I’ve managed to commit to a further 6. With yesterday’s 4, this makes my Ten for 2010.
I’m already thinking of reasons why 10 varieties won’t be enough. I’m sure a few extra will sneak in somewhere but these are my ‘for starters’.
First – head over heart. And if there’s a place for sensible it should lie with the standards. Last year my standard, red, rounds were Alicante and Moneymaker. This year I’m picking two, Legend and Ferline with a valuable built in extra – blight resistance.
Legend is a determinate/bush, outdoor planting tomato with round, red, juicy, sweet fruit and low seed content.
Ferline is indeterminate, deep red fruit, excellent flavour and a heavy outdoor cropper.
Second, the pantone brigade.
Green Zebra; this year’s Tigerella. Swapping red and orange hues for dark green stripes on a light green background. An indeterminate which can be grown outdoors if warm . More betting on this being a glorious summer !
Cherokee Purple; this year’s Carbon. A pre-1890 heritage tomato. Deep,dusky, purple-pink, large fruit, sweet flavour.
Lemon Tree; finding inspiration for its shape, colour and sharp taste from its lemony namesake.
Balconi Yellow; this years Tumbler. Bred with hanging baskets in mind.
Green Zebra, Cherokee Purple, Ferline, Lemon Tree are available from Nicky’s Seeds. Legend and Balconi from Thompson & Morgan. ( Although Legend is out of stock online so I’m hoping to find it in the Garden Centre.)
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
My choices for this year are: Lettuce Leaf and Gold Medal from Real Seeds and the cherries Gardeners’ Delight and Black Cherry from last year’s seeds. Also, I have some ‘Market King’ seeds packed in 1978 – that should be interesting. Happy growing.
Hello
It’s great to hear what other people are growing . I had a look at the Real Seeds site – I couldn’t see the ones you are growing but I did come across 2 new ideas of De Colgar ( storage tomatoes ) and Centriflor tomatoes. It’s an interesting supplier and one to recommend for innovation and new things to try.
You’re in good company with Gardeners Delight ( see today’s post ) and Black Cherry was a favourite from last year for me. If I was growing it again this year I would start it as early as I could as it seems to need a lot of days to mature.
And as for the 1978 vintage – are you taking bets on the germination rate !?
Real Seeds have removed Lettuce Leaf from their site; perhaps it didn’t go well; I may have the last packet! They describe it as having a unique leaf shape and they’ve bred it from a single plant that grew from some Siberian seeds they were trialling. They say it’s an early bush variety, somewhere between a cooking tomato and a salad type. ‘Gold Medal’ is a yellow beefsteak type, listed on their vine tomatoes page.
Black Cherry did take a long time to mature last year but I bought the seeds on impulse in April, so I’ll sow all of my choices by this weekend. Perhaps I *should* take bets on the 1978 seeds (from my grandfather’s estate via my father’s shed!); eight seeds sown and none germinated yet!
You’ve made some excellent choices too; Cherokee Purple and Lemon Tree sound particularly interesting. Real Seeds (no I don’t work for them!) list Legend on their bush tomatoes page; but their minimum online order is £8 so you might be better off ordering by post. I like their ethical stand too
You’re going to have some unique tomatoes ! Perhaps Lettuce Leaf will come back under another name – it might just have confused everyone and itself, by its ‘stolen’ lettuce identity….
Just before reading your comment I was working out my sowing dates – for sowing outdoors I think my earliest date will be the 8th May – so 8 weeks back will be the 13th March. But I have the 3 tier plastic greenhouse which I may be able to use to put a few out earlier – so I may start a trial few next week and also treating them like the first pancake… allowing myself not to worrry about getting it right !
What’s your opinion of Mr. Stripy tomato?
And where can they be found?
I tasted some last year and they were GREAT!
I grow all my tomatoes TOTALLY ORGANIC
A few of each — Sweet 100, jubilee, celebrity, grape,
But late every summer my big tomatoes get blossom end rot.
Hello
Thank you for stopping by and for sharing your tomato choices. I think in the UK Mr. Stripy is known as Tigerella. I grew it last year and really enjoyed its colourful appearance and flavour. I would say its well worth adding to anyone’s home grown crop.