What did you do in the garden today?

[BReeder!]

Consider San Marzanos for sauce...if you can grow them. I tried them last year and they were both prolific and delicious.

San Marzanos are great indeed for sauce. I grew them last year. I am considering them again. However, I was a bit disappointed in their yield. While many tomatoes grew, they tended to be smaller than expected. They were more like the size of romas, and I was expecting them to be larger. Some were larger, but most were on the smaller side.

 

[DParker75089]

San Marzanos are great indeed for sauce. I grew them last year. I am considering them again. However, I was a bit disappointed in their yield. While many tomatoes grew, they tended to be smaller than expected. They were more like the size of romas, and I was expecting them to be larger. Some were larger, but most were on the smaller side.

Mine were relatively small as well, but they made up for it in numbers.

 

[BReeder!]

Mine were relatively small as well, but they made up for it in numbers.

I grew Rutgers alongside San Marzano last year. The rutgers didn't peel and deseed quite as easy when processing. This can be ignored if you use a food mill. The Rutgers certainly produced more volume than the San Marzanos though.
Just some did for thought.
I think Amish Paste are the way I'm going this year now. After looking into them, I'm intrigued.

 

[Sally PB]

Are the plants abundant? I love the size and the descriptions online of taste sound great. I want to be sure I don't get just a few tomatoes though per plant. I'll be growing 40 plants, but I want a LOT of sauce and salsa.

I think Amish Paste are the way I'm going this year now. After looking into them, I'm intrigued.

It might just have been my garden last year, but my APs didn't produce as well as in years past. I grew starts for a friend (same seeds, from those big 'uns), and she said hers did very well.

That garden, overall, was less productive than in the past. Time for some heavy duty, chicken poopy compost!

You might want to try a determinant variety. They ripen their tomatoes mostly all at once, then die. But, then you get a bunch of tomatoes for processing. I planted a couple short season, determinant varieties, but they didn't do very well. I don't recall their names.

I grew my own starts last year, and my APs sprouted 19/19. Some seeds from a friend sprouted 8/9, and the rest I planted, and some replanted, didn't even do 50%. I'll be looking for different varieties this year too.

 

[BirdsBeesTrees]

You all have fancy tomatoes, lol. I just plant "Champion" and "Super Fantastic" with a (1) husky or super sweet 100 cherry tomato.
I use tomato fertilizer from Gurney's but I also plant every tomato with an unbroken egg.
I also throw some egg shells and lime in my growing area for tomatoes.

 

[Elyrian1]

Hello all! Here's a few pictures of the cutting board dh made for his aunt this Christmas. She loves handmade gifts and was thrilled to get this. IPhone for size reference

 

[WthrLady]

Amish Paste might be a winner. I recall it being talked about on here last year a bit. I've never seen them around here for sale, but apparently they are widely available online based on a quick search.
Are the plants abundant? I love the size and the descriptions online of taste sound great. I want to be sure I don't get just a few tomatoes though per plant. I'll be growing 40 plants, but I want a LOT of sauce and salsa.

Amish paste never reach maturity here.
I still prefer the SanMarzano for their bolder, more acidic tomato taste, for meat tomatoes.

 

[WthrLady]

San Marzanos are great indeed for sauce. I grew them last year. I am considering them again. However, I was a bit disappointed in their yield. While many tomatoes grew, they tended to be smaller than expected. They were more like the size of romas, and I was expecting them to be larger. Some were larger, but most were on the smaller side.

Low yield in a sanmarzano is weather related at time of set. We had lower yield here too, we were too wet and then too hot and dry. Wet at set limited self pollintaion.
But it carried across all the tomato varieties that bloomed at that time.

Our yield was down 25% last year across the board.

As for big slicers, better boy and early girl.

 

[BReeder!]

Now you all have me concerned about my Amish Paste choice. I like sticking to heirloom if possible and really appreciate classic tomato flavor; however, Burpee developed a "SuperSauce" hybrid tomato. They claim 1 tomato fills a sauce jar! They do look big in their catalog (viewing online because they never mail me one). Here's a link: https://www.burpee.com/tomato-supersauce-hybrid-prod003154.html. Any thoughts/opinions?

 

[Acre4Me]

Now you all have me concerned about my Amish Paste choice. I like sticking to heirloom if possible and really appreciate classic tomato flavor; however, Burpee developed a "SuperSauce" hybrid tomato. They claim 1 tomato fills a sauce jar! They do look big in their catalog (viewing online because they never mail me one). Here's a link: https://www.burpee.com/tomato-supersauce-hybrid-prod003154.html. Any thoughts/opinions?

Haha! I have my eye on those too. But also considering the Tom marketed for salsa -also in their catalog (might even be called salsa). I’ve been having burpee website issues though so have not placed an order.