What's your favorite tomato variety

[henrietta23]

This was inspired by the Early Girl discussions.
I have been planting Brandywines for a number of years now. I just love their flavor!

 

[digitS']

Kristin, I can't just consider flavor when I pick a favorite. And, I've never been able to ripen an eighty day tomato . . . how much do you suppose I'm missing out?

I would have said SunSugar cherries were my favorite until 2007. I'd grown them for about 5 years and while they were fine last season, they weren't as lusciously wonderful. It was a hot, dry year and the flavor of all the tomatoes was good. I'm not sure why SunSugar wasn't quite up to par.

I truly like the flavor of Big Beef. It is just the most consistently producing and good flavored large tomato that I've grown. And, it must have about 12 seasons of performance in my garden. Given this history, I'd be surprised if Big Beef disappointed me in 2008.

Steve

 

[homebody]

I love Brandywine, and last year grew several new varieties. My favorite of those was Hillbilly. It took me a minute to realize that it is ripe when it is yellow with pink/ red streaking. Huge, juicy, and deliciously sweet.

 

[Rosalind]

I don't have a favorite, but I do have a few I really dislike. Garden Peach, for example, I don't like those at all. Fuzzy tomatoes didn't sound so bad at first, but they are really quite weird and I only manage to get about three little tomatoes per plant when all my other tomatoes make 8-10 decent size tomatoes per plant. Not worth the effort.

 

[silkiechicken]

No complaining about not being able to ripen an 80 day tomato! I have problems ripening 45 day tomatoes here! And I start inside 8 weeks early! It's cool and wet, even with planting next to cement and buildings. I stick with early girl and romas because they have proven pretty strong here even if I have to pick green and bring in to ripen. I'm jealous of longer growing season!!! At least broccoli doesn't go to flower over night

 

[henrietta23]

No complaining about not being able to ripen an 80 day tomato! I have problems ripening 45 day tomatoes here! And I start inside 8 weeks early! It's cool and wet, even with planting next to cement and buildings. I stick with early girl and romas because they have proven pretty strong here even if I have to pick green and bring in to ripen. I'm jealous of longer growing season!!! At least broccoli doesn't go to flower over night

I like to grow Romas too.

 

[Txchikngardners]

We like Early Girl and Celebrity - both grow very well and make plenty of fruit for all of our favorites: fried green tomatoes, green tomato relish and fresh ripened reds :coolsun

 

[Reinbeau]

I like 'em all, so far, my favorite cherry is Sungold, but Tomatoberry from Johnnie's was really nice, I grew it last year and it was a huge producer!

 

[barefootgardener]

I have been growing tomatoes for many year's now, and about 16 years ago I started growing Heirloom Tomatoes. I order the seed's and start and grow them in my house every year. My first two were Brandywine, and Rose De Berne. Both have superb flavor, and have a pinkish red flesh.

Aunt Ruby's German Green- a large green beefsteak, so delicious!

Kellogg's Breakfast- Large Orange Herloom Tomato- Fantastic superb flavor!

Black Krim, Black from Tula, and Cherokee Purple: all considered purple tomatoes cause of there dark brownish red skin. All superb with rich sweet flavor!

Old German-a Large Striped Herloom Tomato. Absolutely Fantastic Flavor. Delicious!

As you can see I have more then one Favorite. LOL. These are the ones I try to grow faithfully every year. I am lucky enough to be able to order and save seed's, so I can start them in my house and get a jump start on the growing season. I can choose from a large variety of tomatoes to grow this way.

There are many other fantastic tomatoes out there that I have tried and or yet to have tried. I just received my seed order I placed last week, and I will be trying five new varieties of Heirloom Tom's. this year, along with my usual fav's.

 

[digitS']

Ooooh Boy, can we talk a little more about tomato varieties?!?

Barefoot, can you look at this website and give us an idea of your growing degree days? Just a normal or the numbers for 2007 for a nearby city . . .

It looks like a wonderful selection of heirlooms! Is there anything that you do in the garden in the way of protection for them?

I had a good find this year!! Thessalonki can ripen and has very little problem with splitting in my garden! Further, it has a delightful flavor!

Most catalogs describe it as mild and I really like most any tomato, even the stronger and tarter ones. Some tomatoes can just be too mild to make me happy. If Thessaloniki is mild - I'm all for it!

Steve