Monday, January 9, 2012

2011 Tomato Reviews

As I pick out seeds for next year I need to look back at the success and failures of 2011 to determine what to include again and what to leave behind.  Here are the results of my 2011 tomatoes.

Arkansas Traveler - I loved this tomato and plan on including it again.  It is a reliable tomato that constantly produces small/medium pink tomatoes that rarely cracks with wonderful flavor.  They are perfect for canning whole.

San Marzano - This tomato is revered as the King Italian paste.  I don't think I will ever grow it again.  More than half of the tomatoes on this plant had blossom end rot when none of the other varieties I grew had blossom end rot.  The plant provided an OK amount of tomatoes but even if none had been lost to blossom end rot I would have to grow multiple plants in order to have enough for a canning batch.

Black Krim - This variety provided me with large quantities of large, juicy tomatoes.  It is a black variety and one that I would be happy to include again.  I think next year I would like to try a different purple/black variety to see which would be my favorite.  The only downfall is that they do crack easily after a heavy rainfall.

Sweet 100 Cherry Tomatoes - This was the second year for this variety in my garden.  Last year they did better and provided more.  They have great flavor and in the past had been abundant.  This year the plant wasn't sparse but I might want to try a different variety next year just because.

Brandywine - This year I had to try the variety that was revered by many.  And I have to say I understand why.  This large heirloom has wonderful flavor but they do crack easily.  The plants aren't prolific and I had to fight the squirrels and deer for them but I am planning on including them again next year.

Pineapple - I grew this plant for a second time.  Last year it didn't do well but the tomatoes are large and gorgeous pink/red and yellow stripped so I thought I would give it a second try.  But the plant grew maybe six tomatoes and I lost at least half to the squirrels.  I don't plan on ever growing this variety again.

Yellow Plum - This is another variety that I grew for a second time.  Again I wanted this one for its unique shape and visual attractiveness.  But all of mine were oval and not the chic pear shape.  The flavor and texture is mediocre so I doubt I will grow them again unless in a couple of years I stupidly want to try to grow them for aesthetics again.

Jubilee - This was a nice orange variety that grew a decent amount of medium sized fruits.  They rarely cracked and were consistent in size, color, taste and texture.  This variety didn't wow me but I would possibly include it again for its dependability.

1 comment:

  1. If you want "the chic pear shape", you need to grow "Yellow PEAR", not "Yellow Plum". They are entirely different cultivars.

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