Tomato cherry bites at reneesgarden.com

Kellogg’s Breakfast at tomatogrowers.com

Tomato blueberries at rareseeds.com

Purple Cherokee at tomatogrowers.com

Indigo apple at rareseeds.com

Let Them Eat Tomatoes!

By Debra Knapke

I’ve seen reports that we are losing selections of our heirloom vegetables, but I can’t imagine trying to sort through more tomato options than we have right now. With thoughts of downsizing and focusing on tomatoes we have grown and enjoyed, I choose seven cultivars of tasty tomatoes. I ordered seeds and sat back to wait for them to arrive.

Then I was on Ron Wilson’s Saturday morning radio show, and he just had to introduce me to several tomato cultivars and a new catalog. There are now 12 cultivars of tomatoes – six seeds for each – sitting in the greenhouse taking advantage of this sunny day. If they all germinate there will be 72 plants… who wants tomato plants?

Here is my list with some comments.

Cherry:

• ‘Blue Berries’ from Wild Boar Farms – Brad Gates is offering this tomato that is packed with anthocyanins; can’t wait to try this purple cherry.
• ‘Black Vernissage’ – a gift package from Baker Creek Heirlooms; another dark tomato from the Ukraine… we are going to be so healthy.
• ‘Litt’l Bites’ – a determinate container cherry from Renee’s Garden that will please my granddaughters

Yellow:

• ‘Gold Medal’ – an old standby for us; big and juicy, more sweet than tart.

Orange:

• ‘Kellogg’s Breakfast’ – Ron insisted that this is one of the best tomatoes ever; not sure I will eat it for breakfast.
• ‘Mandarin Cross’ – this is a hybrid that just said: try me.

Red:

• ‘Moneymaker’ – Botanical Interests (and other seed companies) offers this red slicer tomato that is an old English heirloom. I like heirlooms…
• ‘Crimson Carmello’ – I jumped across the Channel to try this French hybrid heirloom. Our tomato choices are quite international.
• ‘Red Brandywine’ – one of our favorites; need I say more?

Black:

• ‘Black Krim’ – another favorite that we plant year after year.
• ‘Cherokee Purple’ – not planting this just might be grounds for divorce (just kidding; I think)
• ‘Indigo Apple’ – another Wild Boar Farms introduction that beckoned from the pages of the Baker Creek catalog.

Last note: this isn’t our longest list of tomatoes. One year I started 16 kinds of tomatoes including a white cultivar and a green cultivar. Please observe that neither of those colors are represented in the above list.