largest earliest best-tasting

habitat_gardener · December 12, 2012

Most of the tomatoes touted as "best-tasting" seem to be late tomatoes. I always grow some of those, but this year it was disappointing to watch a couple tomato plants loaded with large greenies all summer that seemed to ripen at once, late in my season. So once again, I'm trying to tip the balance in favor of earlier-maturing tomatoes that will do well in cool summers and produce more evenly.

I've relied on Pruden's Purple and Caspian Pink for a couple years to get a great-tasting largish tomato relatively early in the season. Purple Brandy (=Marizol Bratka), Tobolsk, Kosovo, and Aunt Ruby's German Green were some other favorites that, in different years, produced before the end of July. (But in other years, ARGG produced late or sparingly.) What are some other varieties I can try?

Here are my criteria, in order of importance.
1. great sweet/balanced taste
2. does well in cool-summer climates, generally 70s days and 50s nights (and does not need heat to develop good flavor -- though we can get 4-day heat waves in the 80s anytime from Feb. to Oct.)
3. relatively early (early or mid season)
4. sandwich size

TightenUp · December 12, 2012

cant wait for people to chime in on this one

Sun City Linda · December 12, 2012

Moskvich. Spelled many ways but I use the spelling at Johnnys. I grew this thru a really cool wet spring a few years ago and the weather never slowed it down. Good, Medium size tomatos with a sweet, rich taste. Lots of other posters that year in CA commented on how well it handled the cool weather. My brother, who is coastal PNW grew it last year and was very happy with it. Not a super early, but early enough for him to get fruit.
I have heard good things about Early Rouge but growing it for the first time this year.

**carolyn137** · December 12, 2012

http://t.tatianastomatobase.com:88/w...%27s_ChoiceAnd

And I'll suggest Sophie's Choice, link above. Note that the one person at the above page said it's as early as Stupice and when I was growing it it wasn't unusual to get 8-10 oz size fruits although they weren't that big near the end of the summer.

Taste was pretty darn good as well.

Carolyn

KarenO · December 12, 2012

Hello from the frozen north

have you grown Anna Russian? If not it may well meet your criteria, great tasting Russian heirloom oxheart, tolerant of cooler temps and a reliable earlyish tomato in my northern garden maturing at about 65-70 days
good luck with your search
KO

remy · December 12, 2012

Prudens Purple immediately came to mind, but I see you already grow that one.
Sophie's Choice is still my favorite early tomato. It is not as strong flavored and as big, but it always does well.
Carbon always sets fruit early for me, and it is tasty.
I've had other varieties be early for me, but I have not had a cool season for awhile so most were grown in warm seasons, and they might not perform well in your conditions.
Remy

Cole_Robbie · December 12, 2012

In my location, most people who are novice gardeners and not tomato connoisseurs are very happy with Early Girl. It's the only variety that a lot of people will buy. They are early and at least sweet, but not the biggest, about tennis ball size.

TightenUp · December 12, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie

In my location, most people who are novice gardeners and not tomato connoisseurs are very happy with Early Girl. It's the only variety that a lot of people will buy. They are early and at least sweet, but not the biggest, about tennis ball size.

this variety gets crushed by disease in my area along the coast. it cant handle the salty water wet air and i think gets bacterial speck. most of my plants can fight it off but not early girl.

Lorri D · December 12, 2012

I picked this tomato for pretty much the same reasons you have. I have not tasted it yet though. It's from Tatiana's Tomatobase. Lorri D

Sakharnyi Zheltyi: 68 days, indet., regular leaf, large golden fruits, 8-24 oz, very meaty, typical beefsteak shape, very pretty; quite early for a large beefsteak, high yield, excellent flavor, some radial cracking when rainy season starts.

RobinB · December 12, 2012

Maya & Sion's Airdrie Classic. Less than 60 days and very sweet and tasty. It's sliceable, maybe 6-8 oz or so, but not really huge fruits. It was developed in BC, so doesn't mind the cold and it did okay last summer when it was so hot for so long. Pink Honey (Rosovyi Myod) was around 65 days as well, and was very sweet and meaty. They are up to 1 lb. each or so. It also did okay through last summer's heat.

Robin

Redbaron · December 12, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by TightenUp

this variety gets crushed by disease in my area along the coast. it cant handle the salty water wet air and i think gets bacterial speck. most of my plants can fight it off but not early girl.

Early girl is worthless here in my neck of the woods too. Total waste of space. If I get 3 tomatoes I count it as VERY lucky.

habitat_gardener · December 12, 2012

Keep the recommendations coming!

I've grown some of these, but perhaps need to give some of them a second chance. Oh, another good one was Bloody Butcher from Marko, which he said was a larger-than-usual strain. My notes that year said "grow again."

I grew Early Girl F1 in 2006 because I'd heard so many people locally recommend it. It was not especially early for me, and it had thick skin. The flavor was ok as a tomato on its own, but compared to the heirlooms I was growing that year, the flavor was flat.

Pyrrho · December 12, 2012

I can't vouch for its performance in cool summer weather (growing in KY), but one that is early, large and has surprisingly good flavor is New Big Dwarf. It's also pretty productive for a plant so compact.

**carolyn137** · December 12, 2012

Quote:

Originally Posted by RobinB

Maya & Sion's Airdrie Classic. Less than 60 days and very sweet and tasty. It's sliceable, maybe 6-8 oz or so, but not really huge fruits. It was developed in BC, so doesn't mind the cold and it did okay last summer when it was so hot for so long. Pink Honey (Rosovyi Myod) was around 65 days as well, and was very sweet and meaty. They are up to 1 lb. each or so. It also did okay through last summer's heat.

Robin

http://t.tatianastomatobase.com:88/w...irdrie_Classic

Actually Mayo and Son, etc, was and was not developed by Jeff in BC as the above link states.

But the original cross was done by Stanley Zubrowski who lives, as I remember, in Saskatchewan, Canada.

Stanley had crossed Brandywine with several different early varieties and I offered the F2 seeds of all 5 crosses in many seed offers prior to Tville opening in Jan of 2006.

But I was so pleased to see that Jeff went ahead and grew it out ands stabilized one of those crosses.

And for the person who mentioned Anna Russian, I would agree with that one, but Early Girl has never done Ok for most folks here in the East that I know but it's considered by many to be the state tomato variety of California.

Carolyn

habitat_gardener · December 13, 2012

Maya & Sion's Airdrie Classic is sold out for this year!! So that leaves room for something else...

December 12, 2012	#1
habitat_gardener Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: California Central Valley Posts: 2,540	largest earliest best-tasting Most of the tomatoes touted as "best-tasting" seem to be late tomatoes. I always grow some of those, but this year it was disappointing to watch a couple tomato plants loaded with large greenies all summer that seemed to ripen at once, late in my season. So once again, I'm trying to tip the balance in favor of earlier-maturing tomatoes that will do well in cool summers and produce more evenly. I've relied on Pruden's Purple and Caspian Pink for a couple years to get a great-tasting largish tomato relatively early in the season. Purple Brandy (=Marizol Bratka), Tobolsk, Kosovo, and Aunt Ruby's German Green were some other favorites that, in different years, produced before the end of July. (But in other years, ARGG produced late or sparingly.) What are some other varieties I can try? Here are my criteria, in order of importance. 1. great sweet/balanced taste 2. does well in cool-summer climates, generally 70s days and 50s nights (and does not need heat to develop good flavor -- though we can get 4-day heat waves in the 80s anytime from Feb. to Oct.) 3. relatively early (early or mid season) 4. sandwich size

December 12, 2012	#2
TightenUp Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Jersey Posts: 1,183	cant wait for people to chime in on this one __________________

December 12, 2012	#4
carolyn137 Moderator Emeritus Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Upstate NY, zone 4b/5a Posts: 21,169	http://t.tatianastomatobase.com:88/w...%27s_ChoiceAnd And I'll suggest Sophie's Choice, link above. Note that the one person at the above page said it's as early as Stupice and when I was growing it it wasn't unusual to get 8-10 oz size fruits although they weren't that big near the end of the summer. Taste was pretty darn good as well. Carolyn __________________ Carolyn

December 12, 2012	#6
remy Buffalo-Niagara Tomato TasteFest™ Coordinator Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Z6 WNY Posts: 2,354	Prudens Purple immediately came to mind, but I see you already grow that one. Sophie's Choice is still my favorite early tomato. It is not as strong flavored and as big, but it always does well. Carbon always sets fruit early for me, and it is tasty. I've had other varieties be early for me, but I have not had a cool season for awhile so most were grown in warm seasons, and they might not perform well in your conditions. Remy __________________ "I wake to sleep and take my waking slow" -Theodore Roethke Yes, we have a great party for WNY/Ontario tomato growers every year on Grand Island! Owner of The Sample Seed Shop Last edited by remy; December 12, 2012 at 08:01 PM. Reason: missing a word

December 12, 2012	#3
Sun City Linda Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: SoCal Inland Posts: 2,705	Moskvich. Spelled many ways but I use the spelling at Johnnys. I grew this thru a really cool wet spring a few years ago and the weather never slowed it down. Good, Medium size tomatos with a sweet, rich taste. Lots of other posters that year in CA commented on how well it handled the cool weather. My brother, who is coastal PNW grew it last year and was very happy with it. Not a super early, but early enough for him to get fruit. I have heard good things about Early Rouge but growing it for the first time this year.

December 12, 2012	#5
KarenO Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Vancouver Island Posts: 5,928	Hello from the frozen north have you grown Anna Russian? If not it may well meet your criteria, great tasting Russian heirloom oxheart, tolerant of cooler temps and a reliable earlyish tomato in my northern garden maturing at about 65-70 days good luck with your search KO

December 12, 2012	#7
Cole_Robbie Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Illinois, zone 6 Posts: 8,407	In my location, most people who are novice gardeners and not tomato connoisseurs are very happy with Early Girl. It's the only variety that a lot of people will buy. They are early and at least sweet, but not the biggest, about tennis ball size.

December 12, 2012	#9
Lorri D Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: NorthWest Posts: 267	I picked this tomato for pretty much the same reasons you have. I have not tasted it yet though. It's from Tatiana's Tomatobase. Lorri D Sakharnyi Zheltyi: 68 days, indet., regular leaf, large golden fruits, 8-24 oz, very meaty, typical beefsteak shape, very pretty; quite early for a large beefsteak, high yield, excellent flavor, some radial cracking when rainy season starts.

December 12, 2012	#10
RobinB Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2012 Location: Near Reno, NV Posts: 1,621	Maya & Sion's Airdrie Classic. Less than 60 days and very sweet and tasty. It's sliceable, maybe 6-8 oz or so, but not really huge fruits. It was developed in BC, so doesn't mind the cold and it did okay last summer when it was so hot for so long. Pink Honey (Rosovyi Myod) was around 65 days as well, and was very sweet and meaty. They are up to 1 lb. each or so. It also did okay through last summer's heat. Robin

December 12, 2012	#13
Pyrrho Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Louisville, KY Posts: 75	I can't vouch for its performance in cool summer weather (growing in KY), but one that is early, large and has surprisingly good flavor is New Big Dwarf. It's also pretty productive for a plant so compact.

December 13, 2012	#15
habitat_gardener Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: California Central Valley Posts: 2,540	Maya & Sion's Airdrie Classic is sold out for this year!! So that leaves room for something else...