June 1, 2011 - One Tomato, Two Tomatoes, Three Tomatoes, Four...

*Updated July 2, 2011
**Final notes 2012

Five tomatoes, six tomatoes, seven tomatoes, more.....

This is going to be boring and repetitious, but I need to do a tomato update for my own records. Early this year I swore I wasn't going to plant more than a dozen tomato plants this year. You knew I wouldn't be able to stick to that, didn't you? I ended up with twenty-four seedlings, of which 22 were planted. All but one were grown by me, from seed. One was purchased from a nearby nursery, but locally grown. The two plants left over are a Yellow Brandywine and a Matt's Wild Cherry, both of which were extras of those varieties. I really don't have room for the Brandywine, so it will be composted. I'm tempted to plant the Matt's WC if I can find just one more spot, but since I already have five cherry tomatoes it might just be overkill.

The tomatoes in my garden this year are as follows:

6/1 Matt's Wild Cherry, 17". Planted 3/23, transplanted 5/4. Seeds from Robin. Bottomless bucket, buds showing.

7/2 Matt's Wild Cherry 61"-Fruiting

**This variety did not perform well in my garden.  It grew huge and healthy, and fruited well, but the tomatoes were tiny and sour, never developing the sweetness they were supposed to get.  Will not grow again.

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6/1 Sun Sugar, 18". Purchased from Mac's Nursery (locally grown). Transplanted 5/4. Bottomless bucket, blossoms.

7/2 Sun Sugar 39"-Fruiting. Third to ripen fruit 7/1.

**Produced an average crop of sweet cherry tomatoes.  Worth growing again, but not a "must grow".

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6/1 Unknown variety cherry tomato (from pkt. mixed seeds from Fiona) 14". Planted 3/23, transplanted 5/9. Bottomless bucket, no buds or blossoms.

7/2 Unknown variety cherry tomato 43"-Fruiting, grape shaped fruits

**This turned out to be Una Heartsock, and one of our favorite tomatoes.  The plant grew very tall and the fruits were a bit larger than cherry, like a miniature Roma, the sweetest of the red tomatoes.    Seeds were saved and grown in 2012.

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6/1 Unknown variety cherry tomato (from pkt. mixed seeds from Fiona) 14". Planted 3/23, transplanted 5/27. Bottomless bucket, no buds or blossoms.

7/2 Unknown variety cherry tomato 24"-Fruiting

**Not sure what variety this one was, but it lacked in flavor.  Seeds were not saved for 2012.

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6/1 Heatwave, 4". Planted 4/28, transplanted 5/19. Seeds from Debbie Clegg. Bottomless bucket, no buds or blossoms.

7/2 Heatwave 24"-Blossoms

**This was a tasty and pretty tomato, and I think would have been a better producer if I had started it earlier.  It was a hybrid, so seeds were not saved.  If I had more seeds, I probably would have tried this one again in 2012.

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6/1 Cherokee Purple #1 15". Planted 3/10, transplanted 5/4. Seeds from Mr. H. or Ohio Heirloom (planted two from each, plants got mixed up). Bottomless bucket, blossoms.

7/2 Cherokee Purple #1 35"-Fruiting

**Good producer, not as flavorful as some others (a bit watery and lots of gel).  This was the second year I tried this variety, grown in different areas of the garden (one year in ground, one year in buckets).  Did not plant in 2012, but had a healthy volunteer that may or may not produce since it's behind the spring peas and not getting any sunshine yet.

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6/1 Cherokee Purple #2 17". Planted 3/10, transplanted 5/4. Seeds from Mr. H. or Ohio Heirloom (planted two from each, plants got mixed up). Bottomless bucket, blossoms.

7/2 Cherokee Purple #2 40"-Fruiting

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6/1 Cherokee Purple #3 16". Planted 3/10, transplanted 5/4. Seeds from Mr. H. or Ohio Heirloom (planted two from each, plants got mixed up). Bottomless bucket, blossoms.

7/2 Cherokee Purple #3 36"-Fruiting

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6/1 Cherokee Purple #4 16". Planted 3/10, transplanted 5/4. Seeds from Mr. H. or Ohio Heirloom (planted two from each, plants got mixed up). Bottomless bucket, blossoms.

7/2 Cherokee Purple #4 38"-Fruiting

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6/1 Coastal Pride Orange 12". Planted 3/11, transplanted 5/9. Seeds from Mr. H. Bottomless pot, no buds or blossoms.

7/2 Coastal Pride Orange 32"-Fruiting

**This was a pretty and tasty tomato, on a well behaved bushy vine.  It was one of Mr. Granny's favorites for flavor, and is being grown in 2012.  The only drawback is that I like it for fresh eating only, orange tomatoes are just "wrong" for sauces.  I might try making an orange salsa though.

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6/1 Bloody Butcher 17". Planted 3/11, transplanted 5/1. Seeds from Mr. H. Bottomless bucket, fruiting.

7/2 Bloody Butcher 36"- Fruiting. First to ripen fruit 6/21.

**My best, non-stop producer.  The first to set fruit and still going strong when the first freeze hit it.  Flavor was good, tomatoey rather than sweet, worked great for sauces and salsa, as well as fresh eating.  Fruits are on the small side, but definitely worth growing.  Planted in the 2012 garden, this was again the first to set fruit.

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6/1 Fruit cluster on Bloody Butcher.

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6/1 Coastal Pride Orange 12". Planted 3/11, transplanted 5/4. Seeds from Mr. H. Bottomless pot, no buds or blossoms.

7/2 Coastal Pride Orange 30"-Fruiting

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6/1 Sungold 4". Planted 3/23, transplanted 5/31. Seeds from Daphne. Bottomless pot, no buds or blossoms. This was the only seed to sprout from a pkt. of 12. It didn't even look like a tomato plant for several weeks, just recently developing recognizable leaves.

7/2 Sungold 28"-Fruiting!!

**Tasted almost identical to Sun Sugar.  Being a hybrid, no seeds were saved, so not grown in 2012.

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6/1 Bloody Butcher 17". Planted 3/11, transplanted 5/1. Seeds from Mr. H. Bottomless bucket, fruiting.

7/2 Bloody Butcher 36"-Fruiting. Second to ripen fruit 6/24.

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6/1 Russian Baby 12". Planted 3/11, transplanted 5/14. Seeds from Mr. H. In ground, no buds or blossoms.

7/2 Russian Baby 35"-Blossoms

**My least favorite, along with Matt's Wild Cherry.  Did not like the flavor at all.

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6/1 Pink Brandywine 18". Planted 3/11, transplanted 5/1. Seeds from Ohio Heirloom seeds. Bottomless bucket, blossoms.

7/2 Pink Brandywine 49"-Blossoms

**Lost all of my Brandywines, both pink and yellow, to disease.  I can't help wondering if the seeds were infected.  Not planted in 2012, as the only place I have room for them will not be used for tomatoes again for several years.  Sad, as the Brandywines are my favorites of all the tomatoes.

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6/1 Yellow Brandywine 17". Planted 3/10, transplanted 5/1. Seeds from Ohio Heirloom seeds. Bottomless bucket, blossoms.

7/2 Yellow Brandywine 47"-Blossoms

**Lost all of my Brandywines, both pink and yellow, to disease.  I can't help wondering if the seeds were infected.

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6/1 Pink Brandywine 20". Planted 3/11, transplanted 5/1. Seeds from Ohio Heirloom seeds. Bottomless bucket, blossoms, largest plant.

7/2 Pink Brandywine 46"-Fruiting

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6/1 Russian Baby 11". Planted 3/11, transplanted 5/7. Seeds from Mr. H. In ground, buds.

7/2 Russian Baby 48"-Blossoms

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6/1 Rutgers #1 12". Planted 3/11, transplanted 5/7. Seeds from Ohio Heirloom Seeds. In ground, buds.

7/2 Rutgers #1 30"-Blossoms

**So-so performers, these also began to show disease early.  By the time they were fruiting well I had pulled all but two plants.  Seeds were from the same source as the Brandywines that succumbed to disease.  Not planted in 2012.

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6/1 Rutgers #2 13". Planted 3/11, transplanted 5/7. Seeds from Ohio Heirloom Seeds. In ground, buds.

7/2 Rutgers #2 30"-Blossoms

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6/1 Rutgers 13". Planted 3/11, transplanted 5/7. Seeds from Ohio Heirloom Seeds. In ground, buds.

7/2 Rutgers #3 25"-Blossoms

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Two more plants were added after 6/1

Matt's Wild Cherry. Planted 3/23, transplanted 5/31. seeds from Robin. Bottomless bucket.

7-2 Matt's Wild Cherry 27"-Fruiting

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Volunteer Minigold.

7/2 Volunteer Minigold 20"-Fruiting

**This little plant out performed all the other cherry tomatoes.  It stayed small, about 24" high, but was constantly loaded with fruits.  It gave me at least twice as many as all the other cherry tomato plants combined!  The flavor isn't fantastic, but it's good and gets better as the weather warms.  In 2012, grown indoors from seed sown in January and producing some fruits in April.