Help me cut down my list for 2011. Please.

[recruiterg]

I would break it down into groups. If I were growing 12 plants, I would grow 2 pinks, 1 red, 2 yellows, 2 blacks, 3 cherries, 2 oddballs. Thus, I would suggest the following:

2 Pinks: Aunt Ginny's Purple, Cowlick's Brandywine (I like Brandywine Sudduth and Stump of the World better, but they are all very similar)

1 Red: I have not settled on a good red, but I am planning on trying Neves Azorian Red this year. I thought Aker's West Virginia was too mild in flavor for my liking, but that is a matter of opinion.

2 Yellows: KBX and Aunt Gerties Gold

2 Blacks: Cherokee Purple and JD's Special C-Tex

3 Cherries: SunGold, Black Cherry, and Tommy Toe (or Chadwick's Cherry)

2 Oddballs: Opalka (paste) and Prue (heart) (or Kosovo, Wes, or Anna Russian - I've never grown it)

This would be my strategy.

[dustdevil]

Be realistic. If you just grow one plant of a variety once, it isn't a fair trial. Goofy weather and the chance of a rogue seed can skew the taste results. Now that you are a tomato addict, figure you will spend your lifetime looking for the Holy Grail of tomatoes;-) I suggest you get a community garden plot (allotment) or build some of Raybo's 'tainers to grow more varieties.

[b54red]

Dustdevil is right, so start planning the expansion now before it's time to plant.
That is a great list Recruiterg; but you left off the insurance tomato like Big Beef, Jetsetter,Cabernet, or some other tough hybrid to give you something to slice if the others fail to perform.

[recruiterg]

Sorry, should have mentioned, I don't grow hybrids. The only exception is SunGold and I do a plant sale in the spring. It is popular with the customers.

I prefer variety, hence I plant only one of each plant. Nothing is cooler than going out in the summer and picking a wide variety of colors and flavors of tomatoes. Variety is the spice of life, isn't it?

[b54red]

I had a little too much spice this year with 78 different varieties in a small garden. I planted several of many of the varieties.
We have a lot of disease problems down here so it would be foolish of me not to plant a couple of Big Beefs, especially when planting my fall tomatoes when the heat and disease kill 3/4 of the plants set out before they get 2 feet tall and then half of the rest will die before any fruit are ready to pick. I'm more interested in taste and production than whether it is a hybrid or not. The best tasting varieties for me are OPs but sometimes the production can be lacking big time and I still want some fresh homegrown delicious tomatoes and Big Beef usually fills the void in a bad year.

[lowlylowlycook]

So now I'm at:

1. Sungold
2. Black Cherry
3. Kellogg's Breakfast or possibly KBX
4. Anna Russian
5. Cherokee Purple
6. Aker's West Virginia
7. Black Krim or possibly Black from Tula
8. Opalka
9. Druzba
10. Soldacki
11. Andrew Rahart's Jumbo Red
12. Brandywine (Cowlick's)
13. German Head

I think Aker's will be the next one to go. Anyone want to object?

Oh, and I managed to outsmart everyone that wants me to put in new beds by finalizing this list while I'm digging out my new bed for next year. Unless someone wants to hire a backhoe for me I'm immune to that particular siren song. For now, anyway. You can try again next spring.

I wouldn't want my last words to be "The clay. The clay."

[Timbotide]

Bill, Do you ever plant Big Beef early in the season?
I may plant some in early March to see how they do.

[geeboss]

lowlylowlycook

Wouldn't worry about the clay just add some peat moss, admendments like molasses this fall along with compost and in the very early spring alfalfa pellets. The list might change for me in No. VA, I'd want to replace Andrew Rahart's Jumbo Red with Indian Stripe; switch out Akers West VA with Chapman or Helen's German; and pull out German Head and replace in with Cherokee Green. Anyway your list is taking shape and soon your be biting at the bit to start your seeds in late Feb/ early ~Mar`````

Let me know if you need any seeds for `the above suggestion.

George

[lowlylowlycook]

Reading some older threads and it seems that maybe A-R Jumbo Red will be hard to find in it's true form. Maybe I should skip that one?

[Barbee]

I wouldn't want my last words to be "The clay. The clay."

This made me laugh out loud when I read it.

Your list looks good. I see you are now up to 13 varieties instead of 12 Since 13 tomatoes is bad mojo.. I'd like to suggest planting both your cherries in one of Ray's earthtainers and then you can add one more tomato (a nice green when ripe perhaps?) to your in ground garden. The cherries are much easier to harvest in a container. Adding one more plant brings up up to 14 varieties and that equals good mojo.

See how the justifying adding more plants works? Now you try it...

[afrance30]

Originally Posted by lowlylowlycook

So next year will be my second year with a garden and my first growing tomatoes from seed. I'm using raised beds (double dug) so don't have a huge amount of space and I'm thinking I'll put in 12 tomato plants.

Only 12 plants?

I will have to let others help you out there, I'm not useful in matters of tomato plant self-control.

[lowlylowlycook]

Originally Posted by Barbee

This made me laugh out loud when I read it.

Your list looks good. I see you are now up to 13 varieties instead of 12 Since 13 tomatoes is bad mojo.. I'd like to suggest planting both your cherries in one of Ray's earthtainers and then you can add one more tomato (a nice green when ripe perhaps?) to your in ground garden. The cherries are much easier to harvest in a container. Adding one more plant brings up up to 14 varieties and that equals good mojo.

See how the justifying adding more plants works? Now you try it...

Bah. I hit the reply button to refute your punny arguments. I mean, I'm not superstitious and anyway if you include the three early toms I planned to put in Earth/LakeTainers then I'd have 15 anyway.

But I dunno. It's tempting. Somehow I like the look of this:

Earthtainers:

1. Sungold
2. Black Cherry
3. Stupice
4. Bloody Butcher

LakeTainer:

1. Sophie's Choice

Raised Beds:

1. Kellogg's Breakfast or possibly KBX
2. Anna Russian
3. Cherokee Purple
4. Aker's West Virginia
5. Black Krim or possibly Black from Tula
6. Opalka
7. Druzba
8. Soldacki
9. Brandywine (Cowlick's)
10. German Head
11. Pale Perfect Purple
12. Cherokee Green

[Barbee]

But I dunno. It's tempting. Somehow I like the look of
this:

Up to 17 varieties now. That looks so much better!

[Tormato]

I suggest KBX over Kellogg's Breakfast, for the benefits of the PL plant.

And, possibly replace Soldacki, because it splits easily.

[walkinggin]

Since you are a cook, I suggest adding more cooking/paste tomatoes to your list particularly of the good tasting all-purpose variety. I find that no matter how many I plant I always wish I had more. Opalka is good and you might also try Prue which is great tasting and extremely versatile.

Ginny