we had a small garden like that. We ate pretty well from such a small space. This weather is crazy, but we do have moisture. That is something that I couldn't say we had last year. Jay

I arrived at my design when I realized just how far indeterminate Early Girls can travel in good soil. LOL I've been growing Early Girls for MANY many years & finally 12 years ago, put in raised beds. The soil is 1/3 clay...1/3 sand & 1/3 turkey poo. I've yet had to amend the soil. My beds are 16' long & 10' wide. There are 3 plants in these pics. They take up the entire area & then some, some years. That's when I need to add on to the main center panel. I have different sized pieces of cattle panel for just that reason. In the first pic, you can see that it's ready for a notched 2" PVC pipe. I'll try and remember, this year, to get a pic while the "horizontal trellis" is empty. :) I use zip ties to tie the panels to the metal pipes & each other. Last year, I gave at least 175 lbs. away. I average 350 mater's per plant. TinyPic gave me fits, soooo...I hope this link works. In the preview, I only was able to link to one pic. This link SHOULD get you to the 2nd pic. http://oi54.tinypic.com/23kw6e9.jpg Here is a link that might be useful:

Thanks, Johnny... the width is something I hadn't considered. I'm planting with 2' spacing so I think I'm going to get the 18" Texas Cages. I don't mind a little pruning but won't do anything near what i did last year. I was doing SFG and really pruned... didn't work for me so well and my friend in Oakland who just threw some maters in a box of American Soil had 8 foot plants that just produced all season non stop. I'm in Walnut Creek and with our heat out here I expected better results than I had and I was totally jealous of my easy-going friends success and here I was all detailed with the SFG approach and it was a total failure. Are your seedlings in yet? Do you plant anything other than tomatoes? (I'm also struggling a bit with how and when to plant my other veggies like squash, beans, chard, and still leave room in the garden to transition to things like broccoli for fall, etc.) I can't seem to find any reliable date from the master gardener program about when to plant things. Do you go by frost dates? And did you get that crazy hail a couple days ago? We did here, and now I realize why the proverbial "they" tells us not to plant maters too early. thanks for your help! -kmama