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| Potted volunteer tomato plant |
Sunday, April 26, 2026
There are hundreds of tomatoes to choose from. There are whole catalogues devoted just to America’s favorite home garden vegetable. There really is nothing like a homegrown tomato, fresh off the vine! With so many to choose from, how do you decide which is best for you and your garden?
Some considerations for deciding what to plant-space you have, flavor, how you use tomatoes, and which types grow best and give the biggest yields in your area. Ask your neighbors or farmers market sellers which types they have found grow the best for them. For heirloom and open pollinated types you buy from the farmers market, save the seeds from the ones you like and you can grow them in your garden!
I prefer heirloom and open pollinated, organic veggies. I love the idea of seeds being handed down from generation to generation with loving care, through good times and bad. Back in the day, every vegetable and vegetable seed was precious. You should save the seeds from your very best tasting, performing plant with the biggest fruits. It was a sacrifice to take the biggest, juiciest fruit for its seeds. Seeds were like gold back then.
Today, we save seeds from the best performers in our garden so year after year our veggies are better adapted to our specific garden conditions and tastes. Seed saving-fun, easy and a cost saver
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| Chocolate cherry tomatoes |
Family lore has it that my great grandfather killed a man in self defense when one of my great uncles stole some seeds the neighbor had ordered. The neighbor came with a gun and confronted my great grandfather for the theft of his seeds. The family had to leave the state, worried that the law would come after him. At least, that is a story I heard told.........
For myself, I look for tomatoes that are disease resistant and can stand up to the crazy heat we are experiencing in our summers now. Typical tomatoes become sterile when the temperatures average 85F. We saw weeks where daytime highs were above 95F last summer.
The second consideration for me is how I use the tomato. I like to have 1 paste for canning (Italian Red Pear), 1 cherry type for salads (Chocolate Pear) and one for slicing tomatoes (Cherokee Purple). My husband loves the slicers. He has been growing a tomato patch for the last few years. Up until this year he was growing them in upside down 5 gallon buckets. Pots get hotter than soil so you get tomatoes earlier but the flowers go sterile quicker in the heat. This year he is putting them in the ground. We will grow 10-12 plants.
You may be surprised with my canning tomato choices. I can all types of tomatoes. I plant tomatoes that give lots with great taste and preserve all that we can't eat. I try to have one paste per quart freezer bag as paste tomatoes give a silky sauce.
I like growing the darker tomatoes since they are so healthy! For more on the benefits of darker veggies, The Power of Purple If you are curious on how the color of tomatoes affect its health benefits,
Different colors in tomatoes give different nutrition or just a ranking on overall health benefits by type,
Most nutritious heirloom tomatoes They even have tomatoes today that are bred specifically to increase the healthiness of the tomato! I get the best yields from the smaller tomatoes. In the past, I used to get loads of tomatoes with Juliet (a hybrid, 1999 All American) and Yellow Pear (a heirloom from pre-1800). Both are indeterminate, meaning they produce from summer through frost. The Juliet is a mini Roma, great taste. With the higher heat, the Juliet and yellow pear tomatoes have not been doing well in our garden. I now grow Chocolate Pear every year for salads.
The smaller tomatoes are great for drying as well. I like using my electric dehydrator for "sun dried" tomatoes as it is usually just too humid in the Midwest to dry tomatoes in the sun.
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| Large heirloom Italian Red Pear tomato, good for sauce and slicing |
For slicers, the heirloom Brandywine, dates back to 1885, is a taste favorite which we have grown many times. It continues to win taste tests to this day. My husband lovers Brandywine tomatoes so I start pink, red and a chocolate Brandywine every year for him. I also start 1-2 Cherokee Purple slicer tomatoes as they produce sooner and seem to hold up to the heat.
I started a few disease and heat resistant slicers this spring too to experiment.
Lately, I have been trying a different type of storage tomato so we have fresh tomatoes further into winter. I haven't found one that I want to add every summer yet.
Just as a note, hybrids will not come back like its parent. Be sure to save seed from heirloom or open pollinated types to be sure you will get what you expect. Or if you like surprises, feel free to plant the seed and see what happens! What do the terms GMO, natural, heirloom, organic, hybrid really mean?
If you are short on space, there are many dwarf and patio varieties that can even be grown in pots! We have had good luck with Bush Early Girl (only 54 days ‘till ripe tomatoes), Patio, Husky Red, and heirlooms Lizzano and Tumbling Tom. There are many more options! Just keep in mind that the smaller plants will not produce as much as a huge plant.
Compact tomatoes for small spaces and pots |
| Yellow Tumbling Tom, a dwarf variety |
Just three tomato plants should give a family of 2 enough for eating, freezing for salsa, and canning. You don't need many plants to get a whole lot of fruits!
For more on growing tomatoes, these blogs can help you get started growing your own tomatoes this season:
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