Favorite Tomato

[texpat]

I prefer heirloom so I can save the seeds. One pack of seeds is all I will ever need.

My favs are Brandywine and Amish Paste.

Brandywine is very similar to Mortgage lifter. Both are very large plants that grow very quickly and are hardy. The fruits are the same size and shape. I think the Brandywine has a slightly better flavor and I like the name.

Amish Paste was the most hardy and reliable tomato plant in my garden. It grows quickly (not as fast as BW or ML), resistant to fungal attacks that other varieties aren't, and produces all the way to frost. It has an excellent flavor, very meaty with few seeds, easy to remove skin, and bigger than Roma, San Marzano. Amish Paste is my favorite tomato overall, but I also want a beefsteak type, so Brandywine it is.

I found Rutgers to be hardy, but similar to a supermarket type tomato. It's bigger than Amish Paste, smaller than brandywine, a bit more orange in color, and doesn't stand out in any one area.

Cherokee Purple is purple. It tastes ok, but was prone to disease in my garden.

San Marzano is the most difficult I've found to grow. It's slow, gets sick, and not much fruit. And I really couldn't taste much difference between it and Roma.

Everyone around here likes the BetterBoy. I'm not much of a fan. It's about like Rutgers, but slightly bigger (both fruit and plant). A guy across the street farms those types. His garden is a giant disease patch, but he does get enough decent ones to sell and has a lot of loyal buyers each year... and every one says his are the best. Tomatoes are very subjective.

The Amish Paste & the Branywine are my favorites also. I have been growing tomatoes for over 40 years, and these two are on top of my list. The Brandywine has it all, when it comes to taste, good acid, very sweet, and very juicy. I love to eat them right in the garden, but never wear a clean t-shirt o do so.

 

[MeepBeep]

I'm not a huge fan of tomatoes in general, so I tend to focus on unique colors to add visual appeal to tomato based dishes instead of some specific taste.... Overall I have a tendency to plant the more unique colors of other vegetables in my garden as well...

For tomatoes I like

Indigo Rose
Chocolate Stripe
Yellow Brandywine
and other red/orange/yellow striped varieties

And we also plant your run of the mill plum, and cherry tomatoes so we have some red stuff

 

[pfields]

I have a question, what do you all put around your tomato plants? Last year we used the thin black cloth but I can't say I really liked it. All our plants are in the ground and now we need to put something on the ground to prevent weeds but also allow water to be absorbed evenly.

Another thing I noticed here is that a lot of the tomato plants that are mentioned don't seem to be available here on the coast of Texas. We seem to find the same plants year after year. We've tried some heirloom plants before, don't remember which ones, but they didn't do well at all. Poor plant growth and very low production of tomatoes. Maybe we did something wrong. Our soil is not the best (lots of black clay) so we really have to work on it.

 

[pfields]

Also we have lots of wind here on the coast so we take 5 gallon buckets, cut the bottom out and put those over our plants until they grow to the top and then we replace the bucket with wire hoops.

 

[can you hear me now?]

Brandywine tomatoes are known to be contest winners for great tasting tomatoes. another favorite of mine is the San marzanos. San Marzano is a lot like a roma tomato only they are indeterminate as opposed to the Roma's which only grow so many tomatoes. if you like heirloom tomatoes the Cherokee purple are great as well.

 

[SittinDuck]

The Amish Paste & the Branywine are my favorites also. I have been growing tomatoes for over 40 years, and these two are on top of my list. The Brandywine has it all, when it comes to taste, good acid, very sweet, and very juicy. I love to eat them right in the garden, but never wear a clean t-shirt o do so.

Hey thanks for replying! That's great to see that brilliant minds think alike

What other tomatoes are on your list near the top? How about cucumbers, beans and anything else you care to share? 40 years is a long time!

 

[SittinDuck]

I have a question, what do you all put around your tomato plants? Last year we used the thin black cloth but I can't say I really liked it. All our plants are in the ground and now we need to put something on the ground to prevent weeds but also allow water to be absorbed evenly.

Another thing I noticed here is that a lot of the tomato plants that are mentioned don't seem to be available here on the coast of Texas. We seem to find the same plants year after year. We've tried some heirloom plants before, don't remember which ones, but they didn't do well at all. Poor plant growth and very low production of tomatoes. Maybe we did something wrong. Our soil is not the best (lots of black clay) so we really have to work on it.

I put wood chips or leaves around mine. It doesn't stop all the weeds, but it helps and gets tilled into the garden to help the soil. Don't put them on too thick or the roots will grow into the mulch and starve the plant.

The heirloom varieties may not be available as plants. You might have to buy the seeds. The hybrids will usually grow better, but you can't save the seeds because they won't be the same plant next time (or that's what they say).

I grow heirlooms because of this:



I figure there's only one reason tomatoes have declined in nutrition and that's hybridizing to grow better in crappy soil. So if an heirloom won't grow, it means your soil is no good and you won't get healthy food from it even if you find a plant that will tolerate it.

 

[MeepBeep]

I have a question, what do you all put around your tomato plants?

Llama beans My garden is in containers above ground level so weeds are limited and easy to clear... Plus ferts and water is focused on where it needs to be

This year for the portion of the garden that is planted at ground level, I'm going to try spent grains as a weed block... I get more then my chickens can eat, so I figure I might as well put it to good use...

Another thing I noticed here is that a lot of the tomato plants that are mentioned don't seem to be available here on the coast of Texas.  We seem to find the same plants year after year.

Yes, you won't find much in local stores, the same old stuff year after year that the big seed companies push... I have been getting most of my seeds from Ebay and I have not been disappointed, even when getting some seeds from China... There are a ton of small ma/pa seed sellers on Ebay all over the world, and several of them sell lots of variety and combine shipping...

 

[texpat]

Hey thanks for replying! That's great to see that brilliant minds think alike

What other tomatoes are on your list near the top? How about cucumbers, beans and anything else you care to share? 40 years is a long time!

I am also planting a few Mortgage Lifter, and a tasty one I grew last year, Boxcar Willy.
Cucumbers: my favorite is the Straight Eight, excellent taste for eating raw, or in salads, also for pickling.
Beans: Contender Bush beans, Italian Flat beans, and Yellow Wax beans.

On my ground level garden, I went to the Back to Eden method on a 20 X 50 ft section in the fall of 2013. This will be my 3rd spring using this method, and I would recommend it to everyone. After seeing the first year results, I have expanded it to the whole 100 X 60 veggie garden, plus my fruit orchard, containing 14 fruit trees. Plus, last year I covered six 4 X 16 ft raised beds with 3 in of wood chips. I have been blessed so far with over 25- 10 yard trailer loads of wood chips from the different tree trimming companies here in East Texas.
I bought a good quality chipper/shredder, and I run all the chips I get from the tree trimmers through it to end up with a fine ground end product. I can simply tell you all, the results are absolutely phenomenal. In the orchard, I laid 12 in to start, and the trees love it.
As soon as you lay the wood chips down, the first rain seeps through them to create a compost tea. It is amazing.
You never have to till again . I sold both of my tillers.
And I will finish with this---NO MORE fertilizer needed. Try it you'll like it.
I suggest to everyone, www.backtoedenfilm.com
That is enough for now.

 

[MeepBeep]

And I will finish with this---NO MORE fertilizer needed. 

I have more fertilizers then I can use already, so either way I have to dispose of them might as well be in the gardens...