Tomato for a school garden

Raymondo · May 16, 2008

I'm involved in a school kitchen garden project and am looking for a suitable tomato.
It has to:
1. provide fruit over the growing season and not all at once,
2. be of compact habit so the littlies (5 & 6 year olds) can manage it and
3. be a cherry or small 'roma' type as these seem less susceptible to the dreaded Queensland Fruit Fly, a major pest of soft fruits in eastern Australia.
edit (16th May):
4. I should have added that OP is preferable as it is to be a seed-to-seed garden. In other words, the kids will save seeds and grow them the following year.

Any suggestions would be most appreciated.

rnewste · May 16, 2008

Hey Raymondo,

As kids have the attention span of a mosquito in a New Jersey swamp in July, I would recommend Stupice as one that will "grab their attention" and produce something that will demonstrate the life cycle in short order.

Ray

jenn_sc · May 16, 2008

How about Yellow Pear? They're awfully cute and will produce LOTS of tomatoes. Kids would probably like them.

Jennifer

Ruth_10 · May 16, 2008

As Ray suggests, something early like Stupice or Kimberly would fit the bill.

oc tony · May 16, 2008

I'd recomend Sun Gold. It has very good diasese resistence & it is early & productive.

feralcatfriend · May 18, 2008

How compact? Matt's Wild Cherry, aka Wild Cherry, only gets about four or five feet tall, although it ranges everywhere. It comes early and stays late and produces through heat, drought and cool temps right up to frost.

I'm giving plants to a summer school garden and will be choosing a variety of colors of cherry tomatoes, including Matt's Wild Cherry, which is one of my favorites (big tomato flavor in a tiny tomato). I'm hoping the children will be excited by the beautiful colors as well as the delicious flavors.

Cynthia

Raymondo · May 18, 2008

Yes, a selection of colours would be good. How compact? Good question. They want plants that the smaller kids will be able to harvest from. I guess a larger plant could just be let sprawl.

dice · May 18, 2008

Aurora and Sasha's Altai are smallish indeterminates
that produce bigger tomatoes than cherries, both early.
Grub's Mystery Green would be another good one (compact
plant, indeterminate, big fruit, not as early).

Wondering about cherries, I looked under the cherry category
in Tania's Tomatobase for smaller plants and found these:

http://t-garden.homeip.net/mwiki/index.php/Barbaniaka
http://t-garden.homeip.net/mwiki/index.php/Clementine
http://t-garden.homeip.net/mwiki/index.php/Ditmarsher
http://t-garden.homeip.net/mwiki/index.php/Jagodka
http://t-garden.homeip.net/mwiki/index.php/Mini_Rose
http://t-garden.homeip.net/mwiki/ind...Russian_Cherry
http://t-garden.homeip.net/mwiki/index.php/Santa
http://t-garden.homeip.net/mwiki/index.php/Tumbler

(I skipped the tart-flavored ones, because kids usually prefer
sweet tomatoes. You could email Tania from the Tomatobase
contact page and see if she has seeds for any of these. Some
might be available via SSE, too.)

May 16, 2008	#1
Raymondo Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Saumarez Ponds, NSW, Australia Posts: 946	Tomato for a school garden I'm involved in a school kitchen garden project and am looking for a suitable tomato. It has to: 1. provide fruit over the growing season and not all at once, 2. be of compact habit so the littlies (5 & 6 year olds) can manage it and 3. be a cherry or small 'roma' type as these seem less susceptible to the dreaded Queensland Fruit Fly, a major pest of soft fruits in eastern Australia. edit (16th May): 4. I should have added that OP is preferable as it is to be a seed-to-seed garden. In other words, the kids will save seeds and grow them the following year. Any suggestions would be most appreciated. __________________ Ray Last edited by Raymondo; May 16, 2008 at 04:12 PM.

May 16, 2008	#4
Ruth_10 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: MO z6a near St. Louis Posts: 1,349	As Ray suggests, something early like Stupice or Kimberly would fit the bill. __________________ --Ruth Some say the glass half-full. Others say the glass is half-empty. To an engineer, it’s twice as big as it needs to be.

May 18, 2008	#7
Raymondo Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Saumarez Ponds, NSW, Australia Posts: 946	Yes, a selection of colours would be good. How compact? Good question. They want plants that the smaller kids will be able to harvest from. I guess a larger plant could just be let sprawl. __________________ Ray

May 18, 2008	#8
dice Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: PNW Posts: 4,743	Aurora and Sasha's Altai are smallish indeterminates that produce bigger tomatoes than cherries, both early. Grub's Mystery Green would be another good one (compact plant, indeterminate, big fruit, not as early). Wondering about cherries, I looked under the cherry category in Tania's Tomatobase for smaller plants and found these: http://t-garden.homeip.net/mwiki/index.php/Barbaniaka http://t-garden.homeip.net/mwiki/index.php/Clementine http://t-garden.homeip.net/mwiki/index.php/Ditmarsher http://t-garden.homeip.net/mwiki/index.php/Jagodka http://t-garden.homeip.net/mwiki/index.php/Mini_Rose http://t-garden.homeip.net/mwiki/ind...Russian_Cherry http://t-garden.homeip.net/mwiki/index.php/Santa http://t-garden.homeip.net/mwiki/index.php/Tumbler (I skipped the tart-flavored ones, because kids usually prefer sweet tomatoes. You could email Tania from the Tomatobase contact page and see if she has seeds for any of these. Some might be available via SSE, too.) __________________ -- alias

May 16, 2008	#2
rnewste Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Campbell, CA Posts: 4,064	Hey Raymondo, As kids have the attention span of a mosquito in a New Jersey swamp in July, I would recommend Stupice as one that will "grab their attention" and produce something that will demonstrate the life cycle in short order. Ray

May 16, 2008	#3
jenn_sc SPLATT™ Coordinator Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Florence, SC Posts: 502	How about Yellow Pear? They're awfully cute and will produce LOTS of tomatoes. Kids would probably like them. Jennifer

May 16, 2008	#5
oc tony Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: oc ca. Posts: 173	I'd recomend Sun Gold. It has very good diasese resistence & it is early & productive.

May 18, 2008	#6
feralcatfriend Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2007 Location: Bel Air, MD USA Posts: 42	How compact? Matt's Wild Cherry, aka Wild Cherry, only gets about four or five feet tall, although it ranges everywhere. It comes early and stays late and produces through heat, drought and cool temps right up to frost. I'm giving plants to a summer school garden and will be choosing a variety of colors of cherry tomatoes, including Matt's Wild Cherry, which is one of my favorites (big tomato flavor in a tiny tomato). I'm hoping the children will be excited by the beautiful colors as well as the delicious flavors. Cynthia