Ohioguy wrote:

-snip-
The tomatoes were the greatest disappointment. I grew seeds from a
packet that said it had 20 different heirloom beefsteak varieties.
Instead, I mostly ended up with smallish 1.5" orange tomatoes. Only 1
plant out of 14 had anything that would approach beefsteak. Next year I
may just buy a couple of plants, even though they mostly have the same 8
or so varieties available everywhere.

I've never had any luck with those 'mixed variety' packets. I've
probably been foolish enough to try them a few times. Last year I
saw a Zucchini mix deal' of '5' varieties that I *thought* would come
in 5 labeled packets but it came all in one packet. I could
distinguish 3 differently shaped seeds--- and ended up with 4
varieties [a green, a striped, a white, and a yellow]

I liked the varieties- they made for very attractive salads- but I'll
be buying 4 packs of seeds next year so I can take care of a hill of
each.

On the tomatoes-- buy a few packets of varieties you like. The
seeds will keep a few years if you keep them cool and dry.

Jim