Beefsteak

Producing the largest fruits, one tomato can easily weigh 2 or more pounds. Because of their size they usually ripen late in the season. Many people consider them well worth the wait as the flavor is superb. The interior is a series of small, irregular cavities that hold the pulp and seeds. They hold together well when sliced, with one slice often large enough to cover a slice of bread. Since they have a high solid to pulp ratio, they also cook down well for sauces. Some names that fall into this category are: Brandywine, Mortgage Lifter, Big Rainbow, Pineapple, Striped German, Watermelon, Aunt Ruby’s German Green, Beefmaster, Brandy Boy, Burpee’s Big Boy and Big Beef.

You can buy Beefsteak tomatoes here: Buy Beefsteaks

Slicers

These are the most common variety, similar in size to what you find in the supermarket. They are very popular for using fresh; sliced for hamburgers and sandwiches, cut up for salads or chopped up for tacos. Although they can most certainly be used for cooking, they tend to be rather juicy. Many gardeners call these ‘early tomatoes’ because they ripen sooner than the beefsteaks. You’ve probably heard of some of these:  Early Girl, Better Boy, Oregon Spring, Fourth of July, Green Zebra, Black Krim, and White Wonder.

Oxheart

Shaped like a huge strawberry this variety has been popular for generations because of their size, flavor, meatiness, and the fact that they contain few seeds. They ripen midsummer and are excellent for using fresh and for cooking and canning. Most varieties are heirloom: German Red Strawberry, White Oxheart, Yellow Oxheart, Cuor di Bue, Red Oxheart.

Paste, Roma or Plum

Most are pear-shaped or oblong with a pointed end. The flesh is thicker without a center core. They contain fewer seeds and less juice than most other varieties. This makes them ideal for dicing fresh and also for canning and making sauces and drying. Popular varieties include: San Marzano, Roma, Amish Paste, Olpaka, Polish Linguisa, Viva Italia, and Big Mama.

Cherry

Known to most as the small round tomatoes in a garden salad, they are about the size of a cherry. But don’t let the small fruit make you think that the plants are small. They can range anywhere from dwarf patio-sized plants to over 6 foot tall. I’ve had some plants grow over the top of an 8’ trellis! The plants tend to produce lots (think 100’s) of fruit and most often will keep producing right up until frost. The taller plants tend to be rather wispy, almost vine-like, so they don’t require a heavy trellis. This variety is ideal for container gardening. Just be sure to provide a support of some type for the taller varieties. These are perfect tomatoes for using whole in salads, snacking off the bush, or cut them in half and make your own sun dried tomatoes. The list of varieties is endless: Sweet 100, Sungold, Tommy Toe, Black Cherry, Snow White, Isis Candy, Husky Red.

You can buy Cherry Tomatoes here: Buy Cherry Tomatoes

Patio

This is a determinate type of cherry tomato plant. They quickly produce for a short period of time. Due to their compact size and tight root structure, they can be grown in a hanging basket or small containers. More new varieties appear every year: Tiny Tim, Tumbler, Bonsai, Elfin.

Grape

Here is another type of cherry tomato with fruit about the size and shape of a grape. They tend to be sweet and are good for salads and vegetable trays. There are not a large number of varieties that fall into this category: Juliet, Green Grape, Jelly Bean, Riesentraube.

You can buy Grape Tomatoes from our partner, White Flower Farm, here: Buy Grape Tomatoes

Currant

This variety can be traced to the ‘wild’ tomatoes that are native to the northern countries of South America. Smaller than cherry tomatoes, the fruit is about the size of a pea (1/2” to 3/4” in diameter) and grows in small clusters like grapes. These plants are among the tallest, with some people reporting them to have grown over 12’ tall! They have good natural disease resistance. A colorful addition to salads, there are red, yellow and white varieties available.  The flavor is very intense and sweet for such a small fruit. Seeds are tiny. These have recently become more popular: Yellow Currant, White Currant, Sweet Pea, Lemon Drop, Red Currant.

Containers Varieties

Most of the varieties recommended for containers are classified as “determinate.” This means the plants stop growing after reaching a certain size (usually 3-4ft).Their compact size is ideally suited for containers. A 5 gallon or larger capacity container will work well. Remember, the smaller the container, the more often you will have to water. If you have a container that will hold at least 10 gallons of soil, you can grow any variety you wish.

Early Maturing Varieties

If you choose varieties with 65 days or less days to maturity, you can have the first ripe tomato on the block!! “Days to maturity” simply means the number of days it takes to produce ripe fruit from the time the plants are put into the ground.

You can buy Early Maturing Varieties here: Click here to buy Early Maturing Varieties

Heirloom Varieties

‘Cherokee Purple’, ‘Green Zebra’, ‘Amish Paste’, ‘Matt’s Wild Cherry’–Most heirlooms have a story behind them, which is fun to discover and adds to their charm.

There are many reasons their seeds have been saved and passed down by gardeners for generations. Their fruits may not be uniformly round and picture perfect but their flavor is unmatched. Their skins make them too fragile to be found in most supermarkets. Have fun choosing from this list. You won’t find many of these varieties at your local garden center.

Unusual

There are a few varieties that are rather unusual when we think about tomatoes:

• Stuffer The fruit on these plants tends to be ‘blockier’, almost pepper shaped. When you cut into them, they are mostly hollow inside. In fact the seeds are arranged much like the inside of a pepper, with the noticeable difference that they are covered with the typical gel that coats all tomato seeds. Beautiful when the tops are removed and they are filled with any kind of salad. The flesh is firm, but not crunchy like a pepper. This also makes them good sliced up for stir fry or thrown into warm pasta, as they will not ‘melt’ when heated slightly. There are a few different varieties: Red Stuffer, German Striped Stuffer, Yellow Stuffer, Schimmeig Striped Hollow.

• Sausage The term is used to describe the shape of the fruit, which is elongated and with a point at the tip. They tend to be a bit hollow on the inside, but much more flavorful than the stuffers. The plants look small and wispy, but they produce a lot of fruit. They make a nice fresh salsa that is not too watery, and are also good fresh. Like the stuffers, they are firm enough for stir fry or pasta . Again, not too many varieties: Cream Sausage, Green Sausage, Banana Legs, Striped Roman.

• Longkeeper Keeper tomatoes are the varieties that our great-grandmothers would store in the basement, often wrapped individually in newspapers. They were picked at the end of the season before they had fully ripened. Over the next 6-10 weeks she would check them for ripeness and remove any that showed signs of spoiling. It was always a treat to have fresh tomatoes at Christmas time.  If picked at the right time and stored properly they really are a wonderful alternative to store bought. Some recommended varieties: Winter Red, Keepsake, Rev. Morrow’s Longkeeper, Everlast.

Order your plants or seeds early to guarantee availability of the varieties you want.

We are proud to partner with White Flower Farms to offer you over 100 varieties of tomato plants, many that you won’t find at local garden centers.

They are grown and shipped in 3in pots that are a full 4in deep, so the plants you receive have strong, well-developed root systems. Full instructions for planting and care included.

• Beefsteak and slicers
• Early Maturing Varieties
• Heirloom Varieties
• Cherry/Grape Varieties

Or choose from 600 varieties of heirloom, open pollinated,
certified organic seed from TomatoFest. Click here