Varieties chosen for 2009

[BrianS]

Hi Y'all,
I have been growing 'maters for years but decided to try new things for next year. I just got these seed from www.tomatogrowers.com which I am sure you tomato heads here are familiar with this place

Anyways, here are the varieties I have. Have any of you grown these before? I would like to know more about them.

tiffany
jetsetter
kimberly
early wonder
lemon boy
golden girl
cherokee chocolate
white beauty (cant wait to try a white tom!)

I grew golden girl last year so I am already familiar with them. It was my favorite out of the kinds I grew from last year.

[feldon30]

I have only tasted Cherokee Chocolate off that list. I love it. Wish you'd snagged some seeds for Gregori's Altai. I wish everyone grew that at least once. It's not the best tomato I've ever tasted, but it is reliable, productive, and early in my experience.

[BrianS]

I just hope I dont have problems with the cher choc splitting open like some of the other heirloom type varities I have grown in the past. I wish this ice would melt so and the weather would get warm so I can start my garden! Geez I miss my garden!

[goodwin]

I have grown 4 of those varieties here in New Mexico.

Jetsetter - Very early and dependable, firm, flavor ok but nothing exceptional. Strong vines continued to produce.

Kimberly - Set a nice flush of small tomatoes in cooler weather, then went into hibernation. I thought they tasted fine.
Early Wonder - Produced lots of flawless deep pink tomatoes really quickly. Thin-skinned, sweet and juicy. Plants are small and husky. This is a determinate, though

White Beauty - Developed a steady supply of fruit a little later in the season. Whites are really mild, but this a good one in my experience, especially if you limit the water.
The radial splitting you see in some varieties is water-related as well, I believe. Anyway, good luck! I'd wager we all have a touch of spring fever.

[BrianS]

Thanks for your insight goodwin

[Wi-sunflower]

I've grown Lemon Boy.

It's a nice tomato, but you have to watch it well as it colors up, as it tends to over-ripen fast if you aren't watching it. Then it's rather mushy.

[creister]

I have grown Kimberly, and I like it for a compact early plant. The taste is above average, and it does well in the heat.


Saw Varsity's horns off! Gig 'em Ags!

[BrianS]

I just hope I dont grow some bland tasting tomatoes like they sell at the super market. I will probably plant some Better Boys just in case these varieties I am trying this year dont taste all that great

[feldon30]

So how did you arrive at that list? Just curious.

First year, I grew Celebrity, Beefy Boy, and Roma and I found them to be pretty awful except Beefy Boy. Then I spent the next 3 months reading everything I could about the varieties that people who really care about flavor grow. I'm rather picky taste-wise.

My favorites taste-wise are Cherokee Purple, Brandywine, Earl's Faux, Marianna's Peace, but none of them are ready early by any stretch... Actually I got my first Brandywine pretty quick this year. It was awesome.

[Ruth_10]

Maybe you could say a little about how many plants you grow and what you're looking for (production, taste, earliness, novelty, etc.). Also, roughly where in Missouri (I'm curious).

I have grown Kimberly as an early season tomato. The fruits are not large, but production is high. Once the main season tomatoes start coming in, Kimberly gets left at the dance.

[BrianS]

Originally Posted by feldon30

So how did you arrive at that list? Just curious.

First year, I grew Celebrity, Beefy Boy, and Roma and I found them to be pretty awful except Beefy Boy. Then I spent the next 3 months reading everything I could about the varieties that people who really care about flavor grow. I'm rather picky taste-wise.

My favorites taste-wise are Cherokee Purple, Brandywine, Earl's Faux, Marianna's Peace, but none of them are ready early by any stretch... Actually I got my first Brandywine pretty quick this year. It was awesome.

Actually I was wanting to try something new just for the giggles more than anything. I normally grow early girls, better boy, big boy, golden girl and golden jubilee and will probably grow some of those afterall I know they are good

Originally Posted by Ruth_10

Maybe you could say a little about how many plants you grow and what you're looking for (production, taste, earliness, novelty, etc.). Also, roughly where in Missouri (I'm curious).

I'm about an hour SE of Springfield. I have a rather large garden so I have lots of space to grow 'maters. I do losts of things such as make juice, salsa, freeze, can etc etc however my favorite thing is to go out in the garden with a salt shaker and eat 'til I cant stand it LOL

[Wi-sunflower]

I just hope I dont grow some bland tasting tomatoes like they sell at the super market.

Something I tell my plant customers ---

you can grow the exact same variety as those from the stores and because you pick them RIPE instead of green, they will taste better than those from the store. Basically the LAST thing a tomato does is make it's sugars and that usually doesn't happen until the tomato is already turning color. The stores can gas the green tomatoes to make them turn colors, but they can't make the already picked fruit make it's sugars.

Now that isn't to say that a whole lot of the heirloom varieties grown here don't have a lot better flavor than the store varieties. Only that comparing the same variety picked green vs picked ripe will produce vastly different results.

[BrianS]

What is funny though is the fact that I picked 3 boxes of green tomatoes before we got our killing frost. I put them under the bed and when they ripened they were almost as good as my fresh picked ones. I could tell a difference though but not as much as you would think

[Ruth_10]

Brian,
Where you are located you should be able to grow just about any tomato in existence. Since you have space and know-how with respect to starting from seed, and you enjoy eating tomatoes, you should give some more varieties a try. Really, you should.

If you want to try some open-pollinated varieties that are outstanding for flavor, I would be happy to send you seeds for several varieties for you to try. These will not be bland tasting tomatoes. PM me if you're interested.

[Wi-sunflower]

Brian,

That could be because you let them ripen slowly and some of the starches probably had a chance to change to sugars.

Store warehouses put green tomatoes in the same room they use to turn bananas yellow. They turn colors too fast for the starches to have a chance to change.

When I was in high school we had an exchange student from South America (can't remember just where any more). But she commented that the bananas here had "no flavor" compared to what she got at home. DUH. Same problem. Picked green instead of let to ripen naturally.