Variety observations

[gardengalrn]

Well my plants are just gearing up and already I have a few that will go into my "must grow" list. I've already commented on Kimberly and Stupice in other threads but they really have been early gang-busters for me. Most fruits are a little larger than golf balls but have sure bridged the gap while waiting for a beef steak. Tasty, too.
Sophie's Choice: Definitely not a good container plant for me. I reread Carolyn's comments on it in her book and would attest to the fact that it likes soggy feet. I suppose if you kept it wet each day it would do better but last year the plants in the garden did wonderfully while the container plants did so-so.
Kellogg's Breakfast: I can't believe I've gotten 2 huge beefsteaks off this plant already! Delicious too. I've had bad luck with it the past 2 years but remembering the first year I tried it made me plant it again. Glad I did! It's in a container and was started early.
Gregori's Altai: Thought I would never get a decent fruit (horrible BER) but low and behold, 2 very huge fruits are pinking up. There are so many large fruits on this one, I hope they taste as good as they look.
New Big Dwarf: I've had 2 ripe fruits and one more getting there so far. Excellent as always. These were also started early.
Black Krim: This was really just part of a comparison and I got a fruit last week. Good but not WOW. Of course it was a first fruit so I will reserve judgement until I have a Cherokee Chocolate and Carbon to compare.
Sweet Baby Girl: A cherry type sent to me by Honu and I really like it. It tastes like tomato soup to me, LOL! I've been eating them off the vine as they ripen while I'm stalking around investigating other plants

Anyway, hope this isn't TOO boring but I always like reading other's input on different varieties as that is how I usually pick what I'm going to put in.

[gardengalrn]

Tested my first Rinaldo and Ernesto today and was very pleased with them. I liked the taste of Ernesto better but both were great and were eaten with lunch. There was enough of those big boys to slice in half, one half for seeds and the other for eating for the 3 of us. I know most say that any and all good tomatoes should be used for canning and I do intend on canning whatever type I don't eat or give away but my eye is really on these two to fill up my canner. Just one each, in pots and all matted up together is going to give me a run for my money so I can't imagine a couple in the garden with proper spacing. I will absolutely be growing these next year.

[bbjm]

Not boring at all. I'm new to this and planning my container garden (shady yard, but sunny deck) for next year. I really enjoy all the info -- I'm taking notes.

[honu]

Lori, Thanks for sharing that good information! Notes like yours always help me a lot!
You are so right about Sophie's needing wet feet. My 5 gal containers dried out too easily, and it punished me with BER, low yield, and looked half dead. Now I have the pot sitting in a reservoir to keep the feet soaking wet at all times... it can be stinky, but the plant is doing better.
I'm looking forward to tasting Sweet Baby Girl soon and will keep your tomato soup description in mind, LOL.

[Earl]

Lori, may we all pile on? :-)

Kimberly, as most types do, keeps getting better and better. SFT is good from the start, according to my wife Kathy [a tomato gourmand] who ate the first two. The first Preleska was very good and will keep getting better.

[gardengalrn]

Pile away
I got a few others today and am trying to keep in mind that the first fruits may not be a great representative. Marianna's Peace was OK. Tried it last year with about the same results but we'll see. Isis Candy was really pretty but kinda ho-hum. Got 2 almost lb Carbons and a little smaller one...excellent. One 1+ Cuostralee that was also excellent. I'm really pleased with Big Beef's production but it seems to be the standard roadside pick if that makes sense. That plant is really loaded down.

[PaulF]

We could use those at the Midwest Tomato Fest. And by the way, weren't you going to move close to us here in Ne? We miss you already.

[matermama]

I m so glad to hear that your sweet baby girl is a great tomato. I didn't get one in time wish i had. Next yr i hope.
I enjoy reading the post about taste and varietys that peple are tasting. I m new so i am always interested in which ones people like.
sue

[gardengalrn]

Paul, YES we have bought a home in Kansas right there on the border with NE. If things go as planned, we hope to at least start the moving process next summer. Our oldest will be graduated and our youngest will have to make do 10 acres so plenty of tomato-growing room It will all depend, my poor DH has been in and out of the hospital since March with a compound fracture and subsequent infections. He's there tonight, as a matter of fact I think we are doing good now though, they found a bone splinter that may have been the source of infection all this time. As it relates to tomatoes: Umm, I guess I will take him and his nurses some tomorrow!

[gardengalrn]

I got caught up in my tale of woe and almost forgot to mention the latest I've tried:
Red Lightening (that Burpee hybrid several talked about last year): Pretty little thing and that's about all I can say for it. Much smaller for me than what I thought and really very generic tasting.
Steak Sandwich (another Burpee hybrid, repeat from last year): A pretty decent tomato, good, in fact. Production is a home run like last year.
Druzba: This one had a lot of hollow spaces but was not dry. I was really surprised when I tasted it, the flavor was quite remarkable and unique. For lack of better technical terms, it was almost fruity or floral and very very good. Sweet but with character.

[feldon30]

I've only eaten one Druzba from a farmer's market, but I would love it as a main cropper if it produces well here. Not a blockbuster, but if I had dozens of them I'd be overjoyed.

[gardengalrn]

Add Wisconsin 55 to the winner's circle again this year. Productive, nice tomatoes. I can't believe I did this but I gave my neighbor my 2 lb Stump of the World....so I have to wait to hear what she says about that one. I had given her parents one of those plants so I wanted to see what she thought about it although I haven't even tasted it yet, LOL.
German Johnson was a really decent tomato too. Good size and no flaws that I can speak of.
Eva Purple Ball has done the same thing for me this year as the last time I grew it. Not terribly impressed with the flavor but it will come through great as the summer progresses, I hope.
I keep picking those darn big, lovely Carbons. Almost uniformly 1 lbers. My Cherokee Chocolate is dying off as we speak so I have to say that the Cherokees just don't do well for me. My neighbor agrees that Carbon may be a 9 on flavor vs the Cherokee 10 but it's pretty close.

[geoguy_TN]

I really like the Cherokee Purple - this is my first time growing it. I picked a huge one yesterday (1# 9 5/8 oz.).

[Bryan24]

Lori,

Thanks for the info on Gregori's Altai. I'll make sure Bryan puts those in the ground. Here it seems the only ones suited to the containers are the cherries. Production is lower this year on them (Black Cherry just hates it), but they're the only things NOT getting BER from the recent rains. Intrestingly, everything just keeps putting on fruit. I wonder where we're going to plant the fall crop? I know Bryan plans on tilling out the side of the house for another bed. I'm thinking maybe just inside the back fence, right on the edge of light/shade to protect from August sun/heat.

laurel-tx

[gardengalrn]

Stump of the World: Really good taste and some of the biggest fruit in the garden.
Earl's Faux: Favorite again this year for flavor, unmatched IMO.
Aunt Gertie's Gold: A little disappointed this year. Didn't seem as flavorful (a little tart this year) but production was good.
Brandywine: Another favorite this year. Hadn't grown it since the year I started growing tomatoes and remember why it was one that got me hooked. Production very good.
Brandywine Yellow: Low producer of decent large beefsteaks. More mellow than AGG but not a lot of character.
Neve's Azorian Red: Quite a nice flavored tomato but again this year the stink bugs just LOVE it. The color is such a deep red that the stink bug damage is really obvious and makes the fruit unappealling.
Brandy Boy: Another hit year for this hybrid. Reliable, great tasting, big sometimes ugly fruit.