{"id":19717,"date":"2023-01-17T09:55:44","date_gmt":"2023-01-17T14:55:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/?p=19717"},"modified":"2023-01-17T09:55:44","modified_gmt":"2023-01-17T14:55:44","slug":"lets-talk-tomatoes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.meadowsfarms.com\/great-big-greenhouse-gardening-blog\/lets-talk-tomatoes\/","title":{"rendered":"Let’s Talk Tomatoes"},"content":{"rendered":"
As I was going through the seed racks here to pick out a few favorites to start indoors in a couple of weeks, I decided to do a blog on my favorite varieties.<\/p>\n
Two words you need to know first\u2014determinate and indeterminate. A determinate tomato is a BUSH\u2014it produces a large crop in a shorter period of time, then it\u2019s pretty much done. If you\u2019re canning or making salsa and need a lot of tomatoes at once, determinate tomatoes are for you. They max out at about five feet tall. An indeterminate tomato is a vine\u2014it will produce all the way to frost. They need to be staked however.<\/p>\n
My favorite tomatoes all happen to be indeterminate varieties\u2014I want good fresh tomatoes all the way to frost!<\/p>\n
Smooth-skinned, flavorful tomatoes that are resistant to both Verticillium and Fusarium\u2014both common tomato diseases. Fruits can grow as large as a pound. They are a strong, reliable tomato.<\/p>\n
Fairly disease resistant, Green Zebra is a beautiful bright green striped heirloom with a zesty sweet\/tart flavor.<\/p>\n
An Heirloom with pinkish\/orange fruits. They are productive, flavorful, and crack-resistant.<\/p>\n
This heirloom was developed by a man named M.C. Byles who was a radiator repairman\u2014hence the other name for this plant\u2014Radiator Charlie\u2019s Mortgage Lifter. He created it from crossing four different tomatoes and the resulting seedlings sold so well he paid off his mortgage in six years. Rich, sweet, one pound fruits are pinkish\/red.<\/p>\n
Originally found growing in the wild in Hidalgo, Mexico, this variety creates vigorous, disease-resistant, sweet\/tart, half-inch, bite-sized fruits on crazy sprawling vines.<\/p>\n
A pretty purple tomato, more disease-resistant than some heirlooms, the flavor is sweet\/tart with a rich almost smoky back note. Originally hybridized by the Cherokees.<\/p>\n
Very productive cherry-type tomato. The fruits are bright orange with a delicious fruity back note.<\/p>\n
There are other tomatoes I\u2019ve grown and liked\u2014Brandywine, Big Boy, Celebrity, Sweet 100, etc.\u2014but these seven are just my favorites. Except for the Better Boys, the rest are heirlooms because that seems to be where the best flavor is in my opinion. And, of course, we all know that the best tasting tomatoes are always FRESH and LOCAL!<\/p>\n
Most of these varieties are disease resistant because I\u2019ve got enough to do staying on top of the squash bugs\u2026.<\/p>\n
Some of these we\u2019ll sell in plants in spring, however some you\u2019ll need to start from seed. I\u2019ll talk about seed-starting next week.<\/p>\n
Tell me about your favorite tomatoes…<\/p>\n
To read more posts from Bonnie, visit our blog<\/a><\/p>\n Return to the Great Big Greenhouse homepage<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As I was going through the seed racks here to pick out a few favorites to start indoors in a couple of weeks, I decided to do a blog on my favorite varieties. Two words you need to know first\u2014determinate and indeterminate. A determinate tomato is a BUSH\u2014it produces a large crop in a shorter … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":19720,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[252,257,254,253,256,255,258,259,251,100],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n