Vegetable Gardening (20 page)

‘Sun Gold':
This hybrid indeterminate plant produces fruity tasting 1- to 2-inch-diameter orange-colored cherry tomato fruits 57 days after transplanting.

‘Sweet Million':
This prolific hybrid indeterminate, 1- to 2-inch-diameter, red-fruited cherry tomato variety has good disease and crack resistance and matures early at 60 days after transplanting.

‘Tiny Tim':
These open-pollinated, dwarf, 18-inch-tall plants are great for containers. They produce 1-inch-diameter red cherry tomato fruits 60 days after transplanting.

‘Window Box Roma':
This hybrid determinate plant produces 2-ounce, roma-type, cylindrical-shaped fruits 70 days after transplanting on 18-inch-tall plants. This variety is perfect for producing a container of sauce-making tomatoes.

‘Yellow Pear':
This is an heirloom indeterminate that produces yellow, 2-inch-diameter pear-shaped fruits on huge plants about 78 days after transplanting. Kids love the shape of these tomatoes.

Studying some saucy tomatoes

Eating tomatoes fresh from the garden is pure joy. However, you may want to preserve some of that fresh taste for cooking in the off-season like my mama used to do. If making tomato sauce, paste, salsa, and juice is for you, the following paste tomato varieties are bred to order. Even though any tomato variety can be processed, these pear- or plum-shaped types are meatier and thicker-walled and usually have less juice, so they're perfect for cooking. Many of these varieties are now bred to be good for fresh eating in salads and on sandwiches as well:

‘Amish Paste':
These large, teardrop shaped red fruits are produced on indeterminate heirloom plants 85 days after transplanting. The fruits are meaty and flavorful, so they're super for making pastes.

‘Golden Mama':
This 4- to 5-ounce, golden-yellow sauce tomato is produced 68 days after transplanting. These productive plants are indeterminate hybrids. The yellow sauce you can make from this beauty is appealing to the eye and has a sweet flavor.

‘Roma':
This is one of the most popular processing tomatoes around. This open-pollinated determinate produces 3-ounce, plum-shaped fruits on compact vines 78 days after transplanting.

‘Super Marzano':
A hybrid version of another popular paste tomato, this hybrid indeterminate has 4- to 5-ounce pear-shaped fruits that are more disease resistant and productive than their heirloom cousins. The fruits mature 70 days after transplanting.