Deciding the 2012 patch

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by Too Tall Toms

Wow....seeing grow lists like these makes mine look lame! LOL

Ted dont get caught up in this with these guys.

Many of them are never satisfied with growing a few good tomatoes.
They are addicts and many are deranged.
What you have is just fine.

Don't let them drag you down with them and their addiction.

Worth

[Too Tall Toms]

I have purposely avoided growing tomatoes that have a 90-plus day maturity. If I lived in a warmer climate, then that wouldn't be an issue.
Honestly, I looked at all of the tomato varieties out there and picked the coolest-sounding names. I would study up on them and if they got good reviews, the yield was medium to high, etc. then those are the ones I added to my grow list.
The ONLY tomato that I knew I wanted without question was Brandywine. My Mom remembers that variety from years ago. I consider the Landis Valley strain to be a bonus.

I gotta take a picture of the area where I'm putting in the raised beds and I'll post them here.

[kath]

Originally Posted by Too Tall Toms

Well my original plans were to have six varieties and have two plants of each. However, when I saw the lists of tomatoes available at those two websites, I couldn't help myself.

I might have to just go with one of each.

When I got carried away with growing "too many" varieties in 2010 and 2011, I grew only one of each. Then if the variety doesn't grow true to type, I try again the next year.

This year I had good intentions of limiting my varieties to the point where I could fit at least two plants of each variety, but as the catalogs come out...well, you probably know where this is headed.

[b54red]

Ted, I have grown quite a few hearts in the last couple of years and most of them are rather bland to me; but nothing like the store bought Romas. Those are just plain tasteless where many of the hearts are sweet and mild.

I am only growing a few hearts this year because I just don't want to waste the time and space growing tomatoes that I don't find that flavorful. If you want sauce tomatoes even the bland hearts are terrific for paste or sauce because they are so meaty and many are fairly dry with limited seeds requiring less processing.

[KLorentz]

What about the seed offers ? That evil Carolyn person is an enabler


Kevin

[Germinator]

I'm new here to this forum....hello everyone.
Last year I grew 30+ varieties but want to limit them to around 20-25 this year but you all know how hard that is!! So, here is what I grew last year. Any suggestions would be appreciated:
Hippy Zebra
JD's Special C-Tex
Lillian's Yellow
Little Lucky / Lucky Cross
Marmande
Paul Robeson
Pink Berkeley Tie-Dye
Stump O' the World
Sunset's Red Horizon
Andrew Rahart's Jumbo Red
Aunt Ruby's German Green
Black Krim
Black Seaman
Brandywine Red (Landis Valley)
Cherokee Chocolate/Cherokee Green/Cherokee Purple
Chocolate Stripes
Dona
Haley's Purple Comet
Black Seaman
Black Cherry
Bull's Heart
Sun Sugar
Pineapple (used up old seeds)

It was not a good growing year here in No. Calif. and a lot of them ripened all at once. I loved Aunt Ruby's German, Paul Robeson, Sun Sugar, Black Krim.

Suzanne

[Gardadore]

Thanks Seamsfaster for your input about the Chocolate Cherry. I have re-instated the Black Cherry for 2012 to make a good comparison. We seem to share similar tastes in what we like. Dagma's Perfection is probably my favorite Yellow/ Orange and so far I have been spared BER. Even with it I would wait it out because the tomatoes are sooooo good! I grew 3 varieties of Tie Dye last year - the regular, the Pink and the Heart. The Heart was voted the best of the 3 by my friends in my private taste test. I am hoping to finally get a good Earl of Edgecombe as I have very poor luck with it - in 2009 the plant I bought did nothing and the seeds I bought in 2010 turned out to be "lemons" producing poor plants and 0 in 2011. I have a new pack so am more optimistic. I will definitely give friends each one of these so we get something somewhere! I understand it is a very good tasting tomato. I don't care about huge production since there are just two of us and if I get 4-5 tomatoes from a plant it is OK just for tasting.
Because two of you indicated poor production with Mr. Stripey I will give that to my farmer friend to grow out and see what happens - she has the space for failures!

Too Tall Toms: I will plant only one of each variety because of space although ideally I should have two to have a back up. I usually lose at least 10 % to poor production or "accidents" (snapping off the tops when transplanting) or critters chewing on them. Several in the list are replants of last year's failures. 2011 was a very difficult summer with the excess of rain leading to waterlogged tomatoes, many of which rotted on the vine before fully ripening. Thus I expect a number to taste much better if we get more normal weather in 2012 (whatever that is anymore!) I think I may also go the route of not planting the 90 day tomatoes here in PA to save space for more dependable ones. My farmer friend has the space to experiment.

Ted, like you, I try to prepare a list with a nice cross of varieties, ripening dates, colors, etc. I hope you do find the Hearts to be good because thanks to Carolyn's recommendations I have become a "Heart" fanatic and find them to normally be very tasty and great for sauces. Since they are so meaty they are also good for drying. I'm game to try anything once and have enjoyed the ripe green ones and many of the "Blacks" (always include some new ones each year of those).
This has been a fantastic adventure and after two years of private tomato tastings my friends anxiously look forward to the next year. I invite a very small group - no more than 6 at a time. We have bread and cheese as well and sample one tomato at a time for a total of 10 -12 varieties. The discussions are very interesting as each one describes his or her reaction and we vote on the three best of the afternoon. It is most fun for me when someone tastes a "weird" tomato such as a green or black one for the first time and finds they like it!!

[SEAMSFASTER]

Originally Posted by tedln

Seamsfaster,

My Mr Stripey only produced one tomato on a huge plant. Other varieties around it were producing by the truckload.

What elevation are you growing at in Utah? I know some gardeners in Utah who don't even try growing tomatoes because their season is so short.

To Tall Toms,

I always grow at least two plants of each variety in order to insure traits I observe are common to the variety instead of individual plants. For some reason, I often notice differences between two plants of the same variety grown in different parts of the garden. I don't know why, but it happens.

Ted

I'm at 4,300', zone 6b (7a by some accounts), 172 day average frost free days. Elevation's just part of the story. I'm a few miles south of the Great Salt Lake and that seems to moderate the temperatures somewhat. With proper care and good healthy seedlings to start with, tomato growers are often very successful in the Salt Lake Valley.

This year, Hawaiian Pineapple was the slowest to ripen at 144 days from transplant (200 from seed), but I still got 5 or so wonderful tasting fruits from it before it got too chilly.

High tunnels really help extend tomato production at higher elevations, but I'm not at that point yet for $ or land...

I wish I could grow a minimum of six plants of each variety. Of 420 total plants in 2011, about 20 did not produce what I expected. I think six of each, preferably from at least 2 independent seed sources, would help ensure genetic variation and allow a much broader choice when it comes time for selecting fruits for seed saving.

[SEAMSFASTER]

Originally Posted by Worth1

Ted dont get caught up in this with these guys.

Many of them are never satisfied with growing a few good tomatoes.
They are addicts and many are deranged.
What you have is just fine.

Don't let them drag you down with them and their addiction.

Worth

Worth - you've got me pegged for sure! But at least it's tomatoes and not drugs!

With the down economy, I took a bold leap in early 2011 and started a small microfarming business, with an emphasis on tomatoes. So far, I figure I've netted about 53¢/hr. for my efforts - that is deranged by almost any measure!

Seriously though, for a typical backyard home garden, I think 10-15 varieties is plenty, no matter how much family members like tomatoes. Whittling down the list to 15 is an enormous challenge for those of us who are genuine tomato addicts.

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by KLorentz

What about the seed offers ? That evil Carolyn person is an enabler


Kevin

That's my mission in life as far as tomatoes go Kevin.

Do you have a problem with my being an enabler? For sure I'm not the only one around here who is an enabler.