Help with my grow list

[Mudman]

I am going start selling at a local farmer's market this summer and I am trying to do some planning. Below is a list of what I am growing this summer. I will try to grow one or two of each variety, but I want to grow 4-5 of several varieties that will be good for selling at market so I can have a good quantity of those. Any advice or experience from experienced sellers would be much appreciated. I want a variety of colors and some early varieties so I can be first to market with tomatoes.

Amish Paste
Anna Russian
Aunt Gertie’s Gold
Azoychka
Black and Red Boar
Black Cherry
Black from Tula
Black Zebra
Brandywine Sudduth’s Strain
Cherokee Purple
Chocolate Stripes
Constoluto Genovese
Copia
Eva Purple Ball
Evergreen
Ferris Wheel
Flame
Garden Peach
Green Zebra
Great White
Henderson’s Crimson Cushion
Isis Candy
Japanese Black Trifele
Lien’s Grape F3 (red/orange grape)
Marianna’s Peace
Neve’s Azorean Red
Norderås Busk
Old German
Omar’s Lebanese
Pruden’s Purple
Purple Calabash
Red Barn
Sheboygan
Sibirskiy Skorospelyi
Sterling Old Norway
Stupice
Sungold F1
Tante Ci
Tigerella
Wapogasset F4 (medium round, red)
Wapsipinicon Peach
Wisconsin 55 Gold

[JackE]

I assume your market is located in an upscale area - where people are well-educated enough to appreciate this level of sophistication. Here in Texas, in the affluent suburbs, we do have a market for OP tomatoes and I have friends that grow and sell them for $5 apiece - always Brandywine because that's a famous name that people know and appreciate.

I know that people up there are higher class, but I can't visualize customers that could or would distinguish between Neve’s Azorean Red and Norderås Busk. Anyone who is that knowledgeable and sophisticated about tomatoes would surely grow their own, don't you think?

Wouldn't it be more efficient to pick about three of them - maybe a red, green and purple one - and focus on them? It would sure be a lot easier in the greenhouse and garden. Keeping track of all those would be a nightmare, and I can't imagine that it would help your sales. If it were me, I'd just grow Brandywine. The fewer varieties you have the easier it is for you, and mostly likely for the customers as well.

Jack

[Sun City Linda]

Are you saying Prudens Purple and Purple Calabash? If so, Prudens Purple is a lot more productive than Brandywine, taste great, usually looks good, and is early for a big pink. I would also think Brandywine Landis strain (red, plain leaves) would be great. Also very productive and looks good. I am not an experienced seller, or grower for that matter, but I am inclined to agree with Jack. Way too many choices. I think I would be trying to narrow down to one or maybe two best in catagory or color and see what your customers like. LInda

[Boutique Tomatoes]

There is an appeal to having an assortment of colors, shapes and sizes; it all depends on the clientele.

In Baltimore I was one of the people lined up to buy from a seller at the farmers market that had tables full of an assortment of tomatoes, various baby vegetables and different salad greens. I lived in a townhouse the first year I was there and couldn't garden at the time, so I paid through the nose to get what I wanted. I'd come back week after week to try different things.

Every market is different, here I think there would be a crowd asking questions but I don't know if the sales would justify the work as I can't see many people forking over $5 for a single big tomato. There is also the issue of what is more popular, you'll probably wish you had more plants of those varieties.

WI-Sunflower is a market grower and sells at the Madison farmers market and one other I think, she might be a good person to ask.

[Mudman]

Originally Posted by Sun City Linda

Are you saying Prudens Purple and Purple Calabash? If so, Prudens Purple is a lot more productive than Brandywine, taste great, usually looks good, and is early for a big pink. I would also think Brandywine Landis strain (red, plain leaves) would be great. Also very productive and looks good. I am not an experienced seller, or grower for that matter, but I am inclined to agree with Jack. Way too many choices. I think I would be trying to narrow down to one or maybe two best in catagory or color and see what your customers like. LInda

I edited those to say Prudens and Purple Calabash. I do really like Pruden's Purple and agree with what you say about it.

I am not saying that I am going to grow all of these for market. I am going to grow all of these because I want to. I was just wondering which few from my list I should plant in a larger quantity to bring to the market.

Jack- I live in a rural area but there are plenty of yuppies. Norderås Busk and Tante Ci are both varieties that I got from Norway and if you knew how many Norwegians there are in this area you would know why I am considering those varieties.

[JackE]

We're a non-profit charity and our clientele is mostly on welfare -

I can see it now, "sorry, we're out of Norderas Busk but we do have some very nice Tante Ci."

Jack

[Mudman]

Originally Posted by JackE

We're a non-profit charity and our clientele is mostly on welfare -
Jack

The clientele around here is mostly people looking for high quality, fresh and possibly organic produce. I'm not sure there is a need for too much sophistication, if they like the product then they will likely come back whether they know the varieties or not. And I think it is generally assumed that you pay a premium for local quality.

[Sun City Linda]

Mike - Well growing all those because you "want to" makes perfect sense! I must have seeded over 100 varieties last year. My family now refers to me as "The Tomato (plant) Hoarder." I live in a small house with no garage and everything really got taken over by the seedlings last year. I am going to cut back this year......... Linda

[Mudman]

Yeah. I'm not going to be selling at market full time, I will be growing tomatoes full time, the market will just be a hobby.
No, seriously though, I spend a ton of time gardening so if it brings in a little extra cash then great. There is very little additional investment or time for me. I will sell what I can, and what I can't, I'll can. Bad joke, I know.

[JackE]

That explains it, Thanks. It's not really just a business decision with y'all - from that point-of-view it didn't seem to make much sense. Now I understand.

Jack

[MikeInOhio]

I would suggest Paul Robeson and Purple Russian. I have been growing them for years and they sell well. I also wanted to point out Siberian Pink Honey- it's the earliest large-fruit variety I grow.

I hope this helps.

-Mike

[Mudman]

Alright, for an early red I think I will go with Sibirskiy Skorospelyi. I am thinking about also growing several Azoychka as an early, but it doesn't seem to be consistently early when I look others notes on it.

Great White was excellent for me last year and so was WI 55 Gold. Both had excellent flavor and were blemish free. Green Zebra does not produce very well for me but it might be a nice one to introduce people to green when ripe tomatoes.

Still not sure on a red/pink or a dark variety. Cherokee Purple is a great taster for me but not very productive, prone to disease, and often cracks.

Sorry Mike, I'm not really interested in adding to my list this year.

[nancyruhl]

I have some pretty limited experience with selling at a farmers market where the clientele are either farmers, home gardeners or cottage owners. Ususally, I can't bare to discard the extra seedlings that germinate, so pot them up and sell the extras. By far, most folks just want a good tasting large red tomato. I have some limited interest is black tomatoes, cherries and less in orange or green when ripe. Next year, I will be bringing more large red tomato plants if I do the sale.

As far as Cherokee Purple, I think Indian Stripe is a much better variety. Very large and tasty and quite early for me. Last year it was my earliest ripening large tomato.

[Granite26]

Eva Purple Ball produces well for me and they are nice blemish free toms.
The peach varieteis I cannot give away at market plus they are soft and damage easily.
I have found that without a minimum of 5 plants of a variety it is hard to get enough ripe ones to sell as a variety at any one time. 10-25 plants is much better. Now another option is to sell mixed packs. Here is one idea: http://www.tomatoville.com/showthrea...ight=granite26

[Mudman]

Originally Posted by Granite26

Eva Purple Ball produces well for me and they are nice blemish free toms.
The peach varieteis I cannot give away at market plus they are soft and damage easily.
I have found that without a minimum of 5 plants of a variety it is hard to get enough ripe ones to sell as a variety at any one time. 10-25 plants is much better. Now another option is to sell mixed packs. Here is one idea: http://www.tomatoville.com/showthrea...ight=granite26

I have seen that thread and I was thinking about going that route with my sales, it looks very nice and the customer gets to try several varieties. I was thinking 4 plants per variety but if you say 5 I will trust you. I need to add a lot more gardening space though. Thanks for the advise. I haven't grown EPB but they seem like they would be a good candidate. I know it doesn't matter how a tomato looks, but I know there are many people who will not want to pay for cracking, ugly tomatoes.