Too Soon?

[D.J. Wolf]

Ok, I don't even have most of my plants in the garden yet, and I'm already thinking/planning for next year! Is it too soon???

Been looking at various sights thinking about what I want to do tomato wise next year. This year all my varieties were from Burpee, and bought at my local Walmart. Well, to put it mildly, I'm not impressed with the results. 1 of 3 porterhouse beefsteaks grew, replanted 4 more, 1 made it and doesn't look that great. Sugar Baby cherry did ok, think 5 of the 6 plants survived. Was really excited about Early Treat...1 out of 7 survived. Only one's that really look good are the superbeefsteaks.

So I'm thinking next year, it's going to be some heirlooms, maybe even mostly heirlooms. Not saying I'm going to totally give up on hybrids, but I want to try something new.

So this probably means more tomato plants next year, which means less room for other stuff. But as long as I get my bell peppers, zucchini, and sweet corn, I'm good with that.

Anyway, what are your thoughts? I want to grow interesting looking (different) tomatoes that produce a lot of tomatoes. Definitely want to have a couple different blue/black varieties. Maybe some hearts, never grown them. Stipes are cool too. Ijust need ideas for varieties that produce well, taste great, and are different from what most people consider a "tomato" (ie. round and red )