Vegetable Gardening (18 page)

‘Delicious':
If you want to grow "the big one," this indeterminate heirloom is for you. The plant produces fruit 77 days after transplanting, and those fruits often weigh more than 2 pounds each. This variety holds the world record for the largest tomato: 7 pounds, 12 ounces.

‘Early Girl':
Despite being an indeterminate hybrid (which generally matures later in the season), this plant produces 4- to 6-ounce fruits only 52 days after transplanting. You can experiment with the ‘Bush Early Girl' version as well, which has the same characteristics except that it only grows 2 feet tall.

‘Oregon Spring':
This determinate, open-pollinated variety is bred for cold tolerance and relatively few seeds in each fruit. The 7- to 8-ounce fruits are produced only 58 days after transplanting.

‘Solar Fire':
This determinate hybrid was bred at the University of Florida, so it's heat tolerant. The large, 7- to 10-ounce round fruits are disease resistant and mature 72 days after transplanting.

‘Stupice':
This Czechoslovakian indeterminate heirloom is an early and cold-tolerant variety that bears 1- to 2-ounce fruits 52 days after transplanting.

‘Super Bush':
This determinate, 3- to 4-foot tall hybrid plant is great in containers. Unlike many other container-adapted varieties, the ‘Super Bush' variety produces large, 8- to 10-ounce fruits on disease-resistant plants. Fruits are produced 85 days after transplanting.

When in doubt about choosing a variety to grow in your garden, ask your local garden center, farmer's market, or neighbor who's growing tomatoes for suggestions about what grows best in your region.

Surveying all the other colors of tomatoes

Tomatoes of a different color (other than red that is) are very popular. The flavor of many of these varieties is comparable to the red varieties, but the colors can be outstanding in salads and casseroles, or just by themselves. Here are some beautifully colored varieties you might try:

‘Black Krim':
This indeterminate Russian heirloom has unique, 12-ounce, dark reddish-brown fruit. Both the skins and the flesh are colored this way, and the fruit color darkens in hot weather. Fruits are produced 80 days after transplanting. This tomato is something really different!

‘Brandywine':
This Amish indeterminate heirloom has unique potato-leaf foliage and produces 1- to 2-pound pink fruits with red flesh — reportedly the most flavorful of all varieties — 80 days after transplanting. You also can buy a similar ‘Yellow Brandywine' and ‘Red Brandywine' if you'd like all the colors of ‘Brandywine' tomatoes in your garden.

‘Cherokee Purple':
This heirloom indeterminate bears 10-ounce dusky rose- or purple-colored fruits with thin skins about 80 days after transplanting.

‘Great White':
This indeterminate heirloom plant produces 10- to 12-ounce white-colored fruits 85 days after transplanting. The meaty fruits, whose skins and flesh are white, have a mild flavor, few seeds, and a creamy texture. When combined with ‘Black Krim' it makes an interesting black-and-white tomato salad.