Looks good to me. I grow others. But the variety of varieties available is really incredible. Rutgers is one of my favorites for dependability.

Look through some of the older posts. Okiedawn has listed many many varieties with her evaluation.

George
Tahlequah, OK

Hi Michelle,

There's nothing wrong with the tomatoes on your list, but if it were me, I'd substitute the hybrid Brandy Boy for Brandywine Sudduth, if you think she can handle a tomato that is pinkish-red. Brandy Boy (from Burpee) outproduces Brandywine Sudduth (by a great margin) in my garden and Brandy Boy's flavor is very close to Brandywine's.

Other round, red (or pinkish-red) tomatoes that produce heavily in our climate and are worthy of your consideration might include:

Sioux
Super Sioux
Homestead 24
Santa Clara Canner
Mule Team
Boxcar Willie
Cuostralee
Big Beef (It produces fruit somewhat larger than the others and is great for fresh eating if she wants some for that purpose--it was an AAS winner in 1994 and tastes as good as many heirlooms.)
Supersonic
Jetsetter
Heinz 1439
Primetime
Shady Lady

Among the more traditional plum-shaped paste tomatoes often used for sauce and salsa, you might consider these:

San Marzano Redorta
Grandma Mary's Paste
Martino's Roma
Super Marzano
Opalka
Polish Linguisa

Available once again from the New Jersey Agriculture Extension Service (since last year) after being off the market for quite a few years is Ramapo F-1.

For a smallish paste type tomato that produces no matter how hot and dry it gets, I like Heidi, a paste tomato given to Dr. Carolyn Male by a student of hers from Cameroon. The flavor is very good, and unlike many paste tomatoes it seldom gets blossom end rot.

If your aunt tolerates tomatoes that are definitely pink and not red, then the small-fruited Porter and Porter Improved (from the now-defunct Texas seed company Porter & Sons) also produce very well in even the absolutely hottest, driest summers and the tomatoes have a nice flavor.

Hope this helps.

Now, it is my turn to pick your brain--will you share with us the names of the "gold, black and purple" tomatoes you grow? I always enjoy hearing feedback from other gardeners about their favorite tomatoes.

I like tomatoes of all colors, well, except white. All the whites I've grown, except for Snow White (which has outstanding flavor), seem to be flavor-challenged. And sometimes I find it hard to bite into a green-when-ripe type even though I like their flavor--expecially the very unique spiciness of Aunt Ruby's German Green.

Dawn

Thank you for the suggestions. I think I'll try adding Mule Team for her and see how things go this year. I'm trying little by little to get her more open to different varieties.
Dawn, to answer your question, I didn't have a large variety of plants last year due to time constraints, but
my gold, black and purple tomatoes were:
Golden Jubilee
Black Krim
Cherokee purple

I also grew a few reds/pinks:
Rutgers
Arkansas Traveler
Roma

This years grow list is a little different. I hoping things will be going a little smoother this spring, so I decided to try:
Martino's Roma
Royal Hillbilly
Kelloggs Breakfast
Cherokee Chocolate
Black Cherry
Black Krim
Arkansas Traveler
Golden Jubilee

And since I'll be starting some anyway,
Better Boy
Rutgers

I also think, with your recommendation, I will try Brandy Boy.

I threatened to grow a white variety this year, but I was kinda afraid they would be "flavor-challenged" and I decided I could dedicate that time and space to something else. Snow white sounded good, but we don't grow or eat many cherry-type tomatoes. Typically, they end up as dog treats, and they don't mind the red ones (they better not, because if the black cherry tastes as good as I'm hoping, they won't be getting any of those).

I looked really hard at the green varieties available, but I can't decide if I could eat one after I grew them. I'm not a big fan of green (unripe) tomatoes and I 'm afraid that would cause severe mental block. I'll never say never, because I'm fairly open to trying new things, but right now, not so much.

Michelle

Michelle,

Black Cherry will (assuming normal growing conditions, which is to say that you'd have average but not excessive rainfall) taste great. I love heirloom tomatoes and it is hard for a tomato to impress me because so few of them can measure up to Brandywine, Black Krim, True Black Brandywine, Indian Stripe and Cherokee Purple. Black Cherry, though? It will knock your socks off. I was prepared to like it because the late Vince Sapp, co-owner with wife Linda of Tomato Growers Supply Co., developed it and introduced it to the market. I had no idea, though, how much I'd love, love, love it.

I grow a LOT of cherry, grape and currant types to eat in salads, to eat by the handfull while working in the garden, and to dehydrate for use in salads in the winter months, and even though I grow at least a dozen types each year, Black Cherry is my favorite. I could grow only Black Cherry and SunGold and nothing else and be happy.

Dawn

I haven't grown Mule Team, so can't say anything about it. But Sioux is definitely a winner. 2008 was my second season with Sioux. It was PROLIFIC, heat tolerant and tasty. Our #1 use for tomatoes is cooking. But we do like to slice and eat them. Sioux fit the bill, quite well, for both uses.

George

Okay, I'm going to make an offer to anyone on this forum, and I thought this would be a good place to put it. I'm afraid if I post in a new thread I'll get swamped.

We grow an heirloom, originally from Illinois, which is our #1 favorite, all around workhorse. It's called Baker Family Heirloom. Picture a Rutgers on steroids. In 2006 I grew Juliet, and BFH was more vigorous and productive. In three seasons, here in Tahlequah, BFH has proven itself as reliable for our climate.

The fruit is outwardly, nearly indistinguishable from a Rutgers, though it has a bit more complex system of locules on the inside. I received the seed back in 1995, through a trade with another member of the National Gardening Society: L.D. Baker of Tinley Park, IL. This variety is hardy and productive. It really requires some sturdy support and the vines easily reach 10' in a season. The plant is not only long, but it's also bushy. I grow it in 5' tomato cages made of concrete reinforcing wire. BFH is exceedingly productive. We cook with it, though it is not a paste tomato. First ripe fruit is around 90 days from transplant.

Anyway, if anyone on this forum would like to try this, send me a private message and I'll e-mail you my mailing address. I'll ask for a self address stamped envelope (preferably padded), with enough postage to return the seeds, or else $2 to cover my time and materials to ship in a bubble mailer. I won't be able to mail from January 22 to February 9

George

Michelle,

E-mail me at kg8da(at)juno.com
Just substitute the (at) with @. I received the e-mail you sent through Gardenweb. But it didn't include a way to contact you.

George