Click here for TomatoGirl's Planting Tips! (PDF format)

How should a new customer pick plants? Pick at least one for:

taste alone

its color (black, white, yellow, orange, green, even striped jobs)

production - so there WILL be guaranteed tomatoes

disease resistance

its size (Big ones, little ones, Huge ones)

an early season (60 days is about the earliest)

a mid-season variety (approximately 80 days)

late season (90-100 days) - probably worth the wait!

something that just sounds cool....there is a lot of character in these plant names and their histories

cherry tomatoes for the babies and grandbabies

Still can’t decide? Try our “Planter’s Pick”!
We will customize your order with a “Planter’s Pick” (first option on the order form). All you have to do is enter the quantity that you would like picked for you. Then in the comments section at the bottom of the order form, enter your likes/dislikes and preferences.

For example tell us:

6 large red tomatoes - best tasting ones and some to produce a lot
1 monster tomato
1 really early small tomato that makes a lot
1 black/purple
1 of your favorite yellow
1 orange
2 striped tomatoes that still taste good but will shock the neighbors
3 good for cooking/canning
3 salad bar size cherry tomatoes of different colors
2 tiny cherries of any color
2 tomatoes that are sweet for a family member
1 tomato with small or no seeds for an elderly friend
4 bell peppers
2 hot peppers
2 traditional eggplants
I want to try 2 eggplants that aren’t bitter, one long and one round.


We have been asked several times to do a list by plant type. These are the types that we generally plant for their qualities and characteristics other than their flavor. This ultimate pursuit of flavor is a journey...we try to keep the customer favorites each year and sample new ones along the way. When I say that something is “new for 2020,” it just means that it was highly recommended by someone, somewhere.. or maybe I just thought it was pretty or interesting enough to try. It doesn't mean it is necessarily the “latest and greatest.” Our plant list is a “Process of Continuous Improvement.”

Roma/paste types
I often get people asking for a paste tomato.. any old paste tomato, like Wal-Mart’s “Roma” or “Paste” plant.. ever buy a lamp that way? NO! Your paste / roma shape are meaty (makes less watery salsa) with generally fewer or smaller seeds. We are growing 4 paste types this year. The ultimate paste tomato would taste as good as any other tomato AND it would have oodles of fruit AND the seeds would be small and few.

Jersey Devil

Margherita

Momma Leone

Opalka

San Marzano

Oxhearts
Although these don’t seem to be huge producers, flavor-wise you can’t go wrong with any of these, really. Oxhearts are very meaty and typically have few or smaller seeds (in less cavities which are easily removed) making them great for canning, saucing, cooking.. really, they are just like giant (strawberry shaped) versions of a roma/paste type that you grow for cooking, salsa, etc. As these are bigger, you will generally yield less tomatoes than you will get off your small roma type. On the plus side, they are much more often prized for their flavor than any roma/paste type. These are equally flavorful slicing tomatoes. If you like a good oxheart, these 9 we grow will provide you a spectrum of flavor that will let you pick your exact, perfect match.

Amish Paste

Anna Russian

German Red Strawberry

Mrs. Houseworth

Rebel Starfighter Prime

Redmon Giant

Reif Red Heart

Russian 117

Wolford's Wonder

Container / Patio Plants
Looking for ‘patio’ types for container gardening or maybe for a Topsy Turvey container? ‘Patio’ plants are dwarf varieties showing some form of compact habit. (If you have to share space with your plant, you might want it to keep to itself.) Really, any tomato plant can be grown in a container. Any tomato plant can be pruned as well. You do want your container to be at least the size of a 5 gallon bucket. Some people prefer buckets to the good ‘ole ground...just check out the “customer photo” page and see some monster plants in containers. If your plants get that big, they will get top heavy as well, so you will want to stake them or tie them so they can't fall over. These are the ones that we chose for their described, somewhat compact growth:

Bobcat

Steak Sandwich

Heat Tolerant Varieties
So many tomato types will not set new fruit when the temps get high. (Instead they produce fruit early, then after a break, they set again later.) If you live in the South, not a bad idea to add a heat tolerant type to your list. (Always better to try more than one kind to see which one YOU like best.) Some of these are new.

most any cherry variety

Arkansas Traveler

Florida Pink

Genuwine Hybrid

Mule Team

Phoenix

Sioux, Super

TRUE STORY -- Tomato Girl’s 1st Garden: I planted my first tomato garden on my own because I thought it would make me a better person! Gardening people are just good people! Why do you plant tomatoes?