{"id":967,"date":"2015-02-28T15:18:27","date_gmt":"2015-02-28T21:18:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/theiowagardener.com\/wordpress\/?page_id=967"},"modified":"2025-06-11T13:29:02","modified_gmt":"2025-06-11T18:29:02","slug":"five-must-have-tomatoes","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/theiowagardener.com\/wordpress\/five-must-have-tomatoes\/","title":{"rendered":"Five Must-Have Tomatoes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Assure yourself months of delicious tomato-munching with this can’t-live-without lineup.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Each year, I always make room for tomatoes\u2014a tough thing, since it’s critical that you rotate their location every three years and the locations are supposed to be 50 feet apart. I make my selection of what to plant by choosing at least one plant from each of the following categories of tomato types. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
1. An Heirloom Beefsteak<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

I plant one of these because they are so incredibly flavorful and wonderful, though they take longer to bear. My favorite is ‘Brandywine,’ a big, fat and (frankly) ugly tomato that has out-of-this-world deep, rich, complex flavor. It starts bearing in early to mid-August or so and continues through frost. Others include ‘Cherokee Purple,’ ‘Stump of the World,’ ‘Mortgage Lifter,’ ‘German Pink,’ and ‘Black Krimm.’ They usually take 80 to 90 days to produce. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. An Early Slicing Tomato<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

I plant one of these to ensure homegrown tomatoes as early as possible. They aren’t big and they aren’t as flavorful as the late-season beefsteaks, but they are so welcome I’m thrilled to have them! One of my favorites, ‘Early Girl’, matures in just 52 days, so with luck you could have them by the 4th of July. Others include ‘Stupice,’ ‘Better Bush,’ ‘Fireworks,’ ‘Siletz,’ ‘Early Wonder,’ ‘Jet Setter,’ and ‘Legend.’<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. A Cherry or Grape Tomato<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

I also am sure to plant a cherry tomato or two. They start producing mid-season, approximately late July, and are great for salads and snacks. ‘Sweet Hundred’ is excellent but ‘Sweet Million’ is even more sweet with a full, beautiful flavor. In my Iowa garden, my grape tomatoes are prone to splitting. One cultivar, which has the awful name of ‘Mexican Midget,’ grows very well without splitting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. A Few Paste-Type Tomatoes<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

Sometimes called roma tomatoes or plum tomatoes, these small, oblong tomatoes are meaty with few seeds, perfect for making into sauces, salsas, or to can.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I plant at least three of them and if I’m ambitious, six (since the seedlings come in three-packs and I can’t bear to throw them out). I’ll collect them by the armload come August and September. ‘La Roma’ is one of the most widely available and is a good choice, though I planted ‘San Marzano’ one year and it made the best, sweetest pasta sauce ever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. ‘Long-Keeper’<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

This tomato is in a category all its own. It’s a tomato that you harvest in late fall when it is still a pinkish green. It never looks all the way ripe. The fruits are small, about the size of a tennis ball. But once you bring it indoors, right before frost, it continues to ripen indoors at room temperature, assuring me of fresh tomatoes up to Thanksgiving. The flavor isn’t as good as some other garden tomatoes, but it beats the heck out of the supermarket kind. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most of these tomato seeds are available online at www.tomatogrowers.com<\/a>, a wonderful source for the widest variety of tomatoes and peppers. ‘Long Keeper’ is available through Burpee<\/a>, among others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

— Veronica Lorson Fowler<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For More Information<\/strong><\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Tips for Truly Healthy Tomatoes<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

How To Direct Sow Seeds In Iowa<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Please do not use content from this site without express permission from The Iowa Gardener. Click here<\/a> to request permission.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Assure yourself months of delicious tomato-munching with this can’t-live-without lineup. Each year, I always make room for tomatoes\u2014a tough thing, since it’s critical that you rotate their location every three years and the locations are supposed to be 50 feet apart. 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