What new varieties did you grow this year...

[MikeInCypress]

Ted,

Blush is one of Fred Hempel's Introductions. Elongated 2 to 2 1/2"long 1" diameter yellow gold fruit with faint red striping. Plant was a tomato making machine and was also one of the earliest producers.
I enjoyed the taste. Not tart, but sort of sweet. I got my seeds from Seeds of Change, but I think maybe they are available from Artisan Seeds as well.

MikeInCypress

[Deborah]

White Rabbit? If it's not sweet it'd be fun for me to grow as one of my little boys, Saltflower, is a white rabbit.

[Granite26]

One of the new to me varieties that was a rock star in the garden was Little Lucky.
Great producer and I loved the Flavor.

[bower]

Moravsky Div and Oaxacan Jewel PL.
MDiv was earliest and a great producer, rated better tasting than Stupice.
Oaxacan Jewel PL was late but fantastic in every other way: healthiest plant overall so low maintenance, tolerated cold early in the season and heat later on, with decent steady production in cold or heat and delicious, beautiful fruit.

[mecktom]

Kimberley is a great tasting early tomato. Planted it for the first time this year and loved it.

[camochef]

Not exactly a new variety but a new method, German Johnson-Benton Strain, (grafted to maxifort root stock), was the most impressive. Not only the best producer, it yielded pounds of huge tomatoes, with the best taste I've ever encountered in a tomato. They were very meaty, yet juicy.
Not to be confused with the regular German Johnson's out there. This was one special tomato! I've grown this tomato from seed for five or six years, and while it was good, (it has to be to get that many years growing time in my gardens), it wasn't spectacular as the grafted version was. Although the variety from seed came in second this year.

Purple Dog Creek, (my second year growing this one), came in third and all three were very close but the grafted Benton Strain was without a doubt the most productive. (and best tasting).
It was also one of the best years here for my different Brandywines in the last half dozen or more years.
Enjoy!
Camo

Camo,

Is your German Johnson PL or RL? I grew RL last year and was only moderately impressed. Some folks told me I should have grown the PL ascension for a better, more productive tomato. It may have been the other way around. I may have grown the PL and folks said I should have grown the RL.

Ted

[camochef]

Originally Posted by tedln

Camo,

Is your German Johnson PL or RL? I grew RL last year and was only moderately impressed. Some folks told me I should have grown the PL ascension for a better, more productive tomato. It may have been the other way around. I may have grown the PL and folks said I should have grown the RL.

Ted

Ted,
It was regular leafed. Like I stated above, don't confuse it with German Johnson, which I've also grown in the past. This is Benton Strain which I got from Dana,
(of Dana's flower and garden place, in nearby Littlestown, Pa.), Her parents had received seed from a customer, Jim Benton, many years ago, as it was his family's heirloom. Its been an excellent tomato for me for years and the grafted version is even more impressive with increased production, consistently larger size and the best part, more taste. They are very meaty, with few seeds compared to many other like-sized varieties.
Unfortunately, I was besieged with requests for seed and except for the few I saved for myself, they are gone. (One of the problems with such drastic reduction in garden size).
I still stand by my statement earlier in the year...This is the best tomato I ever tasted! After years of growing 300-400 tomatoes every year, this is the one I'd been searchin' for. I only grew 23 tomatoes this past season, and I'm looking to reduce that number to ten next year. I can assure you, Benton strain will be one of the ten.
Enjoy!
Camo
Selamat makan!

[JoAnne]

My keeper newbies from 2012 are Fish Lake Oxheart and Rosella Purple. Lillian's Heirloom is a runner up, although I only got 2 tomatoes from that plant.

[Alpinejs]

My list of returning vets didn't change much. Sudduth, Cherokee Green, Marianna's Peace,
Kosovo and Pineapple are all permanent residents. However, due to the generocity of
Tomatoville members, I have accumulated seeds for some great tomatoes, and my list will
either get altered or expanded. I am growing 65 varieties in my winter (Calif) garden with
the emphasis on seed but also a chance to judge Weisnichts, Fish Lake Oxheart, Purple
Dog Creek, BW from Croatia, Maiden's Gold, Rebel Yell and many more. Now I find that I
have to add Blush and to pay a visit to Camo with my Glock .45.

Okay, you vets......does it ever end? I keep thinking that I have seed for all the great
varieties and need no more and then......and then......some Tomatoville tout has me
drooling all over my catalogues and feeling life is just not complete without Yankee
Yodeler or .......or....some 'mater that even Tatania hasn't heard of yet but a groundswell
of raves has been detected here on Tomatoville.

[marc_groleau]

In rated for taste and production on 1-5 scale. 5 being best:

Type (all round eating) Taste/ Production

Cherokee Purple 4/ 4
Pineapple 4/ 3
Old German 4/ 3
Black Cherry 4/ 4
Sungold cherry 4 /5
Moskovich 3/ 3
Sweet Baby Girl Hybd. 4/ 5
Mr. Stripey 4 /1
4th July Hybd. 2/ 5
Big Beef Hybd 3/ 5
Mr. Hawkins 3 /4
My F2 Large Cherry growout 4 /5 I have free F3 seeds if anybody wants some. I have pics of full bloom F2s also.

Type (Paste tomatoes) Taste/ Production

Russian Big Roma 4/ 5
Viva Italia Hybd. 4/ 5

[ScottinAtlanta]

OK, I know this is quirky, but I planted Lime Green Salad and loved it. The citrusy taste was excellent. Keep in mind it is a dwarf when you plant it.

The other one that was a freebie from Tania in a seed order was Ailsa Craig. Small globes, but it kept on and kept on with good tomato taste, and was a favorite in salads.

[BigBrownDogHouse]

Virginia Sweets and lots of them.
I could tell by the expression on my wife's face the second she tried these. She loved them.

Red Barn too!

[Mark0820]

My first time favorites were:

Fish Lake Oxheart
Granny's Heart
Nile River Egyptian (I agree with Dice. This tomato has outstanding flavor. It might be close to one of my all time favorites.)
Brandywine Sudduth's
Orange Minsk

[ContainerTed]

Originally Posted by Alpinejs

Okay, you vets......does it ever end? I keep thinking that I have seed for all the great varieties and need no more and then......and then......some Tomatoville tout has me drooling all over my catalogues and feeling life is just not complete without Yankee Yodeler or .......or....some 'mater that even Tatania hasn't heard of yet but a groundswell of raves has been detected here on Tomatoville.

The absolute truthful answer is "NO". It is much too tempting and so easy to do trades with folks and get all these wonderful varieties with their "seductive" names and descriptions and reviews that promise tomato tasting ecstasy. We tomato-holics haven't the will power to resist such absolute utopia. For me personally, my "lycopene low light" never goes out. I pulled a lot of green tomatoes from the garden before first frost and they are ripening on the counter. Yesterday, I had a great tasting Lucky Cross. I have no will power to resist.

Within this last 12 months, I gave away more than 200 varieties I had collected because I could see that I would never be able to grow them out before the seed lost its viability due to old age. I just checked and my primary database tells me that I still have more than 500 varieties in the inventory.

No, it will never end. It only intensifies and drives us toward complete obsession. We can't escape. Don't even try. I tried and the pain was unbearable. Just do what the rest of us do. Give in to the tomato side.

MAY THE LYCOPENE BE WITH YOU!!