I'm planning my garden for the year, and I would welcome opinions from
people in this forum.

I live in southern Wisconsin, and I'm trying to balance my tomato crop
this year. Every year, the cool weather closes in before my plants
have run their full course. This year, I want to include some
varieties that produce earlier. I want to make sure I'm picking
tomatoes that are easy to grow and have decent flavor.

I will also still use some of the classics like Beefsteak. I would
welcome opinions about any of the following tomato varieties.

Burpee (early varieties)

- Early Pick Hybrid
- Early Girl Hybrid
- Ensalada

Burpee (late season varieties)

- Winrer Red
- Red October

Parks

- Beeft Boy hybrid

Gurney

- Burgermaster

Thomas Jacobs said:


I live in southern Wisconsin, and I'm trying to balance my tomato crop
this year. Every year, the cool weather closes in before my plants
have run their full course. This year, I want to include some
varieties that produce earlier. I want to make sure I'm picking
tomatoes that are easy to grow and have decent flavor.

Burpee (early varieties)

- Early Pick Hybrid
- Early Girl Hybrid
- Ensalada

Burpee's '4th of July' hybrid is very early, produces all season, and has a very
good flavor. The tomatoes are smallish but that's no problem for salads. They
don't crack and aren't prone to green shoulders. 'Stupice' is also very early, and
heirloom, and has maybe a *slightly* superior flavor. But it tends to decline in
production very dramatically as the summer goes on plus it develops green
shoulders.

'Grigori's Altai' is pretty early for a slicer, tastey and productive.
I also like 'Odoriko' and 'Dona' as even-a-bit-later-in-the-season slicers.

As for varieties even later than these, I've given up on that heartbreak. 8^)

For sauces, go with sauce tomatoes. I like 'Classica' and 'Tuscany' for that.
(Determinate varieties that are easy to grow caged.) 'San Marzano' and 'Polish'
varieties are classic varieties of sauce tomatoes but are vigorous, indeterminate
vines without concentrated fruit-set.

http://www.tomatogrowers.com/ (For everything but '4th of July' and 'Tuscany')

--
Pat in Plymouth MI ('someplace.net' is comcast)

Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
(attributed to Don Marti)

Thomas Jacobs said:


I live in southern Wisconsin, and I'm trying to balance my tomato crop
this year. Every year, the cool weather closes in before my plants
have run their full course. This year, I want to include some
varieties that produce earlier. I want to make sure I'm picking
tomatoes that are easy to grow and have decent flavor.

Burpee (early varieties)

- Early Pick Hybrid
- Early Girl Hybrid
- Ensalada

Burpee's '4th of July' hybrid is very early, produces all season, and has a very
good flavor. The tomatoes are smallish but that's no problem for salads. They
don't crack and aren't prone to green shoulders. 'Stupice' is also very early, and
heirloom, and has maybe a *slightly* superior flavor. But it tends to decline in
production very dramatically as the summer goes on plus it develops green
shoulders.

'Grigori's Altai' is pretty early for a slicer, tastey and productive.
I also like 'Odoriko' and 'Dona' as even-a-bit-later-in-the-season slicers.

As for varieties even later than these, I've given up on that heartbreak. 8^)

For sauces, go with sauce tomatoes. I like 'Classica' and 'Tuscany' for that.
(Determinate varieties that are easy to grow caged.) 'San Marzano' and 'Polish'
varieties are classic varieties of sauce tomatoes but are vigorous, indeterminate
vines without concentrated fruit-set.

http://www.tomatogrowers.com/ (For everything but '4th of July' and 'Tuscany')

--
Pat in Plymouth MI ('someplace.net' is comcast)

Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
(attributed to Don Marti)

You may want to get a catalog from "Totally Tomatoes". The only sell seed
for tomatoes and peppers. Their descriptions and pics are good for each
variety. They are out of Randolf WI. http://www.totallytomato.com


"Thomas Jacobs" wrote in message
om...
I'm planning my garden for the year, and I would welcome opinions from
people in this forum.

I live in southern Wisconsin, and I'm trying to balance my tomato crop
this year. Every year, the cool weather closes in before my plants
have run their full course. This year, I want to include some
varieties that produce earlier. I want to make sure I'm picking
tomatoes that are easy to grow and have decent flavor.

I will also still use some of the classics like Beefsteak. I would
welcome opinions about any of the following tomato varieties.

Burpee (early varieties)

- Early Pick Hybrid
- Early Girl Hybrid
- Ensalada

Burpee (late season varieties)

- Winrer Red
- Red October

Parks

- Beeft Boy hybrid

Gurney

- Burgermaster

On Mon, 23 Feb 2004 20:12:37 -0800, Thomas Jacobs wrote:

I'm planning my garden for the year, and I would welcome opinions from
people in this forum.

I live in southern Wisconsin, and I'm trying to balance my tomato crop
this year. Every year, the cool weather closes in before my plants
have run their full course. This year, I want to include some
varieties that produce earlier. I want to make sure I'm picking
tomatoes that are easy to grow and have decent flavor.

I will also still use some of the classics like Beefsteak. I would
welcome opinions about any of the following tomato varieties.

Burpee (early varieties)

- Early Pick Hybrid
- Early Girl Hybrid
- Ensalada

Burpee (late season varieties)

- Winrer Red
- Red October

Parks

- Beeft Boy hybrid

Gurney

- Burgermaster


Living in a similar zone, I usually plant

Early Girl
Better Boy
Wisconsin 55
Viva Italia
Cherry Sweet 100


I've had best results with these when I stake and sucker them. One season
I tried red plastic for mulch and was surprised how good the tomatoes
turned out. I usually have tomatoes up to frost but the late season ones
lose some of their good taste. Guessing this might have to do with
shorter days and a lower sun angle which might affect sugar production in
the fruit.

In recent years I have purchased seeds for all my tomatoes and peppers
from Totally Tomatoes and have had absolutely no germination problems.

(Thomas Jacobs) wrote:

I'm planning my garden for the year, and I would welcome opinions from
people in this forum.

I live in southern Wisconsin, and I'm trying to balance my tomato crop
this year. Every year, the cool weather closes in before my plants
have run their full course. This year, I want to include some
varieties that produce earlier. I want to make sure I'm picking
tomatoes that are easy to grow and have decent flavor.

I will also still use some of the classics like Beefsteak. I would
welcome opinions about any of the following tomato varieties.

Burpee (early varieties)

- Early Pick Hybrid
- Early Girl Hybrid
- Ensalada

I agree with Pat. Burpee's 4th of July is a big producer give the room
and root space. The tomatoes are about 1/8 of a pound(2 oz.). Last
APr/May was excessively wet and cold in the NE, so they didn't produce
in July as expected. However I had 150(18 pounds) from 1 plant.

Aug:37
Sep:50
Oct:13
Nov:12 (+35 greens, half turned red indoors before spoilage)

Another good one for me was Burpee's Healthy Kick Roma. About 1/5 of a
pound each (3.2 oz). I harvested 89 tomatoes, 22 lbs (1 plant).

Aug:36
Sep:17
Oct: 4
Nov:11 (+21 greens, half turned red indoors before spoilage)



Burpee (late season varieties)

- Winrer Red
- Red October

Parks

- Beeft Boy hybrid

Gurney

- Burgermaster

DiGiTAL ViNYL (no email)
Zone 6b/7, Westchester Co, NY, 1 mile off L.I.Sound
1st Year Gardener