Tomato Retrospective

These days the kitchen is humming with the sound of the dehydrator hard at work.  The tomatoes in the garden are ripening quickly now, but we're also getting some rain and cooler temperatures.  The time of the tomato is drawing to an end.  I now have a very good idea of which varieties worked in the garden and which ones didn't.

KEEPERS

Principe Borghese will always be a keeper in my garden.  This plant produces good crops of cherry-sized tomatoes which I use exclusively for dehydrating.  I use the dried tomatoes all winter long in soups, stews, etc.  While it's not very exciting eaten fresh, I have lots of others that will fill this niche.  Principe Borghese is my tomato of choice for drying.

Health Kick is a plant I picked up at a nursery in the early summer.  Its growth habit is tidy and with the coming of the rains, there was no sign of blight on its leaves.  It has had a tremendous crop of good-sized plum tomatoes.  The picture above is a basket which represents about half of the crop of one plant!  Currently West Coast Seeds doesn't carry this variety although I've sent them an email requesting that they consider it.  Mckenzie Seeds does carry it in Canada, so I can buy my seeds there if necessary.  As it's a hybrid, saving seeds from this variety is not an option.  Next year I'd like to grow at least 4 plants in the garden.

Cherry Tomatoes:  I'll probably continue to grow Gold Nugget and Sweet Baby Girl.  Their growth habits are tidy as both are determinates and both provide good crops of sweet-tasting tomatoes for salads and sauces.

REJECTS

I will not be growing Moneymaker and Bonny Best again.  They both were very unsatisfactory.  Bonny Best, in particular, is not suited to my concrete raised beds.  Its water requirements were excessive and the plants were always droopy no matter how much water I gave them.  Both developed blossom end rot which is a sign of insufficient water.  In my opinion they both put too much energy into structural growth and not enough into fruit.  The jury is still out on Honey Bee.  It produced good crops of tomatoes and its semi-determinate growth enabled me to keep it relatively under control.  The question is, however, do I really need 2 yellow tomatoes?  Unfortunately, Beth's Big Fat Tomato quickly fell prey to blight.  This was particularly disappointing because I so wanted it to succeed.

NEXT YEAR PLANS

I would like to have at least 4 plants each of Principe Borghese and Health Kick.  I'll likely also have at least one each of Gold Nugget and Sweet Baby Girl.  I still need a good slicing tomato that will be able to flourish in the confines of a concrete raised bed.  Research!  I need good crops of tomatoes to fill our needs of sauces and salsa.  It's been a couple of years since I was able to make salsa, but if Health Kick works out next year, perhaps I have the answer.  That's it with a gardener, isn't it?  We're always thinking, "next year....."