5 Tomato Varieties You Should Be Growing
Please see the updated version of this post on our new blog: You Should Grow
Before I had the pleasure of working on our farm, I had grown a total of two tomato plants. I remember a lovely spring day when I impulsively decided to plant a couple tomatoes around the patio. That day I went and bought tomato plants at the hardware store. I did not do any research on tomato varieties (you can't be impulsive and do research, duh). I'm sure I didn't think there was much variety out there: a tomato is a tomato. But, oh man, was I wrong! I was quite naive and had no idea how much I didn't know about tomatoes.
You can now find some good varieties of tomatoes, like Cherokee Purple, at the big box stores, but if you start tomatoes from seed, the options are almost literally endless. There are tons of online resources for researching tomatoes and buying seed. We are short on pretty photos of our tomatoes, so I have borrowed some of the photos below from some of our favorite resources and linked them to their websites for more information and seeds. If starting from seed sounds scary, put on your big girl/dude panties because this is something you can totally do!
You won't need much to start from seed: seed starting mix, something to plant in, a way to keep the plants warm, and water. I will do another post with more detail on seed starting, but before you can do anything you have to get some seed.
So if you are ready to start experiencing the wild world of tomatoes, here are the 5 tomato varieties you should be growing.
1. Riviera cuore di Bue: A large red slicer.
2. Aunt Ruby's German Green: A green when ripe (GWR-yep that's a thing)
3. Cherokee Purple: a great place to start if a black or purple tomato sounds scary to you.
4. Sun Gold: a sweet fruity cherry. Sun Gold is a hybrid F1 tomato. A hybrid tomato is not genetically engineered. It just a cross bred tomato. The F1 refers to the fact that it is a first generation tomato from a cross of two 'parent' tomatoes.
If you are like us, after your first season trying some new tomatoes, you are going to have a very difficult time narrowing down your grow list to only five varieties. It's an addiction, and you are about to get sucked in! Enjoy!
WhippoorwillGardens.com
*This list is cross posted at http://youshouldgro.com/blog/five-tomatoes-you-should-grow
Before I had the pleasure of working on our farm, I had grown a total of two tomato plants. I remember a lovely spring day when I impulsively decided to plant a couple tomatoes around the patio. That day I went and bought tomato plants at the hardware store. I did not do any research on tomato varieties (you can't be impulsive and do research, duh). I'm sure I didn't think there was much variety out there: a tomato is a tomato. But, oh man, was I wrong! I was quite naive and had no idea how much I didn't know about tomatoes.
You can now find some good varieties of tomatoes, like Cherokee Purple, at the big box stores, but if you start tomatoes from seed, the options are almost literally endless. There are tons of online resources for researching tomatoes and buying seed. We are short on pretty photos of our tomatoes, so I have borrowed some of the photos below from some of our favorite resources and linked them to their websites for more information and seeds. If starting from seed sounds scary, put on your big girl/dude panties because this is something you can totally do!
You won't need much to start from seed: seed starting mix, something to plant in, a way to keep the plants warm, and water. I will do another post with more detail on seed starting, but before you can do anything you have to get some seed.
So if you are ready to start experiencing the wild world of tomatoes, here are the 5 tomato varieties you should be growing.
1. Riviera cuore di Bue: A large red slicer.
 |
| Image and Seed Source: Territorial Seed |
- I love this beautiful bulbous tomato for 3 reasons: It is a beast of a tomato and produces like crazy. It is a great multipurpose tomato for sauces and slicing. Its mild but classic tomato flavor will satisfy all your tomato cravings.
- If you really need to have a red round tomato go with Mule Team. You'll get tons of great red round tomatoes!
2. Aunt Ruby's German Green: A green when ripe (GWR-yep that's a thing)
 |
| Image and Seed Source: Seed Savers |
- We haven't found a better GWR for our garden. The flavor of this green tomato is stronger than you might imagine. It is juicy, sweet, and tart. We love it sliced with a little salt and some fresh mozzarella and basil. Our rainbow Caprese:
 |
| Image by Whippoorwill Gardens |
- Side note: a ripe GWR is not to be used for frying: any ripe tomato will get all mushy if you try to bread and fry it. Aunt Ruby's is a delicious fried green tomato, but you must use a firm, unripe tomato.
3. Cherokee Purple: a great place to start if a black or purple tomato sounds scary to you.
 |
| Image and Seed Source: Tatiana's Tomatobase |
- This classic heirloom tomato is a great variety for the beginner. It grows happily here in the south and produces very well. The large tomatoes are full flavored and delicious. It is a great variety to start with if you are just venturing out from the classic red store variety because the flavor will really knock you out.
4. Sun Gold: a sweet fruity cherry. Sun Gold is a hybrid F1 tomato. A hybrid tomato is not genetically engineered. It just a cross bred tomato. The F1 refers to the fact that it is a first generation tomato from a cross of two 'parent' tomatoes.
 |
| Image by Whippoorwill Gardens |
- This cherry is definitely worth growing every year in every garden. The Sun Gold is a prolific orange cherry tomato that is so sweet kids will eat it like candy. You will love walking through your garden and munching these sweet babies right off the vine!
5. Maglia Rosa: a sweet salad and snacking tomato.
- Maglia Rosa is a wispy flimsy plant that makes these yummy pretty pointy tomatoes. It has a compact habit that grows well in containers and is a heavy producer. You should pick and enjoy these tomatoes on the greener side of ripe. We love that the flavor really stands out even when cooked.
If you are like us, after your first season trying some new tomatoes, you are going to have a very difficult time narrowing down your grow list to only five varieties. It's an addiction, and you are about to get sucked in! Enjoy!
WhippoorwillGardens.com
*This list is cross posted at http://youshouldgro.com/blog/five-tomatoes-you-should-grow
Comments
Post a Comment