|
 Start
by looking for those varieties best suited to the intended use
whether for slicing, cooking, preserving, or snacking. Most seed
catalogs and websites as well as plant tags and garden centers
provide recommendations.
Bite-sized tomatoes are great for salads, relish trays, and
snacking. Trailing varieties like Lizzano, Tumbling Tom, Litt’l
Bites Cherry, and Red Robin also grow well in hanging baskets and
even window boxes.
Paste and sauce tomatoes have meatier fruit making them perfect for
sauces, soups, and preserving. Roma is the traditional favorite with
an egg-shaped fruit that has thick walls and few seeds. The
All-America Selections Early Resilience Roma has excellent disease
and blossom end rot resistance and does not require staking. Use
paste tomatoes during the growing season for sauces, chop and add
them to an omelet, can or freeze them for future use.
Grow a few slicing tomatoes to enjoy on sandwiches, grilled, or on
their own. Beefsteak and Better Boy are longtime favorites while
Iron Lady, Galahad, and the colorful Chef’s Choice series are more
recent additions to this category.
Perhaps you are looking for an heirloom tomato, one
that has been grown for more than 50 years and maintained its
original traits and popularity. Cherokee Purple’s rich flavor
constantly rates high in taste tests. Brandywine, Black Cherry,
Chocolate Stripes, Amana Orange, and Black Krim are also gardener
favorites.
Coax reluctant veggie eaters of all ages to give tomatoes a try with
some of the sweeter varieties like Sunsugar often called the candy
of the garden. Consider having a taste test after growing a variety
of super sweet tomatoes like Sungold, Super Sweet 100, Suncherry,
and Sunrise Bumble Bee.
Boost your success by selecting disease-resistant varieties and
growing your tomatoes in full sun and moist well-drained soil. Plant
tags, internet sources, and catalog descriptions usually highlight
this and other helpful information.
[to top of second column] |
Look for tomato varieties suited to your growing
conditions. Check with your University Extension for a list of
recommended varieties for your area. You will also find helpful
information on the best time to start tomato seeds indoors and when
to place transplants in the garden.
Start enjoying the harvest sooner with fast-maturing
tomatoes. These are perfect if you have a short growing season or
are just anxious for your first garden-fresh tomato. Early Girl is a
longtime favorite, Bush Early Girl produces more fruit on a compact
plant, and New Girl produces bigger fruit and has better disease
resistance. Glacier, Alaska, and Juliet are a few of the many others
to consider. Check the catalog description or plant tag for the
number of days to harvest.
Select plants with the growth habit that best works with your garden
space and gardening style. Determinate tomatoes are perfect for
small space gardens and containers. They grow a certain height, stop
growing, and produce their fruit over a relatively short time.
Indeterminate tomatoes continue to grow throughout the season
producing flowers and fruit until you prune out the tip or frost
kills the plant. Stake or tower the plants to save space, reduce
disease and insect problems, and make harvesting more convenient.
Gather your family and favorite recipes. Make a list of longtime
favorites and new tomato varieties to include in this year’s garden.
Be sure to save some space as you are likely to find a few
additional varieties you just can’t resist planting this year.
Melinda Myers has written more than 20 gardening books, including
Midwest Gardener’s Handbook, 2nd Edition and Small Space Gardening.
She hosts The Great Courses “How to Grow Anything” instant video and
DVD series and the nationally syndicated Melinda’s Garden Moment
radio program. Myers is a columnist and contributing editor for
Birds & Blooms magazine. Myers’ website is www.MelindaMyers.com.
[Photo courtesy of All-America
Selections] |
