Steve, it sounds like those Sungold are worth it. I have seeds, but have yet to grow. I am a relatively new gardener, only 5 seasons in, so I don't have any tried and true "staples" yet. I grew cherry/grape varieties for the first 3, but I find that we can't keep up with even one plant as much as we love the fruits.

I will say I love yellow crookneck squash. I've tried growing it for 4/5 seasons and when it does well it's one of my all-time faves. When it doesn't, neither does any other type, so I know it's not the variety. I think it'll always be a part of the garden and I'm sort of surprised, as I was never a huge fan of squash before I started growing my own.

I think I'll go another season or 4 before beginning to settle on must-have tomato varieties. I usually pick 2-3 of the best performers from each season and attempt to grow them again the following season. This has had mixed results, as I've not grown any one variety for more than two seasons. This was supposed to be season 3 for Stump of the World, but the one transplant I had was weak and did not make it. It performed exceptionally well in both 2015 and 2016. Krasnodar Titans and Yaqui are quickly becoming favorites for fresh pico/salsa as they are both very dense and meaty with little juice; the KT will keep ripe on the counter for over a week due it's thicker skin. I grew them in 2016 and again this season and both are producing beautifully. I will have them in the garden again next season, multiples of each.

I'm growing ground cherries for the first time this season, sort of on a whim, and they are a ton of fun. They are beautiful plants, produce tons of little fruits and are unique and delicious. I've given them little care (sometimes less is more) and they are thriving. I wish our climate would allow it to be perennial, but for now I plan to grow it again in 2018.

Sungold is a staple for us, as well. I've never noticed a huge splitting problem - the occasional fruit splits, but nothing serious. We have an orange plum variety that appeared as a volunteer one year and we've been saving seeds ever since - it is less sweet than sungold, more of a "big tomato" flavor. This year we also tried a yellow pear tomato - can't remember the variety name - that has excellent flavor, and the color contrasts nicely with the red and orange of the other tomatoes.

Danvers half-long carrots are soooo good fresh from the garden, but usually don't germinate very well for me. The cool wet spring this year really helped them - we're going to have a bumper crop! And since they're shorter than other carrots, they have some chance of growing straight in our rocky soil.

This year we are growing two new winter squash varieties: Turk's Turban and Long Island Cheese, along with our staple Butternut. Both have set fruit - the Turban grew much faster than the Cheese initially, but Cheese is catching up now. We'll have to wait until harvest to decide whether they are worth growing again next year.