Vegetable Gardening (19 page)

‘Green Zebra':
These 3-ounce fruits are produced 75 days after transplanting. The skin and flesh are green even when ripe. The flavor of this indeterminate heirloom is tangy and sweet and makes a mean fried green tomato dish.

‘Husky Gold':
This AAS-winning dwarf-indeterminate hybrid plant only reaches 4 feet tall, but it produces deep golden-colored, 8-ounce fruits 70 days after transplanting.

‘Lemon Boy':
The first lemon-yellow-colored tomato, this hybrid indeterminate produces 7-ounce fruits with lots of disease resistance 72 days after transplanting.

‘Long Keeper':
These determinate, open-pollinated plants produce 6- to 7-ounce orange-red fruits 78 days after transplanting. When unblemished fruits are gathered before the first frost, they can last in winter storage for up to 3 months. (Flip to Chapter 19 for more on storing fruits and vegetables during the winter months.)

‘Striped German':
This German heirloom indeterminate variety produces 16- to 32-ounce fruits with beautiful yellow-orange skin and red marbled flesh 78 days after transplanting.

Sweetening the pot with cherry, grape, and pear tomatoes

Cherry, grape, and pear tomatoes sound like fruits, and they may as well be for their sweet, melt-in-your-mouth flavor. Nothing is more satisfying to me than going into the garden and munching on handfuls of cherry tomatoes. Rarely do these babies even make it to the kitchen.

The latest newcomer on the small tomato scene is the grape tomato. Originally from Thailand, these tomatoes have a grape shape and are smaller than most cherry tomatoes. However, grape tomatoes have a thicker skin and are less juicy, which means they squirt less when you munch down on them. Because they're easier to eat, they're often found in place of cherry tomatoes in salad bars and restaurants.

Pear tomato varieties have been around for years. These red- or yellow-colored fruits look like small pears and are flavorful, but they generally aren't as sweet as cherry tomatoes.

Cherry, grape, and pear tomatoes can be very productive, so often, only one or two plants are enough to keep your family happy all season. If you're growing dwarf, patio-type tomatoes, they do best in containers. (See Chapter 18 for more on growing vegetables in containers.) Cherry, grape, and pear tomato fruits do tend to crack more easily than larger-sized tomatoes, so make sure that they have plenty of water and mulch (see Chapter 15 for watering and mulching tips).

Here are some of my favorite small tomato varieties:

‘Black Cherry':
These 2- to 3-ounce black-red skinned and fleshed fruits have a complex flavor. The heirloom indeterminate plants produce cherry-shaped fruits 65 days after transplanting.

‘Golden Sweet':
This indeterminate hybrid grape tomato features 1-ounce golden yellow fruits with a mild, sweet flavor and no cracking. Fruits mature 60 days after transplanting.

‘Juliet':
This 1-ounce red, indeterminate hybrid, AAS-winning grape tomato is crack and disease resistant. It matures 60 days after transplanting.

‘Patio':
This hybrid, dwarf plant produces grape-sized red fruits all at once about 70 days after transplanting.