Good point about "acidic". Matter of fact, I'd add that *generally*, it's
good to avoid any variety that's advertised as having characteristics which
make you wonder "Why?" Low acid tomatoes? Why? They're *supposed* to have
some punch. Early tomatoes...sometimes they work, but the advertising
neglects to say that they may be tasteless. For me, "Fourth of July" didn't
produce any earlier than "Big Girl" or whatever beefsteak variety I grew
last year. Harvest was a week earlier. Not worth the space for a tasteless
tomato.


"Dwayne" wrote in message
...
I don't know what variety would do best in your part of Kansas, but I don't
get much to do well here in Colby. I have never been able to do tomatoes.
My friends and neighbors usually do very well with tomatoes, not me.

I do can them, and know that you need one that is acidic, or you will have
to compensate for the lack of acid before sealing the jars.

My wife's uncle in Arkansas raises more tomatoes than anyone I have ever
seen. He plants 6 rows, 75 ft long, every year. His secret is to add a
hand full of "barn yard" in the soil about 2 inches below where he puts
the roots of the plants in the row when he is planting them.

In his case, "barn yard" is cow manure, urine, and straw that has been all
mixed together and aged on the floor of his old chicken house that has
been converted into a barn.

Dwayne

wrote in message
oups.com...
I would like to start canning my own tomatoes in both whole form and in
salsa. What is the best variety for this? I'd like to get something
that grows well in my sandy loam kansas soil and has a decent yield.

Also, we'd like to have a few slicer tomatoes for salads and to eat
plain, what makes a good tomato variety for this?

the past few years, we've only used miracle grow fertilizer about 3-4
times during the season without any ammendments to the soil. Should
we consider manure or other fertilizers to increase the tomato yield
out of our smaller garden?