I’ve organized my seeds, found all of my seed starting equipment, and have even sowed a few perennials under the lights (mostly because I NEEDED to play with seeds and soil — it’s been a long winter!)
And while I’m looking forward to fresh green beans, flavorful salads, and raspberries, what really revs my engine is the thought of all of the tomatoes I’m going to grow (and eat!) this summer. I’ve finalized my list, mostly so that I will stop ordering or trading for more seeds. Here are the varieties I’m growing this year:
Old Favorites:
‘Brandywine’ — This is probably my favorite tomato of all-time. ‘Cherokee Purple’ — I don’t get huge yields from these, but the tomatoes I do get are well worth the wait!‘Black Krim’ — These are beautiful, flavorful tomatoes.‘Stupice’ — A very reliable early tomato here in my Detroit area garden.‘Red Currant’ — Teeny-tiny, super-flavorful little tomatoes. These never actually make it into the house.‘Polish Linguisa’ — My favorite paste tomato. This grows well here, produces nice yields, and seems less prone to blossom end rot than other paste tomatoes I’ve grown.‘Woodle Orange’ — very pretty bright orange, low acid tomato. ‘Red Pear’ — Cherry-size tomato — bright red, sweet pear-shaped tomatoes.‘Yellow Pear’ — Like ‘Red Pear,’ these are small. A good choice if you’re looking for a low-acid tomato.‘Japanese Black Trifele’ — My other favorite tomato of all time. Beautiful tomato with rich, slightly smoky flavor.‘Silvery Fir Tree’ — A pretty plant, produces decent yields of small round, red tomatoes. This one works well in containers.‘Wapsipinicon Peach’ — Fuzzy, sweet little yellow tomatoes. My kids love these.‘Tiger-Like’ — Red and orange striped cherry-size tomatoes. Super prolific. This is another of our favorites.‘Sungold’ (this is the only hybrid I grow) — Prolific and sweet. Very reliable producer.Tomatoes I’m Trying for the First Time:
- ‘Sweet Persimmon’
- ‘Jaune Flamme’
- ‘Chianti Rose’
- ‘Big Rainbow’
- ‘Marvel Stripe’
- ‘Green Zebra’
- ‘Speckled Roman’
- ‘Zapotec Pleated’
- ‘Isis Candy’
- ‘Violet Jasper’
- ‘Great White’
- ‘Chocolate Stripes’
- ‘OSU Blue’
- ‘Tigerella’
I’ll likely grow one of each plant, which is what I do most years, though I grow 6 or so of the ‘Polish Linguisa’ so I can preserve them — I like to can them, and they make tasty dried tomatoes as well.
Have you grown any of the “new to me” tomatoes on my list? I’d love to hear what you thought of them!