What Are We Growing This Year???
I am teaching Mary about tomato growing and this is a great YouTube video about pruning tomatoes:
Perhaps the question is, "What are we NOT growing?" There are hundreds and hundreds of varieties of tomatoes in the world and we have about twenty six including a couple of duplications.
Did You Know?
Tomatoes Are Not Always Red
here Are Over 10 Thousand Varieties Of Tomato.
Tomatoes Are Technically A Fruit.
omatoes Have Been to Space.
The First Tomatoes were Gold and Considered an Aphrodisiac.
China is the Largest Producer of Tomatoes.
We (Mary, Robin, and Paul) selected the following for this season:
| Name Location |
Description | Picture |
|---|---|---|
Buddy's Heart Behind Gazebo Indeterminate 80 days |
The rugose, regular leaf plants of 'Dwarf Buddy's Heart' produce scarlet-red colored, heart shaped, medium sized, very meaty fruit. They have a rich, balanced flavor whose texture makes it particularly suited for sauce preparations. |  |
Kentucky Beefsteak Behind Gazebo Indeterminate 80 days |
Big, beautiful orange beefsteak with clear orange color and green shoulders. Fruit is about 5 inches in diameter and has a mild flavor. Medium productivity. Heirloom variety. Indeterminate. 90 days. |  |
Sasha's Altai Wide Bed Determinate 75 days |
An excellent variety from Russia. Seeds were given to Bill McDorman when in Irkutsk, Siberia in 1989, by his dear Siberian friend Sasha who claimed this variety that he grew in his garden in the Altai Shan mountain range was the "best tomato in all of Siberia." Sasha's Altai was selected by Organic Garden Magazine as one of the 10 best early producing tomatoes in the world. Sasha's Altai is a hearty tomato plant that produces very good yields of 4-6 oz., thinned-skinned, bright-red, slightly flattened, round tomatoes with an award-winning complex flavor. Fruit sets well in cooler coastal climates and high altitudes. Excellent for canning, salads and making tomato juice. |  |
Hillbilly Wide Bed Indeterminate 80 days |
The Hillbilly Tomato, scientific name Solanum lycopersicum, is an heirloom cultivar originating from West Virginia in the 1800s. There is also a potato-leaf variant named Hillbilly Potato Leaf. The fruit is considered a beefsteak tomato weighing 1-2 pounds. Hillbilly tomatoes best exhibit their vibrant flavor and natural sweetness when sliced raw in thick slabs. Like most beefsteak types, they are the perfect size and texture for slicing fresh onto sandwiches. |  |
Taiga Wide Bed Indeterminate 78 days |
Taiga is a new large "heart" tomato, bred by Karen Olivier (True North Tomatoes). Ripe fruits are large green hearts with marbling most prominent at the blossom end. Taiga is a vigorous and productive "potato-leaf" variety with wispy leaves -- producing ripe fruits approximately 75-80 days after transplant in our field. Fruits have very few seeds. |  |
Tomato Ace Wide Bed Determinate 90 days |
The Ace 55 is one of the most popular varieties chose by vegetable gardeners looking for a tomato with low-acidity. Ace 55 is a standard sized, determinate tomato variety (3 to 5 feet). Ideal for consuming fresh rather than canned. The Ace 55 variety is also known to be tolerant to diseases such as Verticillium and Fusarium. Appx. 80 days to maturity |  |
Sweet Prince Wide Bed Indeterminate 75 days |
A basic-looking tomato that tastes anything but, combining uniform abundance in the field with sweet and vibrant flavor. Very versatile in the kitchen—if you can resist eating them raw. Resistant to verticillium wilt, fusarium wilt and late blight, with moderate resistance to early blight foliage symptoms. |  |
Tasty Wine Wide Bed Indeterminate 85 days
|
Dwarf 'TastyWine' is a vigorous, rugose, potato leaf variety that produces fruit that are a rich pink in color. They are medium-sized (six to ten ounce), smooth, oblate in shape, with a rich well-balanced flavor that is neither too tart or too sweet. vigorous dwarf (tree-type) plants with potato leaf rugose foliage, produce abundant crops of 6-12 oz., pink beefsteak tomatoes with very few seeds, deliciously sweet, juicy flesh. |  |
Melanie's Ballet Dwarf Wide Bed Indeterminate 80 days |
Dwarf — The rugose, regular-leaf plants of 'Dwarf Melanie's Ballet' are vigorous and productive. The fruit are elongated heart-shaped, pink colored, two to four ounce, paste-type tomatoes with an excellent, slightly sweet flavor. This is one of the very first dwarf paste tomatoes. This tomato is a delight. While not the most intensely flavored of the new dwarf varieties, it is a tomato machine. |
|
Cassidy's Folly Wide Bed Indeterminate 80 days |
Cassady's Folly is a bush variety growing up to 80-120cm in height. Good yields of beautiful golden-red-striped paste-type tomatoes. The fruits are around 7-10cm long, very firm with few seeds. The flavor is sweet and slightly tart. Paste-type tomatoes contain less water than "normal" tomatoes and are perfect for tomato sauce, puree, cooking, etc. The fruits are very firm and meaty and not so watery if cooked. |  |
Bush Early Girl Wide Bed Determinatye 54 days |
This hybrid is a relative of the well-known standard-sized Early Girl yet produces more tomatoes than many other compact varieties. The determinate vines form strong bushes perfect for containers. Bush Early Girl bears a surprising number of delicious tomatoes in a small garden or a pot. In our Alabama test garden, where growing conditions are ideal and the season is long, we average 100 tomatoes or more from each plant. |  |
Capia Striped Bed #3 Left Indeterminate 85 days |
The Striped Dwarf Tomato is a variety of dwarf indeterminate tomatoes with regular leaf producing lots of medium sized oblate smooth red fruit with vertical gold striping. It is beautiful and easy to grow. Sow outdoor from February to May and harvest from June to September. |  |
Omar's Lebonese Bed #3 Left Indeterminate 79 days |
Omar's Lebanese Tomato - High yielding vines produce huge, one to two pound beefsteaks with an exceptional sweet, rich flavor. Brought to America by a Lebanese college student who received the seeds from farmers living in a Lebanese hill town. . |  |
Park's Whopper Bed #3 Left Indeterminate 65 days |
Big, juicy, meaty sandwich-sized tomatoes appear early and continue until frost. These indeterminate vines grow up to 10 feet tall and require staking or a trellis to keep the plant and fruits off the ground. According to Bonnie Plants, 'Park's Whopper Improved' is considered an early-season cultivar since the fruits ripen earlier than many other cultivars.. |  |
Juliet Bed #3 Left Indeterminate 60 days |
1999 AAS Winner! Famous for yielding the first elongated, grape-like fruits that don't crack! Clusters of unusual, sweet-flavored fruits cling to the vine longer than most other cherry tomatoes. Resistant to Leaf Spot. Plants grow to a bushy 4 to 6 feet in height and need about 48 inches of space between them. Most gardeners do not pinch off buds on their Juliets as these high producers can create and easily accommodate large bunches of up to 18 tomatoes per cluster. |
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Sungold Bed #3 Left Indeterminate 65 days |
One of the most popular varieties of cherry tomatoes, Sungold ripens early to a golden orange, ready to harvest throughout the summer. These extra-sweet tomatoes stay firmer longer than other cherry varieties and will be ready to harvest twice a week once they begin producing fruit.The plant can grow up to 10 ft tall. |
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Roma Bed #3 Right Determinate 73 days |
Roma tomatoes are egg- or pear-shaped and red when fully ripe. They have few seeds and are a good canning and sauce tomato. While Roma is an open-pollinated variety, in general it is not considered an heirloom tomato. Maturing in under three months, the plant itself grows to 1 meter (40 inches) in height and the single fruit weighs about 60 grams (2 oz). The vines fruit heavily, making Roma a popular variety with gardeners who do a lot of home canning. |  |
German Pink Bed #3 Right Indeterminate 65 dasys |
If heirloom tomatoes are your thing, then the German Pink Tomato is one you should know about. It's an indeterminate tomato that grows up to six feet tall and produce high yields of monstrous 1-2 pound fruits. The tomatoes are almost seedless, making them that much more delicious to eat raw. German Pinks are perfect for beginners and those who enjoy canning tomatoes since they don't lose their flavor during the process. |
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Indigo Blue Berry Bed #3 Right Indeterminate 75 days |
Indigo Blue Berries cherry tomatoes are small fruits, averaging 1 to 2 ounces in weight and 1 to 3 centimeters in diameter, and have a round, somewhat uniform appearance. The tomato's skin is smooth, taut, and glossy and ripens from an amethyst hue to a dark purple, almost black tone. Indigo Blue Berries cherry tomatoes develop their darkest pigments on the sun-exposed side, while the shaded surface will showcase a dark maroon tone. Underneath the surface, the red-brown flesh is thin, aqueous, and succulent, encasing a center filled with tiny golden yellow seeds suspended in a gelatinous liquid. Indigo Blue Berries cherry tomatoes will have a slight give when squeezed and contribute a crisp and tender, popping sensation when bitten. The tomato's flesh has a prominently sweet and fruity flavor balanced with acidity to create a sweet, tangy, and sharp taste. |  |
Champion Bed #3 Right Indetermintae 62 days |
The Champion tomato is an indeterminate plant, meaning it continues growing and producing fruit until the frost hits. The vines can get pretty long, so wood stakes, a trellis, or metal growing cages help this plant thrive. It bears early and keeps growing and producing all season long. The ultimate slicing tomato, 'Champion' was specifically bred as a sandwich tomato. Produces firm, meaty tomatoes loaded with sweet flavor. Nice cut into wedges for a tossed salad also. Indeterminate vines produce a continuous supply of fruit right up to frost. |  |
Yellow Pear Bed #3 Right Indeterminate 80 days |
Very sweet, 1½-inch yellow, pear-shaped fruit has a mild flavor, and is great for fresh eating or for making tomato preserves. Very productive plants are easy to grow. |  |
Sun Sugar Bed #2 Left Indeterminate 75 days |
Our sweetest golden cherry. Bred by the same folks who beat Sun Gold's standard for sweetness. Attractive, golden-yellow color and its extraordinary sugar-sweet flavor make this one perfect gourmet cherry tomato! Thin-skinned, 1/2-ounce, crack-resistant fruits. Indeterminate |  |
Husky Red Cherry Bed #2 Left Indeterminate 75 days |
This particular type of tomato is named after its characteristics. A vine that is short and husky and produces a lot of sweet, juicy cherry tomatoes in a small space. This can be maximized in container gardening and small gardens. Indeterminate vine type. The vines are dwarf indeterminate, making them short and husky like a determinate type, usually between 3 and 4 feet, yielding clusters of tasty little cherry tomatoes in a small space over a long period of time. |  |
Early Girl Bed #2 Left Indeterminate 55 days |
Early Girl Hybrid F1 is a proven all-round early hybrid tomato. As the name suggests, it is the first tomato to ripen each season. Early Girl Hybrid F1 bears lots of tomatoes for early harvest and continues producing through summer. The 4 to 8 ounce tomatoes are ready in about 2 months. Early Girl Hybrid F1 is a great slicing tomato; tomatoes are meaty, aromatic, and have an old-fashioned, rich tomato tang. The intermediate plants are reliable and prolific. Great resistance to verticillium and fusarium wilt. |  |
Husky Red Cherry Dwarf Bed #2 Left Indeterminate 65 days |
Unlike most cherry tomato varieties, this plant only grows 3 to 4 feet tall, making it ideal for containers, but produces loads of fruit through until fall. Use tomatoes in salads, stir-fries, shish-kebabs, or for fresh eating. Plant is disease-resistant and will need a cage or stake for support. |  |
Roma Bed #2 Right Determinate 73 days |
Roma tomatoes are egg- or pear-shaped and red when fully ripe. They have few seeds and are a good canning and sauce tomato. While Roma is an open-pollinated variety, in general it is not considered an heirloom tomato. Maturing in under three months, the plant itself grows to 1 meter (40 inches) in height and the single fruit weighs about 60 grams (2 oz). The vines fruit heavily, making Roma a popular variety with gardeners who do a lot of home canning. | |
Roma Bed #2 Right Determinate 73 days |
Same As Above | Same As Above |
