Choosing the last few,

[Jeannine Anne]

Hi,after picking what I want for this year I have a little space left and cannot make up my mind between the following that are available.Myself and another person grew extras for sharing in a community garden. I don't have the space for everything that is growing and some I have not grown before. Yeild is perhaps a consideration as the fruit will be grown for the foodbank.I have only one of each of the following.

I would be obliged it you see your favourites, you could perhaps tell me why, and on the flip side if there are any I should pass up.

I have room for about 7 more.

Berkeley Tie Dye Heart
Brads Black Heart
Hearts Delite
African Queen
Anna Banana
Cowlicks
Andrew Raharts
Caseys Yellow
Danko
Green Docters
Indian Stripe
Italian Purple
Kosovo
Sarnowski Polish Plum
Hillbilly
Aunt Ginny's Purple
Black Plum
Dr Carolyn
Green Giant
Dr Lyle
Black from Tula
Blondkopfchen
Italian Heirloom
Juliet
Sungold
Green Giant
Kimberley


Thank you in advance.

XX Jeannine

[dice]

Brad's Black Heart - yum

Kimberly - good flavor and very early, so you get a crop
even in a summer with mostly bad weather; pretty good
disease tolerance (late blight will still kill it, of course, very
few tomatoes have any tolerance for that at all); saladette
sized fruit, good production

Performance of most of those on your list depends on the
weather over the summer and whether they have protection
from fall rains or not (lots of mid-season to late varieties there).

[Jeannine Anne]

[quote=dice;211052]Brad's Black Heart - yum

Kimberly - good flavor and very early, so you get a crop
even in a summer with mostly bad weather; pretty good
disease tolerance (late blight will still kill it, of course, very
few tomatoes have any tolerance for that at all); saladette
sized fruit, good production

Performance of most of those on your list depends on the
weather over the summer and whether they have protection
from fall rains or not (lots of mid-season to late varieties there


They will be a large greenhouse, yes I was concerned about the lateness of most of them, but the greenhouse should take care of that I hope.

[salix]

If I were choosing, it would be Brad's Black Heart, Casey's Yellow, Danko, Indian Stripe, Kosovo, Sungold and Kimberley. I sort of dithered about Sungold, but really can't see why a foodbank could not use cherry tomatoes. Good growing to you, hope you have a fruitful season. And welcome home, from a northerner with just one snowbank left in the yard...

[bcday]

As much as I enjoy the variety of tomato shapes and colors available, I have discovered that many people only want red tomatoes. To them, tomatoes that aren't red don't look or taste like tomatoes. One lady took a quick look at a nice batch of Black Cherry and tried to give them back to me. One of my neighbors said the yellow tomatoes I gave him were okay but they didn't taste like tomatoes. People will try to fry a green when ripe tomato even if you tell them it's ripe; to them, green tomatoes are for frying, not eating raw. Even if a tomato is free, if it isn't red you don't know if they will eat it after they get it home.

IMO unless you know that the food bank serves people who prefer a variety of tomato colors and flavors, it might be better to stick with the red ones on your list this year regardless of yield or size of fruit.

[kath]

I'm growing quite of few of these for the first time this year based on good reports by others but I'll only address those I've grown already.

Definitely "yes" for Cowlick's for a productive Brandywine; for Indian Stripe for a productive, not huge plant, delicious fruit; Kosovo for a very productive and delicious heart; Black from Tula for a wonderful dark tomato; Sungold for an irresistable cherry.

Ones I've grown and wouldn't again: Andrew Rahart's, Aunt Ginny's Purple, Black Plum, Green Giant, Blondkopfchen and Juliet. Others will tell you that these are among their favorites, so it mostly depends on what you like and in this case, what those who make use of the food bank will like. At the food pantries here, the first tomatoes to go are the big reds and cherries of any color, then the pinks, then the darks (but many think they're "rotten") and lastly the yellows, bicolors and green-when-ripes.

[lurley]

I'm with the others, if it's for a food bank, just grow reds or pinks. I am trying cowlicks this year along with my sudduths, but my personal favorite from your list is Hillbilly. Hillbilly is what got me interested in heirlooms in the first place. It had great flavor and was beautiful to boot. The plants and fruit are in big demand around here and if you take a flat of Hillbilly tomatoes to the amish produce auction you wouldn't believe the prices people pay for them compared to all the other varieties. They pay more for 6-8 large hillbilly tomatoes than a whole half peck or sometimes a whole bushel of red canners.

[lowlylowlycook]

The poster JackE runs some kind of charity based farming operation. You can read a bit about what his clients want in a tomato starting on this page.

[Heritage]

I would go with the cherries first for earliness and volume, then African Queen, Andrew Raharts, and Kosovo. I've never tried Cowlick's or Indian Stripe but would be tempted to include them just from their reputation. I love the flavor of Green Giant and Casey's Pure yellow but they seem think-skinned and I don't think they would handle well enough to offer to a food bank. Brad's Black heart is excellent for flavor but not a real heavy producer.

[Heritage]

Originally Posted by lowlylowlycook

The poster JackE runs some kind of charity based farming operation. You can read a bit about what his clients want in a tomato starting on this page.

Ha! Probably the best advice - for a food bank go with the tomatoes that look store bought.

[roper2008]

Kath, why wouldn't you grow green giant again? I will be trying it this year.
Every year I grow one large green. In 2009 it was Aunt Ruby's, 2010 Grub's
Mystery Green and 2011 Green Giant.

[Jeannine Anne]

Wow, thank you, some things I didn't think about. I just think my list is getting shorter then another opinion makes sense. May have to choose from a hat.I oi also have basic round red growing, many of those are already planted and doing fine but I thought these would be a treat. Maybe I will use these for me!!

XX Jeannine

[kath]

Originally Posted by roper2008

Kath, why wouldn't you grow green giant again? I will be trying it this year.
Every year I grow one large green. In 2009 it was Aunt Ruby's, 2010 Grub's
Mystery Green and 2011 Green Giant.

Hey, Linda~

I've been trying some green-when-ripes each year to see if I can find one that I like well enough to keep growing because I like the color. So far that includes Absinthe, Cherokee Green and Aunt Ruby's German Green. Of those three, ARGG did the best by far for me in terms of production, but like Green Giant, it was quite late. I liked the taste of ARGG better, as well. This year I'm trying Grub's Mystery Green and Green Zebra Cherry.

Basically, if they are late producers, they need to be as good or better than all of the other tomatoes that I have to choose from then, regardless of color, or I won't bring them back. It's just a matter of personal taste and preference as well as how they did compared to the competition in a given year. Ruthless, I know, but there are so many varieties to try and I have a finite amount of fenced space.

You might absolutely love it since many others do and it may do exceptionally well in your garden- at least I hope so!

[feldon30]

Originally Posted by lowlylowlycook

The poster JackE runs some kind of charity based farming operation. You can read a bit about what his clients want in a tomato starting on this page.

It's depressing to read. They want perfectly red, round baseballs.

[camochef]

I've grown about 50% of your listings. Of those, the only ones I would recommend are:
Cowlick's Brandywine which has been a favorite of mine for the last 5-6 years now.
Indian Stripe which has done very well for me the past few years and last year was the most productive tomato in my gardens.
Sungold which is the best tasting cherry tomato in my opinon and is also very productive.
Aunt Ginny's Purple which produced some really huge and tasty tomatoes but the plants acted more like determinates than indeterminates.
most of the others that I've grown were either not very productive or not very tasty for me here in my gardens. Many love Black from Tula for example, but I found it to be much too sweet for my taste.
While not on your list, I would recommend others like Tarasenko6 for a great tasting red, or Barlow Jap for a delicious pink. Something like Liz Birt, (pink), a Brandywine/Cherokee Purple cross is so tasty as is it's sister Bear Creek, (dark). Dana's Dusky Rose is another dark that taste great. I wish you lots of luck and enjoyment with whichever ones you chose.
Camo