Very little (if any) rain, hot days (90's and 100's), we have had worse humidity other summers. No storms or big winds like other years.
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1. Sun Gold Cherry (hybrid) - Very good germination (similar to Polish Giant) . First to ripen of all the tomatoes. Had one ripen by July 1, then coming slowly but steadily (1-2 every or every other day) through end of July. Exploded 1st 2 weeks of August - all seem to come at once. By 3rd week of August they were petering out, by end of August beginning of September, the plant was spent. (NOTE: when the weather cooled off it came forth with another small burst of unexpected fruit!) Flavor at start of season was a little sour, but sweet close to skin. Best when just starting to crack (very ripe). Are sour if picked even a day too early. The fruits varied a little too much - some were good, some were pretty sour. Generally on the acid side, but relatively pleasant flavor. Many visitors liked it a lot, and they certainly are a pretty, almost fluorescent orange color. Huge plant, trailed for many miles...
2. Stupice - Lower germination - average to slow growth - second to ripen - had first in mid July. What happened this year to Stupice? I question if it is the same strain this year as last as I (mistakenly) planted new seed instead of that saved from last year. Grew in a different part of the yard, and it may have been taken over by Sun Gold Cherry. None got as large as last year's saladette size - they were sour at first, then when let to ripen very red they were very sweet - the main complaint was how few of them there were and the small size. Not much else to say, but I will go back to seed saved from my first successful trial of it when grown again.
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3. Super Marzano - Ok germination and growth. First plum type to ripen. Has some juice, not real dry. Main problem: if you even slightly brush against any fruits - green or otherwise - they fall off the vine. Flavor is ok, but didn't make an especially big impression. Stayed pretty firm and didn't get overly ripe at any time. Produced slowly but well into September.
4. Polish Giant - Very good germination & growth (similar to Sun Gold Cherry). 2nd plum type to ripen (a week or so after Super Marzano). Ok taste, but has a weird finish, similar to La Roma which I didn't care for. Not overly sour,
but others are better. Very large which was a plus, but didn't produce too many.
*5. Burpee's Super Tasty (hybrid) - The very best germination and growth as a young plant of all the varieties started. First ones ripened July 26 (I picked too early though). Not too acid, good all around tomato, was fine in sauce and fresh eating. There were always fruits coming of good size, still producing well into September. No disappointments here, another good year.
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6. Brandywine - Ok germination and growth. Did I say the word disappointment? I must have meant Brandywine! Tasted first one July 24. The plant is huge (more like a tree with a narrow "trunk" instead of a main stem!) and fruits are irregularly shaped and a pretty pink. Taste? Sourish, slightly bitter, though fairly complex in taste. Just not my cup of tea, it did not live up to its reputation, that's for sure. Last year I grew the Red Brandywine, and had mixed feelings on that one. This plant was sturdier and produced larger tomatoes than the Red Brandywine.
7. Carmello (French hybrid) - Slow growth, average germination, soft plant early on - July 27 - Pretty bad taste. August 6 - Still sour - YUK! Aug. 12 - ditto! Aug. 15 - For some reason this bunch I picked was much better, not sour, much more acceptable than earlier ones. The smaller ones seemed better, though most are small (saladette). Not a bad acid/sweet balance. They may have improved after I backed off on the water (stopped watering). Still, it was not so spectacular to consider growing again, and it was not a huge producer.
8. Milano Plum - OK germination and growth - Picked 7/27 - kept 2 days on counter and never really got soft. Mealy, deep orange (does not ever get red), not acid, thick walled, wouldn’t eat raw. Plants leaves are rolled badly, though did not affect production which was extremely high, maybe the best of all I grew. Aug. 12 - average taste, a bit more acid, more so than Classica. Made Milano Plum-only sauce - it never really boiled down enough, was not a pleasing color and tasted yucky. I had frozen the raw puree till I had enough for sauce, then luckily was saved when I had a batch of better tomatoes frozen and already seasoned which I put in with the Milano puree - it made it acceptable then. Since it doesn’t make a good sauce and can’t really contribute much, I will not grow it again even though it was an excellent producer. Still going into mid September.
9. La Roma (hybrid) - OK germination and growth. First one very dry - no juice whatsoever. Not sour, flavor ok, but wouldn't eat raw. Made excellent sauce when mixed with about 4-5 Super Tasty and 1 Super Marzano. Later, some are strange - almost a green pepper flavor. Aug. 15 - weird taste seems to be gone. On the bland side, but ok for sauce. Quite productive, very firm flesh, but very small tomatoes and ended production before end of August. Plant was very small and looked sad :-( Won't grow again, as fruit too small to be worthwhile for sauce and flavor varied too much.
10. Dona (French hybrid) - Slow growth, average germination, soft plant early on - A nice surprise! Much better than Carmello. Similar in size, look and production to Carmello (not a huge yield). Has a large seed cavity that is sort of sour, but when removed, the flesh is not sour. Another favorite among guests, I would encourage others to try it since it was one of the better ones, though was not "the" most outstanding one of the year.
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*11. Howard German - The very worst plant to get germinating and growing initially of all plants I grew this year - most died - thin, spindly, weak plant till it got in the ground - BUT the hands down winner for taste in the garden this year - I loved the wacky shapes too! Some were like square green peppers, some like long banana peppers. Very beautiful fruits. Has some hollow areas inside and has the least amount of seeds I have ever seen. Taste is EXCELLENT and quite mellow due to lack of acid. Perfect balance in general, leaning towards sweet.
Flesh is not dry, but is moderately juicy and the more ripe it gets, the more sweet it is - almost to the point of being TOO sweet, but this can be controlled by when it is picked. Gets very dark red, soft and juicy as it ripens. Is soft even when not ripe which makes it a more perishable fruit in general (you could never ship it anywhere).
Flesh is thick. Taste is textbook "old fashioned" and complex. Makes an excellent sauce for canning since it is so sweet it is not adversely affected by adding the required lemon juice.
I will never be without this one, the top winner with everyone who tasted it, but will have to start a lot of them next year due to such poor germination and growth - I will start them early!! Saved seed from. NOTE: after talking with the person who runs the seed Co. where this came from, she said other people had lower germination on this variety as well, and they were making sure to have new seed this year. Another good reason to save your own - you always know how old it is then!
*12. Classica (hybrid, determinate) - Extremely hard to get germinating, then thin, spindly, weak plant till it got in the ground - BUT one of my 3 top winners this year! Production was average, fruits stay firm FOREVER which is good so they can wait till you get to them! VERY mild, non-acid flavor, excellent for sauce. Aug. 10 - I made Classica-only sauce - WOO! Super! Not too acid, didn't take forever to cook down, was easy to seed since it is so firm, large and not too juicy. All are very uniform in size, shape and color (orange-red, with slight bronzing towards top). Plant was dead by September, though fruits were still hanging on well. Mild flavors work well for sauce because cooking it down concentrates the flavors so much that when you start with good strong tasting tomatoes, they are WAY too strong after cooking them down. This is a great one! Will have to start a lot of them next year due to such poor germination and growth - I will start them early!!
*13. Amish Paste - Extremely hard to get germinating, then thin, spindly, weak plant till it got in the ground - BUT another one of my 3 top winners this year! Excellent taste, not too acid, deep and complex - very juicy, great fresh OR for sauce - a great double duty tomato, like Howard German. Not a lot of seeds, but more than Howard German. Very uniform shape - nice oval/oxheart type. Green shoulders, but if you let them ripen fully, this mostly goes away. Main difference between this and Howard German other than shape is that Amish Paste would be a little less perishable - it doesn't get overly red-ripe and soft like Howard German can, therefore I would guess it would hold up better in fresh markets, shipping, etc. Again, I will never be without this one, saved seed from for next year.
14. Viva Italia (hybrid) - No notes on germination as I started them late and apart from the others, but I remember them being good. Front yard location - sort of sour - not great. Aug. 13 - less sour, average taste - probably would make good sauce. Picture perfect when cut in 1/2, very red and perfectly shaped. Very firm, and they stay that way a long time, like Classica. Aug. 15 - 3 to 3-1/2 oz. Taste is better when seed cavity is removed, but this variety had quite a lot of blossom rot. Sept. 9 - many in front yard are coming, no rot on these, they seemed worse in the backyard. Sort of undecided on these, but tend to shy away from varieties that are prone to blossom end rot. Leaf roll on them, but neither plant nor production was not affected.
15. Martino's Roma - Slow growth, average germination, soft plant early on. Aug. 13 - mealy but ok taste - nothing special, not too acid.
Quite small pear shaped fruits - very healthy looking, large bushy plant, the latest to fully produce, but quite a few fruits overall underneath the foliage. The majority ripened 2nd week of Sept. when most other plants were dead or dying, even though they were planted at the same time. Experimented with sauce on these - cut each in half, quickly squeezed seeds (not too fussily, didn't blanch) threw them into the food processor and then strained skin and remaining seeds through sieve. Combined them with some Sausage variety tomatoes and a few other small tomatoes - made the better smelling/looking sauce as compared to ones made with Super Tasty, Super Italian Paste (majority) and 2-3 German Johnson. I hesitated to take this variety seriously because of the work involved in seeding them since they were so small, but I changed my mind when I saw the nice thick, red, great smelling sauce they made (until I burned the whole batch badly while working on a computer emergency!)
16. Super Italian Paste - Lower germination - average to slow growth (like Stupice) - More wacky shapes, similar in shape to Howard German, but some are more irregular, 99% are long banana pepper shaped, some with a little hook on the point end. Similar to Howard German in productivity (maybe a little better production), good taste, not as mild as Howard German, but juicier (less openness inside). A bit more flavor than Howard German only in the sense that it is a hair more acid, but still consider it to be in the lower acid category compared to most. Even though it compares favorably to Howard German, for some reason I still like HG better.
17. Sausage - Slow growth, OK germination, soft plant early on - I almost hate to report on this one, as I question whether it really grew out true to the variety - it did not match the description. Smaller size than it was supposed to be - about La Roma's size (too small for me and my sauce making) Good flavor, not too sour but mealy & nowhere near as complex and rich as Amish Paste. Because of size and so-so production, I would prefer Martino's Roma over this one. This was described as a large tomato that was almost hollow inside in the seed catalog, but this was nothing like what I got.
18. San Remo - OK germination and growth BUT when I planted it, it just DIED. I have never had this happen before. I removed a huge ball of soil where it was grown and replaced it with bagged potting soil after I pulled the dead plant out. Replanted the space with Dona, and that one grew fine.
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19. Mindel's Old Israeli - Started very late since the seeds came late from Israel, it grew very slowly and seemed to take forever for the fruits to ripen, but germination was good. The fruits were not as small as a cherry, nor as large as a saladette - they were very pretty, sort of apple shaped (fluted) with a heavy skin and red in color. Grew in stalks/bunches like a cherry tomato. Plant was dwarf in terms of cherries - bushy, small and compact (about 2-1/2 ft. tall). The leaves were unlike any I have seen on a tomato, hard to describe. It was the only plant that got brown leaves, but it did not affect the fruit or production. Taste was pleasant, sort of between a cherry and std. size tomato flavor, just the way it looks! This would need a pretty long growing season. Seeds were saved from an Israeli gardener for 20 years from some tomatoes he got in an Israeli market. The gardener (Mindel) is the father of a good friend of my friend Pazi in Israel. A cool and rare find for an international tomato garden!!
20. Patio Crack - My "native volunteer" experiment - came up in a small crack in the patio this spring, and started growing vigorously there. I figured I'd give it a chance, so removed it to the garden and waited to see what it grew out to be. When the fruits started to ripen, I was sure it was German Johnson since their coloring was pink and I had grown it last year, so it was possible that it had seeded in. Also, this variety is a native of this area originally, so it made sense that this one could survive well here under adverse conditions. All was well and good till I tasted it - ick! Not German Johnson, it must be a relative, but it was not true to anything I grew last year. I grew German Johnson again this year from seed I saved last year and it was excellent, not like Patio Crack at all. Well, live and learn! Nature can do some funny things when you're not looking :-)
21. Enchantment - An afterthought and started very late. Heard rave reviews, so thought I'd give it a try - next to Patio Crack tomato and San Remo which died, it was my worst failure - it did grow, but 99.9% of all the fruits (and there were hardly any) had blossom end rot and were stunted. I got maybe 2 that were edible, and they were a bit sour, nothing special. Spindly, wandering, low production plant. I wonder how some people testing it could have rated it as their number one favorite?