all tomatoes are not created equal
Tomatoes are the focus of our garden. Of all the things we can grow, tomatoes are the food we eat the most during the winter. We make pasta sauce, pizza sauce, canned whole tomatoes, and more.
This year we grew four different canning tomato varieties - Roma, San Marzano, Jersey Devil & Opalka. We also grew some slicing varieties - big rainbow and boxcar willie. Then there’s the snacking tomatoes - sun gold, geranium kiss, and red pears.
I took some time this weekend to score the canning varieties of tomatoes that we grew this year while all of the details are fresh in my mind. Of the four canning varieties, we will only be growing two of them next year.
Here’s what I scored them on:
germination - what percentage of seeds that I planted sprouted into seedlings? You can just guess, chances are if it was bad you remember or if it was really good you’ll remember!
maintenance - how much maintenance does the plant require
time to maturity - how long does it take for the plant to start producing ripe fruit
yield - how many fruits were harvested
longevity - how long does the plant last once it starts producing fruit
taste - how does it taste?
texture - is it mealy? meaty? dry? juicy?
color - does the color match your expectations?
versatility - are there multiple ways to use the fruit/plant?
size - how big is it? what is expected?
All four of these tomato varieties had equal scores for germination (high), and maintenance (low - they’re all indeterminate tomato varieties after all!). The two categories that stand out are yield and size.
The Romas were tiny. I barely wanted to use them because they were so small and more of a hassle than it seemed would be worth it. They also seemed to take longer to ripen. The hornworms seemed to like this bed best as well…
The Jersey Devils were a good size, about 3” tall and over an inch wide, but their yield was terrible. The plants seemed to die off right when they produced fruit. Most of the fruit didn’t ripen all of the way, or took a long time to ripen.
The San Marzanos were small, but reasonable. They had great texture - juicy and thick-walled, and they were bright red. The quintessential tomato. We got a decent yield on this variety.
Finally, the Opalka tomatoes. These were my all-around favorites. They are nice and big, a little weird shaped but I don’t care about that! Very thick walls with meaty texture that wasn’t too mealy. The yield was great on these as well - the plants are still going!
We’re adding Opalka and San Marzano to our growing list again next year. How about you - what’s your favorite canning tomato variety?
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