I am very excited as we are getting close to planting the tomatoes. I copied these towers from the Grandfather of our local gas station owner. He's 91 and still gardens vigorously everyday. The bamboo was harvested from a stand at the edge of our property and another batch is coming in this year that we'll harvest as well. It's really dense bamboo and lasts a quite few years in the garden.
Here's the math of this year: We have 25 tomato towers that each have two sides with 3 tomatoes on each side (a total of 6 per tower), for a grand total of 125 plants. We grew from seed 28 different varieties, each of which we plan on planting 3 of, so 3 x 28 = 84 plants, which leaves 41 extra spaces where we can plant more than three. We are canning/preserving everything we can this year and will want to plant extras of the best tomatoes. Could you kind folks take a look at the list here and see if any of your favorites are in it and what you'd recommend planting extras of them? Thanks, Tom
German Johnson Orange and Green Zebra Brown Sugar Raspberry Lyanna Djeena Lee's Golden Black Giant Rutger's Brandywine Japanese Black Trifele Jersey Giant Ferris Wheel Golova Negra Cherokee Purple Copia Pink Oxheart Anna Russian Caspian Pink Polish Linguisa Purple Russian Amish Paste Black Icicle Hssiao His Hung Shih San Marsano San Marsano Lungo Chocolate Cherry Red Cherry Yellow Pear Buckbee's 50
I really wish I was a tomato expert. But I am planting heirlooms for the first time this year. I have made a couple notations, but I sure others will be more helpful. :)
GREEN ZEBRA - I hear about this tomato more than any other. I will plant it next year.
YELLOW PEAR- I grew, non-organic, last year and I absolutely loved them for eating while gardening!
I really love just about any tomato, but the yellow seem to be sweeter. I like to can, freeze and dehydrate tomatoes. I really prefer the roma style for quicker easier processing, but we add in others for a varied flavor. Good luck with your tomato trellis, I think it looks great. I may be using some sunflower stalks for staking some volunteer tomatoes that I have decided to keep.
@YourGardenShow: Ours are. After making the comments to you, I was out in the garden and the sunflower stalks are lined up on our back fence. I tried bending them, they are very tough. they are from the Mammoth Su..., so I guess they have to be quite strong just to hold up those incredibl... flowers.
Of the tomatoes on your list, I only have experience with Cherokee Purple, Rutgers, Green Zebra, and Yellow Pear. My opinion of Yellow Pear is different from JMTKMS. It's actually one of my least favorite of the heirlooms and hybrids I've grown, although I will say that it was ridiculously productive - I just found it to be bland. Of the the ones I mentioned, I like Rutgers best for both flavor and production, and Cherokee Purple second for flavor (although my one plant has only set 8 fruit). Green Zebra's tart and firm if you like that (I do). Rutgers is a really good balanced tomato flavor - not too tart, not too sweet. It's kind of seedy, so probably not a top choice for sauce or paste. I still remember Brandywine as "that one perfect tomato" that I tried about eight years ago, but I haven't tasted one since and I haven't grown it... I'd love to hear your opinions on the others once you try them - there are a ot on your list I've wondered about!
@julia42: I guess I could agree that the pear tomatoes do not have alot of flavor, but I just use them for a garden snack, and I snack alot. The light flavor makes them enjoyable all day long. I am really wanting to try the Rutger now. Maybe next year. :)
@julia42: We plan on taste testing them all and reporting our results. There are four cooks in the house and we alternate. We'll try them in various recipes etc and share our results. We may try some canning mix tests as well. Here in Italy, the San Marsano is the big sauce tomato and we will probably grow additional plants of that variety. I have heard good things about the Brandywine as well. Thanks for your suggestions.
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