[tomato] Tomato Varieties

Kyle Jones (jonesk@planetc.com)
Sun, 13 Apr 1997 17:18:01 -0400

I garden in zone 6 in eastern Tennessee. My favorite thing to grow in the
garden is tomatoes. This is my second year of gardening. This is what I
have transplants started for this year. For early tomatoes I am trying 3
varieties that I haven't grown before. They are Fourth of July which is a
4 oz tomato that ripens in 44 days, Early Girl a 5 oz fruit that ripens in
54 days, and First Lady a 5 to 6 oz fruit that ripens in 65 days. That
should get me to the main season crop of Park's Whopper a 4 inch beefsteak
that also ripens in 65 days, Celebrity a 8 oz tomato that ripens in 70
days, Brandywine a Heirloom that ripens in 80 days and is my favorite
tasting tomato but not a very pretty tomato as it has rough, deeply lobed
fruit. This takes care of the reds now for the yellow tomatoes. I plan on
planting a couple of yellow tomatoes one called Lemon Boy which is a 7 oz
fruit that ripens in 70 days and is one that I grew last year and liked,
the other yellow is Brandywine which I am trying for the first time this
year.

Last year I tried 3 varieties of cherry tomatoes, Sweet Million, Super
Sweet 100 and one called Matt's Wild Cherry. Of the three I liked Matt's
Wild Cherry the best and that is the only cherry tomato that I am going to
plant this year. It is a 5/8 to 3/4 fruit that is high in sugar content
and loaded with flavor. The seed catalog that I ordered the seed from said
the tomato grows wild in Eastern Mexico.

There is nothing like growing your own tomatoes, I just hope the Fourth of
July tomato ripens in 44 days like the seed catalog said it would. I can't
wait for that first garden ripe tomato. I intend to try at least one new
variety each year.

Kyle Jones jonesk@planetc.com