Which varieties do well here.

We sell over 60 varieties at our nursery. With thousands of varieties to choose from, it is important to know which produce reliably. Some varieties are more tolerant of our hot summer days and cool nights than others. Most won't set fruit below 55F or above 90F. Beefsteak types won't set above 85F--and it's a rare summer day here that we don't exceed 85F!

What do you do with them?

This may determine which ones you buy. I mostly cook them, so I prefer a tomato with very little juice and a thin skin (Roma, Celebrity). Just like other fruits such as peaches and apricots, most people prefer fresh tomatoes with a good balance of acid and sugar. When we refer to a fruit as "low-acid" we mean it's sweet, but it may not have rich flavor. The texture can be important: for sandwiches (and fast-food burgers) we want firm tomatoes that don't get mushy, but home gardeners usually don't want fruit with lots of connective tissue.

There are regional differences.

Midwesterners ask for Beefsteak types, because that is what they grew up with: large fruit with sweet flavor, pretty good acid content, and lots of juice. The large amount of connective tissue may give a mealy texture which isn't undesirable in a sandwich, but might be unpleasant in a salad. Folks from New England complain that our tomatoes are "sour"--they are used to low-acid varieties because these are often suitable to short growing seasons, and the frequent summer rains in those climates lead to fruit that we consider bland and watery! We really do live in one of the best climates for growing tomatoes, with a long growing season and plenty of warmth to develop rich flavor.

Which ones taste best?

Natalie is our family tomato taste expert. She actually worked as a professional tomato taste tester years ago in the UCD Food Science Dept., and learned to discern fruits with a good balance of acid and sugar. What does she say? In this busy spring I managed to get her to sit down and quizzed her about some of the common varieties and a few of the heirloom and gourmet types becoming available. Her comments are in quotes; my comments follow hers.

Standard varieties:

• Ace: "Dependable, sets in a wide range of temperatures. Heavy on tomato flavor. Beautiful fruit, great salad variety, but tough skin. Nice compact plant." Great for small spaces.
• Better Boy: "Similar to Early Girl, but hasn't got the depth of flavor. Very productive." Very heavy fruit set on large vines makes it a great one for sauce production.
• Celebrity: "Very reliable producer. Excellent for slicing. Moderate size plants. FAVORITE TOMATO #2!"
• Champion: Very good flavor, large vine, large fruit, very productive. The largest-fruited type that produces reliably here.
• Early Girl: "FAVORITE TOMATO #1!" This one routinely wins taste tests in California, and produces reliably from early summer into the winter.
• Roma: "Real workhorse of a tomato. Very productive on compact plants which don't need staking. Great flavor, even used fresh. Very reliable. FAVORITE #3!" The best for sauce.

Cherry, yellow, and other varieties:

• Green Zebra: "Delicious, sprightly. Unusually good flavor for a yellow tomato. Pretty." Bizarre looking fruit.
• Husky Gold: "My favorite yellow tomato!"
• Husky Red: "Good flavor. Beautiful little plant. Great for small spaces or containers."
• Lemon Boy: "Early results impressive. Better texture than Golden Jubilee."
• Patio: "Cute little plant. The best for smaller pots. Sweet, firm fruit." Surprisingly productive for an 18" plant.
• SunGold: "YUMMM! My favorite cherry tomato. Dries into candy. Everyone should grow it!" (I think she likes this one?.). One of the best tomatoes ever.
• Sweet 100: "Unbelievably productive. A very good cherry tomato. Kids really love them. Great for salads (and slingshots!)--small enough to eat in one bite (unlike most cherry tomatoes)."

Heirloom and gourmet varieties--

• Brandywine: "Very popular, mild flavor. Mealy texture."
• Carmello: "Thin skinned, mealy. More flavorful than Beefsteak types, with better acid/sugar balance."
• Costoluto Genovese: "Impressive; similar to Marmande. Productive."
• Marmande: "Very fruity; acid/sugar balance is great."
• Marval Striped, and Old German (very similar varieties): "Mild, thin-skinned, mealy. Slicing tomato. Sweet."
• Principe Borghese: "I love it! Wildly productive. Excellent depth of flavor. Makes great sauce, though with lots of seeds and skin (strain the sauce)." (I think she likes this one too?.)

Just remember, any tomato you grow in your garden will taste better than the ones you buy in the store!

The results of Marin Master Gardener Tomato Tasting Event are in! The top 3 choices out of 26 varieties, garnering similar numbers of votes were: Stupice Cherokee Purple Black Prince In the next most popular group were: Early Girl Slava Juliet Mortgage Lifter Green Zebra Big Beef Sungella Big Yellow, Box Car Willie, and Oregon Spring also had some fans. Last year's top winners, the cherry tomatoes Sun Gold and Sun Sugar, were excluded from our latest tasting.

Note to self: Plant first varieties in box close to house for reflected sunlight and heat. One Stupice, one Early Girl and a Sun Gold. Have transplants ready for Mid March. Follow 4 weeks later with main planting a second group and maybe a third planting of Sungold and Stupice to close out the growing season. From Mercury garden columne: Some tried-and-true favorites include: "Paul Robeson," "Black Prince," "Black Krim," "Stupice" (Black Trifele has a good review also)