2012 Vegetable & Varieties Grow List

[Eeyore]

I've got Lemon Cuke seeds and Yellow pear tomatoes so I'll be starting those.
I'll also buy a couple more cheater toms. I'll be doing carrots, Nantes of course. I have

- Asparagus Peas
- Detroit Dark Red Beets - hope they do better than last year
- Cucino Cukes - mini cukes that I'll grow on the garage trellis
- Corn - Canadian Early Supersweet
- Yellow Beans
- Swiss Chard

[DonnaZn2SK]

Lyn,
Have you grown those asparagus peas before? I saw the seeds and thought they were neat-looking, but I wasn't going to try without someone's recommendation. Are they a novelty thing? I've never had any luck with growing corn - it's so cheap when in-season, I don't bother anymore.

Dan,
Have you grown the regular Mortgage Lifters? Would the bicolour taste much different?

[OGrubber]

Thanks Lulu, I was trying to remember it's history, and all I could put my finger on was the colour - and even that was wrong. laf

Dan, You don't think oxheart has great flavour? Here, it's one of my best tasting reds.
Your sweet pea currant has piqued my curiosity. That's one I've not heard of. White or red?

[orchidguy]

Dan,
Have you grown the regular Mortgage Lifters? Would the bicolour taste much different?

I certainly have Donna, and they have about the same taste for me, but I find this variety looks much nicer in a mixed salad. Most years I grow both. If I'm not mistaken, I believe they used Green Zebra in the breeding of the bicoloured variety.

Dan, You don't think oxheart has great flavour? Here, it's one of my best tasting reds.
Your sweet pea currant has piqued my curiosity. That's one I've not heard of. White or red?

Inge,
I think oxheart has spectacular flavour, but here (could be growing conditions) have a tendency towards mealiness (not always a bad thing) whereas this Italian variety just never gets to that stage. It also has a very tiny seed pocket, and I am lucky to get 3-4 full sized seed from each fruit. I used the oxheart in comparison because their shape is similar.
The sweet pea currant is a beautiful deep red, and extremely sweet, and one of the smallest tomatoes I have ever seen. Handfuls are thrown in salads and sometimes pasta dishes. I grow these in 3' square wooden planters on the back patio away from other tomatoes because I was told when I got them they cross-breed very easily

[Eeyore]

Oxheart is one of my favorite tomatoes, although I haven't grown it for years.

Donna, I haven't grown the Asparagus peas but I thought they looked and sounded interesting. I can send you some seeds if you want to try them. Send me a PM with your snail mail address. Apparently you pick them when they are about an inch long and steam them and they should have an asparagus flavour. I wonder if I can start them early like peas..... Will have to check on that.

[OGrubber]

Thanks Dan - the rare occasion when my oxheart are mealy is in a season with extended periods of low overnight temps.... but then, most all of the other varieties react the same way.

I have three, no four, currant varieties - two red, one orange and one white. The only sweet one is the white. .... And yes, they reaaally want to cross pollinate.

[Dumbo]

So this is a list of everyone's tomatoes.

I didn't include mine since they are the "off the shelf" kind, and found anywhere. I also removed someones Sans Marzano since this is also an off the "shelf type". I removed Kumato since that *I think* is a first generation only one. Feel free to correct me if i'm wrong. So it won't grow true, or grow to what she expects.

Maybe others can narrow the list down to non-standard stuff or heirloom stuff. I've never heard of the majority of these.

Black Krim
Black From Tula
Black Zebra
Paul Robeson
Japanese Black Trifele
Cherokee Purple
Black Cherry
Sungold
Isis Candy
Sweet Baby (a red cherry)
Mortgage Lifter
Gold Dust

German Johnson
Cherokee Purple
Bigger Boy
Better Boy
Brandywine Black
Schwarze Sarah
Oxheart
German Strawberry
Believe it or Not
Trophy
Black Krim
Italian Heirloom
Mortgage Lifter
Silvery Fir Tree Tomato

Sweet Millions
Bicolor Mortgage Lifter
Graham's Good Keeper
Ildi
Black from Tula
Orange Banana
Basinga
Prudens Purple
Booster
Sweet Pea Currant
Debarao
Arctic Blum
Brown Grape

What about this Amish tomato I keep reading about that is supposed to be huge and the best tasting of them all? Is this an Oxheart type?

Which in the list above is the best tasting?

Are all those tomato's made for like regular eating, or are some of these specific to tomato sauces only like the Marzano types?

Any tomato specialist in the house to break this list down to sauce type or sandwich type?

OrchidGuy has me interested in that Italian one he has....

[DonnaZn2SK]

I think Dan had the more unique list, I've only heard about five of his varieties. I tried black tomatoes for the first time about four years ago; I started with a pack of mixed heirloom seeds from an off-the-shelf pack and I isolated the ones I knew were correct, you can't mistake Green Zebra, for example.

Black tomatoes are not truly black, they are usually a really dark reddish purplish colour, and I find they have a more complex flavour than regular red tomatoes, almost a smoky taste. A lot of the tomatoes that are on this list are heirlooms, so you can save seeds year after year, and they will mostly come true. I suggest you start with one like Cherokee Purple or Black Krim to see whether you like it or not. There are so many varieties out there, and people have different preferences. Don't forget that a tomato grown in your garden, same variety, may not taste like the same grown in mine.

The one gripe about some of these tomatoes (heirloom, black, brandywine) is that you need a really long season for them to produce, and their disease resistance isn't as good as some hybrids. I have a short season and have managed to grow most to maturity, although I've never had what you would consider a "bumper crop".

Dumbo, go to a seed catalog site and check the different varieties to see what they look like; they will often include a description of the flavour and type, keep in mind that most won't mention anything bad...

Lyn,
Thanks for your generous offer, I think I'll wait for your "review" first.

[Eeyore]

Lyn,
Thanks for your generous offer, I think I'll wait for your "review" first.

Donna - where is your sense of adventure?

[orchidguy]

rchidGuy has me interested in that Italian one he has...

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Just remind me in the fall, and I'll send you some if you want

I have three, no four, currant varieties - two red, one orange and one white. The only sweet one is the white. .... And yes, they reaaally want to cross pollinate.

Inge,
I've never grown the white ones, so I think I will be putting that on my list for next years crop

Donna,

The one gripe about some of these tomatoes (heirloom, black, brandywine) is that you need a really long season for them to produce

Totally agree with that. These heirlooms and heritage tomatoes are started here in Feb. in the cool greenhouse.

Black tomatoes are not truly black, they are usually a really dark reddish purplish colour, and I find they have a more complex flavour than regular red tomatoes, almost a smoky taste.

That makes them well worth the extra time taken to mature. They are the perfect addition to salsa's, some salads and dips