Member discussion regarding the methods, varieties and merits of growing tomatoes.
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May 16, 2008 | #1 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Saumarez Ponds, NSW, Australia
Posts: 946
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Tomato for a school garden
I'm involved in a school kitchen garden project and am looking for a suitable tomato.
It has to: 1. provide fruit over the growing season and not all at once, 2. be of compact habit so the littlies (5 & 6 year olds) can manage it and 3. be a cherry or small 'roma' type as these seem less susceptible to the dreaded Queensland Fruit Fly, a major pest of soft fruits in eastern Australia. edit (16th May): 4. I should have added that OP is preferable as it is to be a seed-to-seed garden. In other words, the kids will save seeds and grow them the following year. Any suggestions would be most appreciated.
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Ray Last edited by Raymondo; May 16, 2008 at 04:12 PM. |
May 16, 2008 | #2 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Campbell, CA
Posts: 4,064
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Hey Raymondo,
As kids have the attention span of a mosquito in a New Jersey swamp in July, I would recommend Stupice as one that will "grab their attention" and produce something that will demonstrate the life cycle in short order. Ray |
May 16, 2008 | #3 |
SPLATT™ Coordinator
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Florence, SC
Posts: 502
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How about Yellow Pear? They're awfully cute and will produce LOTS of tomatoes. Kids would probably like them.
Jennifer |
May 16, 2008 | #4 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: MO z6a near St. Louis
Posts: 1,349
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As Ray suggests, something early like Stupice or Kimberly would fit the bill.
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May 16, 2008 | #5 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Dec 2007
Location: oc ca.
Posts: 173
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I'd recomend Sun Gold. It has very good diasese resistence & it is early & productive.
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May 18, 2008 | #6 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jun 2007
Location: Bel Air, MD USA
Posts: 42
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How compact? Matt's Wild Cherry, aka Wild Cherry, only gets about four or five feet tall, although it ranges everywhere. It comes early and stays late and produces through heat, drought and cool temps right up to frost.
I'm giving plants to a summer school garden and will be choosing a variety of colors of cherry tomatoes, including Matt's Wild Cherry, which is one of my favorites (big tomato flavor in a tiny tomato). I'm hoping the children will be excited by the beautiful colors as well as the delicious flavors. Cynthia |
May 18, 2008 | #7 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: Saumarez Ponds, NSW, Australia
Posts: 946
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Yes, a selection of colours would be good. How compact? Good question. They want plants that the smaller kids will be able to harvest from. I guess a larger plant could just be let sprawl.
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Ray |
May 18, 2008 | #8 |
Tomatovillian™
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: PNW
Posts: 4,743
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Aurora and Sasha's Altai are smallish indeterminates
that produce bigger tomatoes than cherries, both early. Grub's Mystery Green would be another good one (compact plant, indeterminate, big fruit, not as early). Wondering about cherries, I looked under the cherry category in Tania's Tomatobase for smaller plants and found these: http://t-garden.homeip.net/mwiki/index.php/Barbaniaka http://t-garden.homeip.net/mwiki/index.php/Clementine http://t-garden.homeip.net/mwiki/index.php/Ditmarsher http://t-garden.homeip.net/mwiki/index.php/Jagodka http://t-garden.homeip.net/mwiki/index.php/Mini_Rose http://t-garden.homeip.net/mwiki/ind...Russian_Cherry http://t-garden.homeip.net/mwiki/index.php/Santa http://t-garden.homeip.net/mwiki/index.php/Tumbler (I skipped the tart-flavored ones, because kids usually prefer sweet tomatoes. You could email Tania from the Tomatobase contact page and see if she has seeds for any of these. Some might be available via SSE, too.)
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