Love that you guys feature seeds that appear both in and out of the Botanical Interests catalog. Much more interesting/trust building than only selecting from Botanical's current offerings. I was a fan of Botanical Interests before the Epic acquisition and am loving the marriage!
Hi Kevin, two thumbs up for all the excellent content that you have created over the years. I would like to purchase some seeds from botanical interests but is there any arrangements can be made for the seeds to be shipped to Malaysia?
I always grow Sungold for the purpose of making Bruschetta with it. I combine the Sungold and the Super Sweet 100's with basil, EVOO and Pecorino Romano and it makes a very tasty Bruschetta.
@@FloraM44 I usually just buy the good Italian crusty bread at my local Italian food market which is my preferred choice but I have also used good sourdough bread.
I know they are a hybrid, but they reseeded from fallen missed tomatoes, and that plant was still prolific and sweet. So I am happily growing some grandchildren this year. They are my go-to for success. I'll probably plant some actual Super Sweet 100s again in the future, though.
My favorite for the past few years are black cherry tomatoes. They are NOT particularly sweet but have a much more savory flavor, they also keep for a fairly long time on my kitchen counter.
I like black cherries as well, always grow a few. I did a hydroponic sungold last year but wouldn't hesitate to go black cherry over sun. 😊 Super sweet 100 is always a winner. I wanted to do Barry's crazy cherry last year but my germination rate was so low on them.
I'm growing these for the first time this year, and I'm so excited! It's also performing the best out of the 4 varieties I'm growing, so far at least! :-)
You know what would be sweet? If you released a limited time variety pack of all the seeds you plant in an episode. I always want to try growing the same things as you but don't really want to buy them all individually. Keep up the good work !
Matt’s Wild Cherry is my absolute favorite cherry tomato. They are small like a maraschino cherry. Tastes like a beefsteak, prolific, fast producer(40 days here in Caribbean),reseeds itself for years, keeps you well fed while gardening. I freeze gallon bags of them whole and then just dump them in sauce in the off season to give it some texture. Skins are so thin they are not even noticeable in sauce. I have grown them in Upstate NY, South Jersey, and the Caribbean. They do well in all three climates even though they are so different.
I grow Amish Paste everything year. This year I am exploring Dwarf tomatoes. I'm also growing a weird current tomato. Something about a bowl of jelly bean size tomatoes that is appealing to me.
I grow spoon tomatoes every year. They are incredibly flavorful for such a tiny thing. I love to use a branch of them as a dangling element in a floral arrangement. I will say, they are tedious to pick.
I can totally agree with you on the Amish Paste tomato!! Couldn't believe the volume I got, and the huge size that they grew!! ! Made delicious green tomato chutney with a lot of my end of season ones.
Adding dwarf beefsteak and slicer varieties would be my vote. Micro dwarf tomatoes perfect for GreenStalks would be a real win, too! Any nurseries that sell dwarf varieties as starts in NorCal sell out ASAP. I'd love to see Botanical Interests add them to your lineup!
Sun gold is the first cherry tomato that I have grown this year. I am in zone 9b/10a in west central Florida. I have about 20 plants at six feet high and I am picking about 25 fruits a day right now. I started the seeds in November, kept them in the garage overnight when it got below 50 degrees, and planted them in the garden in part shade January 1 to trellis between my hibiscus plants, and trellised elsewhere. They are really a "burst" of flavor each time I eat them. More on the acidic side, but I prefer this over a very sweet tomato, for salads, soups, and just general snacking. I'm growing a beefsteak called Jolene that is a hybrid that likes heat and humidity, and they are about six inches tall so far. I recommend the Sun Gold cherry tomato.
I have grown Sungolds for each of the past three years and planted a few of them this year as well, but for cherry tomatoes, I am relying more on the Sun Sugar variety this year. Sun Sugars are very similar to Sungold, but they have a thicker skin and do not have the problems with splitting so badly as my Sungolds did the last two years. I think the Sungolds might taste slightly sweeter and more flavorful but it’s very close and I’m able to harvest a lot more of the Sun Sugars because they are intact on the vine and not split open with potential insect eggs and larva insIde.
@WisGuy4 that's what I've heard. I need to get my hands on some sun sugar it sounds like because that wpuld be nice for the farmers maroet- to have cherry tomatoes that have thicker stems...
I would sub-out one of the (or add a third) cherry tomatoes for Chocolate Cherry Tomato (BI also sells them) or Black Cherry both have really rich wonderful flavor and great color really prime eating tomatoes. Instead of a "grape" tomato I would grow yellow (or red) pear tomatoes, great flavor and they just grow like gangbusters for me. Salad tomato, I look towards Oregon Spring (it is similar to Glacier and Stupice being Parthenocarpic) but bred in the USA (at Oregon State University I believe) it takes a *little* longer to produce then Glacier (but it is like 5 or so days more) yet probably handles cold nights even better, so can be planted out extra early as long as you protect them from frost. As far as a sauce type tomato Anna Russian (an Oxheart type) works really well and tends to be a bit more productive even if your nights are staying cool and they taste really good, fruits are about 16oz. I avoid Beefsteaks because they don't tend to preform well here in the PNW (I tend to get only three or four fruit per plant which makes them a bit of a waist of space), though I might try the Beauty King and see how it does because I have had good luck with Zebra crosses before. Growing the "Species" type of any plant can always be fun, but Current Tomatoes can taste a bit "musky" to me. So for weird I am going to sub in the Pineapple Ground Cherry and Purple Tomatillo! Which are both very tasty, weird, produce abundantly, and keep really well. Both tomato relatives need to be planted at approximately the same time as tomatoes and need essentially the same care. Very worth it.
Oh wow I had no idea you guys owned botanical interests! Used your seeds for my whole garden this year!! Everything is still in the seedling stage, but the seeds were excellent quality!! Can't wait for my tomatoes!!
I didn't realize this either. I'm starting from seeds this year for the first time. My BI germination rated have been almost 💯. The seeds have performed much better than BC! I actually have another order to place while you are having the sale. :)
Yay! I'm so glad that you included the Constoluto Genovese variety! I grew it for the first-time last year, and it was by far my favorite! It is stunning to look at, tastes delicious and it was a big performer in my raised bed!! I grew so many; I dehydrated some and then ground it down to a powder. I use it in my marinara sauce to boost the flavor and it is amazing!!
Bought a pizza oven last year, and I'm year 3.5 of baking bread. This year I planted San Marzano as well. Bit went with 30 seeds. Gonna give out a few to friends and family. There is space in Pomona, CA that makes fresh Mozzarella di Bufala, Fior di Late, and Burrata. Only thing I need is fresh flour and I'm working on getting a flour miller next.
I grew San Marzano and Amish Paste last year and they both grew extremely well. Doing the same this year but adding a couple more Italian paste tomatoes to experiment.
I’m so glad you guys are trying this rootstock stuff. I am not skilled enough to try something like this. But after ya’ll kill it this year and share the knowledge I might give it a try 😂😅
I am considering trying to graft two or three cherries onto one plant, maybe onto rootstock. If you can graft using suckers this would be a game changer, too.
It's a cool idea for sure! And seems like a small gamble knowing that a regular tomato that breaks can just be taped back onto its plant and totally survive LOL
My fav grape tomato is called Honey bubbles. It is so sweet, lovely to snack on and as it is indeterminate, you can grow it as big or as small as you like. It is such a prolific producer, that I can easily have my share, share with friends and family and with the wildlife that comes into my garden! Lol! I use them to prevent wildlife from snacking on my other tomatoes, actually. It can be grown as a literal hedge.
I prefer Sun Sugar to Sun Gold They don't split as much in the Idaho heat. This year I am trying Super sweet 100. New Girl and Bolseno grow the best here against the Blight and 100-105 deg summers, Great medium slicers (tennis ball size)
Amish Paste are simply fantastic tomatoes! Last year I had a lot of problems with my tomatoes and everything other than my Amish Pastes pretty much just sucked. I still wound up with plenty for canning and snacking on because of the Amish Paste tomatoes. I plan to grow them every year from here on out.
Kevin, You should try some tomatoes from the Dwarf Tomato Project--many great varieties. They're a great choice for those w/ limited growing space--many can even be grown in containers. 😊
I am in love with black tomatoes for their intense, savory flavor. Black Krim was my introduction, but I have loved the performance of Carbon. I didn't feel like the Black Cherry captured enough of the richness of the type for me to surpass the more common cherry types, and they cracked terribly even with watering. Last year, my best flavor was from the Japanese Black Trifele, but it was a finicky start and low yield. My best grower and a great all-purpose slicer was the Tim's Black Ruffles from Happy Cat Farm. This year, I'm adding Black Krim and Cherokee Purple and I'm looking forward to doing a direct comparison. One of these days, I'll give in to growing Amish Paste myself. They are deligious and prolific! I'm trying the Speckled Roman paste tomato again this year. It was slow to start and more prone to blossom end rot than my others last year, but the production was good and the flavor was fantastic both in salad and when cooked into a sauce. I didn't care for the currant tomato I grew last year. I'm glad I tried it and the fruits tasted good, but I was very annoyed to get two or three little pops of flavor at a time. It would probably be better if I'd grown several plants instead of just one, but it was my 12th plant in a fairly small garden -- there simply wasn't room!
My favorite heirloom is Paul Robeson and second is Dr. Wyches. I would not have a season without these. My favorite cherry tomato is blue cream cherry. It also has thin skin that can split easy, but it's so good.
I tried a Dr Wyche last year and it was just about the best tomato I ever had. Of course it cost a small fortune as it was sold by weight. Trying to sprout from a seed packet right now, hope it won't be too late as my other tomatoes have been in the ground for weeks.
Can't wait to see how these tomatoes turn out! Can you please do a video on grafting tomatoes? The concept of grafting tomatoes seems fascinating to me.
I’m so happy to see you join forces with botanical interests! These seed starting videos are so informative and fun and oddly satisfying. Please do lots more! 😍
My local nursery had 12+ inch sungold starts for free a few weeks ago, just trying to get them into good homes before the summer scorching starts and deep fries them. Can't wait to try my first fruits off of it! I luckily (vaguely) remembered hearing y'all speak highly of them in previous videos...that's the only reason I grabbed one without hesitation, so...thanks! Hopefully the suckers/cuttings will grow quickly, too. 🍅❤
I love that you shared a currant tomato. I'm trying two varieties for the first time this year: Spoon and White Currant. Looking forward to snacking on them in the garden.
I had to dive into that whole own Botanical Interests thing. And it's true! Congrats! As a Coloradan I have to say that BI works so very well here. I've been a fan of yours for years so I trust the quality will remain for BI. Again, CONGRATS!
Love Glacier tomatoes. They do really well in my upper Midwest climate, and actually produce pretty well throughout the season even though they’re a determinate variety.
I love my currant tomatoes. Early, early production because I can keep the plant tiny and have hundreds of tiny salad tomatoes while my greens are still producing!
I love hearing about what other folks are growing - only one of yours matches mine - SuperSweet 100. This year, I am trying some of the dwarf varieties associated with the 'Dwarf Tomato Project'. Wish me luck!!
I bought the container garden seed bundle from Botanical Interests. It includes cherry falls and brandy wine. I never tried those. I’m looking forward to seeing how they turn out. I’m also growing early girl and celebrity…and a couple of mysterious volunteers.
My favorite way to use currant tomatoes... just pop them in an omelet with other garden veggies. They add this amazing - sometimes surprising - burst of sweetness and a bit of acidity to balance out all of the savory flavors.
If you really like a tomato and you have the space to start them inside I recommend growing a tomato plant and cutting it up into cuttings for spring planting
Black Krim for hot summers (we have excessive 100° upwards of 110-114°), love the Mr. Stripey, and now my favorite for flavor are the YELLOW tomatoes - a great compliment to red, especially in Salsa or Bruschetta sauce.. also, Love Sun Gold, & Super Sweet 100 - but my all time, early producing and prolific is EARLY GIRL BUSH! I had 2 that each produced almost 50 tomatoes per bush by June last year - maybe because I am a heavy defoliator - and leave those "suckers" - i got a lot of tomatoes on the sucker branches. I tend to go against common practices 🤷😁
I think a lot of the advice you hear is from growing in cooler climates. Bushier plants do better for me. Black Krim is one of my favorites but I haven't noticed it to be particularly heat tolerant. In fact it's often one of my first tomatoes to go.
I have grown many different types of cherry tomatoes and have always grown one variety every year. SUNGOLD!! By far the sweetest cherry tomato variety. Only downfall is that it’s a hybrid. I’ve tried growing it from seed from a fruit off of the original seed and it never tasted the same.
Last season I had currant tomatoes, it was fun until I had so many and ripen at the same time. The trick is tu prune, prune and prune or you will have a giant tomato bush with red dots everywhere. Might try it again someday...
Yes I do grow sun gold and San Marzano. For a grape tomato I recommend a 2005 AAS winner "Sugary". It's prolific and has a brix of 8.5 - 9. Now for Cherokee Carbon LOL LOL. KEVIN, 3 or 4 years ago I did my own little test. I grew Cherokee Purple, Carbon and Cherokee Carbon side by side by side.. The results of my little test comparison was that Cherokee Carbon did not perform as well as either Cherokee Purple or Carbon. Cherokee Carbon did not taste better, or as good as either of the two. As for me, out of the three I ranked Cherokee Carbon 3rd ☹. Hope you enjoy the results of my little trial. Always love your vids. Bayonne, New Jersey.
@@cherylk1518 Well as for taste I felt that Cherokee Purple and Carbon were equally wonderful. So that was a flip of the coin. As for performance, Carbon did out perform Cherokee Purple. Less problems and more fruit.
Also, I love the look of this shot! The wall in the background adds perfect color and the greenhouse looks amazing! It will be interesting how it functions in the hot San Diego summer. I am in Escondido.
I actually grew a variety of the currant tomatoes you showed off in this vid. Aptly named "Red Currant Tomato"-- all of my plants were stunted last year, but eventually managed to take off.. but man, those Red Currants were _bushing_ so quickly and producing fruits so fast I was picking about a half a pound's worth of fruit. Daily. From just *two* plants. I'm glad I had them off the ground (basically on 'tables' for my outdoor kratky set up), because they were large enough to just barely sprawl out from their 3 1/2 foot platform they were on. Admittedly, it was hard to use them practically. As you even mentioned, I just kinda ate them like candy lol.
Great list! I have changed over to Cherry and grape style only this year. I find in my area they grow better, less issues and get plenty of fruit. Here are my current top 5. 1. Barry's crazy cherry 2. Sun Peach 3. Sun Gold 4. Black Cherry 5. Tie currently between Sweet 100 and Praxxus
I still have tons of tomato paste and whole in my freezer from previous seasons, so this year is dedicated to prettier toms (and only growing a few). Thanks for making this "serious" video. I fell in love with your channel because of this type of teaching. It works well with my brain this way 😅 But I do enjoy the full of fun and funny series too. Keep rising, Kevin. Best wishes sent your way. Cheers from 🇨🇦
Yep, you are talking way over what my beginner gardener brain is ready for. Wish I could find someone as knowledgable and in depth as you in my zone 10a Florida area. It’s slow going but I will get there.
No roasting here! I agree with your selections. Had no idea you owned Botanical Interest. Trying some of your bush variety tomatoes this year in containers. Can’t wait!!
I've grown both San Marzano and Amish Paste. Yes, the San Marzano was prolific. But I've got to say, the Opalka paste tomato wins hands down. As big or bigger than Amish Paste, meaty, and the flavor is amazing.
Loved Opalka, and agreed it was far superior fruit in both flavor and size, however mine all died with early blight only got a few tomatoes off it.😢 That is the only reason I’m not growing them this year.
You should try grafting tomatoes on potatoes! I’ve heard of people doing it, and harvesting the potatoes once the tomatoes are finished producing. French fries and ketchup. One plant for one delicious side dish.
I love growing white currant tomatoes. They grow well in above 100 degree weather and produce hundreds of dime sized cream colored tomatoes that you can eat by the handful
One of the best cherry tomatoes I planted this year was the black cherry. Unique in taste, super sweet, and contrasts visually with supersweet 100 on a plate or salad
I'm growing 24 varieties. Four of them are ones you're growing: Sungold, Amish Paste, Cherokee Carbon, and Mountain Merit. Mine are going in the ground Monday!
I love my sungolds but I was confused when you talked about them cracking.. I have never had that problem.. I do pic them a few days early but even when I leave them on the vine they only crack when it rains to much.. hummmm.. another tomato I will always grow is the Amana Orange beefsteak .. its flavor is sooo good and a huge tomato .. I added a few to the salsa last yr and omg it added a sweetness that was just so yummy... I may have to try a few here you mentioned .. ty for your suggestions .. Happy Gardening .. 🌿
I grew those for years because they were incredibly prolific, although the skins are on the tough side and the taste is just pretty good. But I swore off when a wind storm came through and one broke my expensive, and I thought indestructible, Texas Tomato Cage. (The other tomatoes that weren't a wall of dense foliage did fine.)
I grew Chocolate Cherry tomatoes here in Southern Idaho last year. I had so many from just one bush I had to keep giving them away in addition to salads and canning many.
LOVE chocolate cherry! I grew it for years, but decided not to last year. The unpredictable growth habit vexed me. Instead, I grew super Sweet 100 and Riesentraube(maybe technically not a cherry). Out of spite, a chocolate cherry sprouted next to my raised bed. I think it wanted to teach me a lesson😂. The other two varieties paled in comparison. This year I am giving the sungold a try along with the chocolate cherry.
I'm trying a bunch for the first time but san marzano was the only one in your video lol. for cherries i did sunrise and pink bumblebee, indigo rose, and chocolate cherry. San marzano, speckled roman paste, brandywine, thorburn's terra cotta, pineapple, garden peach, and purple and verde tomatillos... i was inspired by your salsa garden video and want to make my own salsa garden :) (i got tequila sunrise and pot-a-peno peppers for it)
I like varieties that are different, but I don't like "weird" varieties. I'm with ya on the Sun Golds, though! I tried ot one year just to have some variety, and it's been part of garden ever since! I'm growing the Super Sweet 100s f0r the first time thos year because I've heard so much about it. Also, although my husband loves the Sun Gold tomatoes as much as I do, he also likes to see red tomatoes in the garden.
Glacier tomatoes are some of my favorites for growing in west Michigan. Even with some shade and sandy glacial soils, they produce right up to the last frost and then we pickle all the green ones. Also you guys bought one of my favorite seed companies?? Please do a colab with Max Miller for historic herb gardens. I really had to search to find wormwood seeds this year. A roman garden, medieval pottage, or victory garden seed collection would be awesome.
Coming back to this video to add to your collection of paste tomatoes... Cuore di Bue is AMAZING! It's great for sauces, great for sandwiches... The flavor is awesome. And they are pretty big!
I ordered 12 six-cells from you and was disappointed with the size at first. Then I put them in the Universal Tray and they all fit perfectly...BOTH WAYS! Genius!
I thought about Sungold but, I couldn't find the seeds. So instead I found Honeycomb Hybrid from Burpee. I've decided on just cherry and grape tomatoes this year so the plan is Honeycomb, Gardner's Delight, Sweeties, Large red cherry, Yellow Pear and for a paste just a regular Roma. Wish me luck!
Ahh! I'm so proud of myself. I am brand spanking new to raised bed gardening. (Well, gardening on a scale of any kind at least.) And I chose some tomato plants by reading about them and not watching any videos. I chose Sun Gold, Amish Paste, the one with 100 in the name, San Marzano (because I cook with those bought in cans from Italy). I got something called Better Boy or Big Boy or I don't know something "boy". Anyway, I'm going to see if I can find a few of the heirlooms you mentioned since I love the flavor of those. I also have some seed packs from my nursery that are YOUR SEEDS! Way to go ME! Thank you for reinforcing me and educating me!
This video reminded me of my sad little tomatoes lol. Just as they have started flowering, the clouds in my country decided to cover the sun and have been doing so for 8 days straight at this point. Oh well, can't control the weather.
Most of these we carry at Botanical Interests, our seed company: www.botanicalinterests.com/category/Tomato
Love that you guys feature seeds that appear both in and out of the Botanical Interests catalog. Much more interesting/trust building than only selecting from Botanical's current offerings. I was a fan of Botanical Interests before the Epic acquisition and am loving the marriage!
What do you think of the Federle and Jersey Devil tomatoes? Have you grown them? Tasted them? Compared to the San Marzano?
I have sungolds that are open pollinated that I save seed from every year. Feel like I have something special.
Hi Kevin, two thumbs up for all the excellent content that you have created over the years. I would like to purchase some seeds from botanical interests but is there any arrangements can be made for the seeds to be shipped to Malaysia?
Yep, I just bought 2 packs
You should make this a series with loads of different fruits and veggies would be so useful!
I agree!! That'd be awesome!
Check out weird explorer for all kinds of different fruits, I'll warn you though, you WILL want to grow them all, especially bananas.
I also like that idea!
Yes, I agree.
Agreed!
Sun Gold, Supersweet 100, 5 Star Grape F1, Mountain Magic F1, Glacier (swedish, cold tolerant and early), San Marzano, Amish Paste, Cherokee Carbon (heirloom beefsteak), Beauty King (beefsteak), Costoluto Genovese (beautiful beefsteak), Currant Tomato (tiny, wild), Fortamino Rootstock (root system, grafting).
Sungold is a winner. Amish Paste and Marzano didn't do well 2024 but had been great 2023
I always grow Sungold for the purpose of making Bruschetta with it. I combine the Sungold and the Super Sweet 100's with basil, EVOO and Pecorino Romano and it makes a very tasty Bruschetta.
That sounds amazing! What bread did you use? Did you make your own too?
@@FloraM44 I usually just buy the good Italian crusty bread at my local Italian food market which is my preferred choice but I have also used good sourdough bread.
@@lindapertusati7990 that sounds heavenly!!
Sounds amazing! I just planted a Super Sweet 100s for the 1st time!
So let me get this straight? You started a RUclips channel about gardening and now it has progressed to owning a seed company?!?! That’s EPIC
Not that simple lol. He bought out an existing company. And now charges even more for simple products. Wonderful job Kevin !!
@@inbredhorses😂
@@inbredhorses Some people just project their darkness to everything they see. I am like that, but trust me, you don't want to end up like me.
@@inbredhorsesyou made me go check them out, seem pretty typical compared to other places. A few of the pepper prices are lower than I expected
@@nk-dw2hm now do the gardens beds and other equipment
I would love to see this type of series done for peppers, potatoes, and other various veggies as you see fit. Love it
So agree
Jacques just did his pepper video a few weeks ago, I think. Same idea as this.
Check it out!
I have an over planting problem with tomatoes. Can’t resist I want them alllllll❤
Growing the Super Sweet 100 is a great confidence builder for new gardeners. You will be SO proud of the crazy bounty!
I know they are a hybrid, but they reseeded from fallen missed tomatoes, and that plant was still prolific and sweet. So I am happily growing some grandchildren this year. They are my go-to for success. I'll probably plant some actual Super Sweet 100s again in the future, though.
I’m into Sungold but yeah the volume might nice to show off in my community garden.
My favorite for the past few years are black cherry tomatoes. They are NOT particularly sweet but have a much more savory flavor, they also keep for a fairly long time on my kitchen counter.
I like these a lot as well, one of my best growers.
I like black cherries as well, always grow a few. I did a hydroponic sungold last year but wouldn't hesitate to go black cherry over sun. 😊 Super sweet 100 is always a winner. I wanted to do Barry's crazy cherry last year but my germination rate was so low on them.
I Love those too. I can’t wait to grow them with sun golds hydroponicly. So savory.
I'm growing these for the first time this year, and I'm so excited! It's also performing the best out of the 4 varieties I'm growing, so far at least! :-)
Absolutely my favorite too.
Yay! Sungold is far and away my favorite cherry tomato.
I really enjoy the yellow pear tomatoes. Small and sweet and great for a snack.
Love them on pizza
You know what would be sweet? If you released a limited time variety pack of all the seeds you plant in an episode. I always want to try growing the same things as you but don't really want to buy them all individually. Keep up the good work !
Matt’s Wild Cherry is my absolute favorite cherry tomato. They are small like a maraschino cherry. Tastes like a beefsteak, prolific, fast producer(40 days here in Caribbean),reseeds itself for years, keeps you well fed while gardening. I freeze gallon bags of them whole and then just dump them in sauce in the off season to give it some texture. Skins are so thin they are not even noticeable in sauce. I have grown them in Upstate NY, South Jersey, and the Caribbean. They do well in all three climates even though they are so different.
It’s still blows my mind that you OWN Botanical Interests now! Have used their seeds for years and have hundreds of packets of seeds ❤️♥️
I grow Amish Paste everything year. This year I am exploring Dwarf tomatoes. I'm also growing a weird current tomato. Something about a bowl of jelly bean size tomatoes that is appealing to me.
I'm growing Spoon Tomatoes from Baker Creek and I'm so curious to see those tiny things! I feel like the squirrels will get them all before I can...
I grow spoon tomatoes every year. They are incredibly flavorful for such a tiny thing. I love to use a branch of them as a dangling element in a floral arrangement.
I will say, they are tedious to pick.
I can totally agree with you on the Amish Paste tomato!! Couldn't believe the volume I got, and the huge size that they grew!! ! Made delicious green tomato chutney with a lot of my end of season ones.
Adding dwarf beefsteak and slicer varieties would be my vote. Micro dwarf tomatoes perfect for GreenStalks would be a real win, too! Any nurseries that sell dwarf varieties as starts in NorCal sell out ASAP. I'd love to see Botanical Interests add them to your lineup!
Loving the whole plant marker as a dibber method! 😄 I am most often a "whatever is within reach" kind of gardener! Usually it's a pencil, lol.
Am I the only one who saw Jacques peeking in the background when he was talking about friends stealing his sun golds 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
Nope. I had to do a double - take
but I saw him too. 😂
That was the joke 😆
Sun gold is the first cherry tomato that I have grown this year. I am in zone 9b/10a in west central Florida. I have about 20 plants at six feet high and I am picking about 25 fruits a day right now. I started the seeds in November, kept them in the garage overnight when it got below 50 degrees, and planted them in the garden in part shade January 1 to trellis between my hibiscus plants, and trellised elsewhere. They are really a "burst" of flavor each time I eat them. More on the acidic side, but I prefer this over a very sweet tomato, for salads, soups, and just general snacking. I'm growing a beefsteak called Jolene that is a hybrid that likes heat and humidity, and they are about six inches tall so far. I recommend the Sun Gold cherry tomato.
The Sun Gold gets much more sweet if you let it ripen to a deep orange. But both ways, sweet and slightly acidic are really good
I wonder if yours aren't sweet because you started them so early? The sungolds I grow are so sweet they taste more like candy than a tomato?!?
The biggest and best producer I've ever seen is a sun gold
I have grown Sungolds for each of the past three years and planted a few of them this year as well, but for cherry tomatoes, I am relying more on the Sun Sugar variety this year. Sun Sugars are very similar to Sungold, but they have a thicker skin and do not have the problems with splitting so badly as my Sungolds did the last two years. I think the Sungolds might taste slightly sweeter and more flavorful but it’s very close and I’m able to harvest a lot more of the Sun Sugars because they are intact on the vine and not split open with potential insect eggs and larva insIde.
@WisGuy4 that's what I've heard. I need to get my hands on some sun sugar it sounds like because that wpuld be nice for the farmers maroet- to have cherry tomatoes that have thicker stems...
I would sub-out one of the (or add a third) cherry tomatoes for Chocolate Cherry Tomato (BI also sells them) or Black Cherry both have really rich wonderful flavor and great color really prime eating tomatoes.
Instead of a "grape" tomato I would grow yellow (or red) pear tomatoes, great flavor and they just grow like gangbusters for me.
Salad tomato, I look towards Oregon Spring (it is similar to Glacier and Stupice being Parthenocarpic) but bred in the USA (at Oregon State University I believe) it takes a *little* longer to produce then Glacier (but it is like 5 or so days more) yet probably handles cold nights even better, so can be planted out extra early as long as you protect them from frost.
As far as a sauce type tomato Anna Russian (an Oxheart type) works really well and tends to be a bit more productive even if your nights are staying cool and they taste really good, fruits are about 16oz.
I avoid Beefsteaks because they don't tend to preform well here in the PNW (I tend to get only three or four fruit per plant which makes them a bit of a waist of space), though I might try the Beauty King and see how it does because I have had good luck with Zebra crosses before.
Growing the "Species" type of any plant can always be fun, but Current Tomatoes can taste a bit "musky" to me.
So for weird I am going to sub in the Pineapple Ground Cherry and Purple Tomatillo! Which are both very tasty, weird, produce abundantly, and keep really well. Both tomato relatives need to be planted at approximately the same time as tomatoes and need essentially the same care. Very worth it.
Oh wow I had no idea you guys owned botanical interests! Used your seeds for my whole garden this year!! Everything is still in the seedling stage, but the seeds were excellent quality!! Can't wait for my tomatoes!!
Kevin is the next Warren Buffett!
Kevin just bought them recently.
I didn't realize this either. I'm starting from seeds this year for the first time. My BI germination rated have been almost 💯. The seeds have performed much better than BC! I actually have another order to place while you are having the sale. :)
@@eviltomthai more like the next Jimmy Buffett! (This is coming from a big Jimmy fan - he's a brilliant businessman too!)
Yay! I'm so glad that you included the Constoluto Genovese variety! I grew it for the first-time last year, and it was by far my favorite! It is stunning to look at, tastes delicious and it was a big performer in my raised bed!! I grew so many; I dehydrated some and then ground it down to a powder. I use it in my marinara sauce to boost the flavor and it is amazing!!
I'm excited. Growing my first time this year
Bought a pizza oven last year, and I'm year 3.5 of baking bread.
This year I planted San Marzano as well. Bit went with 30 seeds. Gonna give out a few to friends and family. There is space in Pomona, CA that makes fresh Mozzarella di Bufala, Fior di Late, and Burrata. Only thing I need is fresh flour and I'm working on getting a flour miller next.
A comparison between the taste of those grown on rootstock and those left natural would be interesting. See if you lose or gain anything.
I grew San Marzano and Amish Paste last year and they both grew extremely well. Doing the same this year but adding a couple more Italian paste tomatoes to experiment.
Which state / hardiness zone do you grow? We are in NC, so I'm looking for plants that do well in hot and humid weather. Thanks!
I’m so glad you guys are trying this rootstock stuff. I am not skilled enough to try something like this. But after ya’ll kill it this year and share the knowledge I might give it a try 😂😅
We'll see if we succeed this year!
I am considering trying to graft two or three cherries onto one plant, maybe onto rootstock. If you can graft using suckers this would be a game changer, too.
I have to say I've never heard of grafting tomatoes or growing rootstock. This definitely intrigues me! Can't wait to see how it goes for you guys!
It's a cool idea for sure! And seems like a small gamble knowing that a regular tomato that breaks can just be taped back onto its plant and totally survive LOL
My fav grape tomato is called Honey bubbles. It is so sweet, lovely to snack on and as it is indeterminate, you can grow it as big or as small as you like. It is such a prolific producer, that I can easily have my share, share with friends and family and with the wildlife that comes into my garden! Lol! I use them to prevent wildlife from snacking on my other tomatoes, actually. It can be grown as a literal hedge.
I will check it out. 🍅
I prefer Sun Sugar to Sun Gold They don't split as much in the Idaho heat. This year I am trying Super sweet 100. New Girl and Bolseno grow the best here against the Blight and 100-105 deg summers, Great medium slicers (tennis ball size)
Sungolds are the best and easiest to grow out of the several cherries I've grown. Love the Sungolds!
Try Isis Candy and SunPeach. They taste better than sungold if you can believe it.
@@dross10001 Thanks, I'll have to try them!
Amish Paste are simply fantastic tomatoes! Last year I had a lot of problems with my tomatoes and everything other than my Amish Pastes pretty much just sucked. I still wound up with plenty for canning and snacking on because of the Amish Paste tomatoes. I plan to grow them every year from here on out.
Kevin,
You should try some tomatoes from the Dwarf Tomato Project--many great varieties. They're a great choice for those w/ limited growing space--many can even be grown in containers. 😊
I am in love with black tomatoes for their intense, savory flavor. Black Krim was my introduction, but I have loved the performance of Carbon. I didn't feel like the Black Cherry captured enough of the richness of the type for me to surpass the more common cherry types, and they cracked terribly even with watering. Last year, my best flavor was from the Japanese Black Trifele, but it was a finicky start and low yield. My best grower and a great all-purpose slicer was the Tim's Black Ruffles from Happy Cat Farm. This year, I'm adding Black Krim and Cherokee Purple and I'm looking forward to doing a direct comparison.
One of these days, I'll give in to growing Amish Paste myself. They are deligious and prolific! I'm trying the Speckled Roman paste tomato again this year. It was slow to start and more prone to blossom end rot than my others last year, but the production was good and the flavor was fantastic both in salad and when cooked into a sauce.
I didn't care for the currant tomato I grew last year. I'm glad I tried it and the fruits tasted good, but I was very annoyed to get two or three little pops of flavor at a time. It would probably be better if I'd grown several plants instead of just one, but it was my 12th plant in a fairly small garden -- there simply wasn't room!
Once you go black...
Big fan of the blacks... they are divine! Red, pffft!
if i’m being honest, i don’t have a vegetable garden myself, but i can listen to this guy talk about gardening all day
My favorite heirloom is Paul Robeson and second is Dr. Wyches. I would not have a season without these. My favorite cherry tomato is blue cream cherry. It also has thin skin that can split easy, but it's so good.
I tried a Dr Wyche last year and it was just about the best tomato I ever had. Of course it cost a small fortune as it was sold by weight. Trying to sprout from a seed packet right now, hope it won't be too late as my other tomatoes have been in the ground for weeks.
My favorite is Paul Robeson also! I have to grow it every year!
I can always find takers for any extra SunGolds! They are delicious
Yes they are!
Definitely going to grow some Currant tomatoes. Just look how cute they are!
Kevin is honestly a genius when it comes to plants.
I grew , Oaxacan Jewel and loved the flavor, Also the Monte Carlo is prolific and tasty.
Respect for showing other seed company seeds while owning a seed company.
Can't wait to see how these tomatoes turn out!
Can you please do a video on grafting tomatoes? The concept of grafting tomatoes seems fascinating to me.
Those Currant tomatoes remind me of Everglades Tomatoes, but sounds even smaller, which is crazy!
When he said the latin name...those ARE everglades tomatoes. :) Solanum pimpinellifolium
Mt Magic has been great, 2oz slicer great for a single sandwich so you don't have that half cut tomato in the fridge 😉
I’m so happy to see you join forces with botanical interests! These seed starting videos are so informative and fun and oddly satisfying. Please do lots more! 😍
I don't have to sow tomies anymore, I have cherries and moneymakers, and beefstake. Sometimes I have heirloom Italian tomies come up out of nowhere.
My local nursery had 12+ inch sungold starts for free a few weeks ago, just trying to get them into good homes before the summer scorching starts and deep fries them. Can't wait to try my first fruits off of it! I luckily (vaguely) remembered hearing y'all speak highly of them in previous videos...that's the only reason I grabbed one without hesitation, so...thanks! Hopefully the suckers/cuttings will grow quickly, too. 🍅❤
Moved from AZ to TN can't believe we get 60 inches of rain a year it is so awesome!
I love that you shared a currant tomato. I'm trying two varieties for the first time this year: Spoon and White Currant. Looking forward to snacking on them in the garden.
I am doing a candyland red current, Bartelly for my cherry tomato, and Cuore De Bue for slicing and saucing.
Love love love the Glacier tomatoes. They always do great for me, even in containers on my not-quite-full-sun patio.
I had to dive into that whole own Botanical Interests thing. And it's true! Congrats! As a Coloradan I have to say that BI works so very well here. I've been a fan of yours for years so I trust the quality will remain for BI. Again, CONGRATS!
Just reminiscing about how far your videos and your garden have come. Love you Kevin! And Jacque, too!
Love Glacier tomatoes. They do really well in my upper Midwest climate, and actually produce pretty well throughout the season even though they’re a determinate variety.
Blush Tiger Tomatoes are my favorite - have grown the past 3 years and there is just something about them 😊
Congratulations on the new venture!
I love my currant tomatoes. Early, early production because I can keep the plant tiny and have hundreds of tiny salad tomatoes while my greens are still producing!
My lineup this year: Abu Rowan, Red Pear, Moskvich, Siletz, Dwarf Strawberry Lemonade
I love hearing about what other folks are growing - only one of yours matches mine - SuperSweet 100. This year, I am trying some of the dwarf varieties associated with the 'Dwarf Tomato Project'. Wish me luck!!
I bought the container garden seed bundle from Botanical Interests. It includes cherry falls and brandy wine. I never tried those. I’m looking forward to seeing how they turn out. I’m also growing early girl and celebrity…and a couple of mysterious volunteers.
Brandywine is a classic beefsteak tomato and really lovely. A squat, heavy tomato with that wonderful savory flavor. Farmers market stable.
Thanks Eric, for the suggestions. Very intriguing. We still like our Rutgers too especially with a small garden!
My favorite way to use currant tomatoes... just pop them in an omelet with other garden veggies. They add this amazing - sometimes surprising - burst of sweetness and a bit of acidity to balance out all of the savory flavors.
If you really like a tomato and you have the space to start them inside I recommend growing a tomato plant and cutting it up into cuttings for spring planting
Black Krim for hot summers (we have excessive 100° upwards of 110-114°), love the Mr. Stripey, and now my favorite for flavor are the YELLOW tomatoes - a great compliment to red, especially in Salsa or Bruschetta sauce.. also, Love Sun Gold, & Super Sweet 100 - but my all time, early producing and prolific is EARLY GIRL BUSH! I had 2 that each produced almost 50 tomatoes per bush by June last year - maybe because I am a heavy defoliator - and leave those "suckers" - i got a lot of tomatoes on the sucker branches. I tend to go against common practices 🤷😁
I think a lot of the advice you hear is from growing in cooler climates. Bushier plants do better for me. Black Krim is one of my favorites but I haven't noticed it to be particularly heat tolerant. In fact it's often one of my first tomatoes to go.
I sowed chocolate cherry and reisetomate pocketbook vine tomatoes today. (UK and starting indoors on a heat mat)
I have grown many different types of cherry tomatoes and have always grown one variety every year. SUNGOLD!! By far the sweetest cherry tomato variety. Only downfall is that it’s a hybrid. I’ve tried growing it from seed from a fruit off of the original seed and it never tasted the same.
Try Isis Candy and SunPeach. They're sweeter imo
Last season I had currant tomatoes, it was fun until I had so many and ripen at the same time. The trick is tu prune, prune and prune or you will have a giant tomato bush with red dots everywhere. Might try it again someday...
Yes I do grow sun gold and San Marzano. For a grape tomato I recommend a 2005 AAS winner "Sugary". It's prolific and has a brix of 8.5 - 9. Now for Cherokee Carbon LOL LOL. KEVIN, 3 or 4 years ago I did my own little test. I grew Cherokee Purple, Carbon and Cherokee Carbon side by side by side.. The results of my little test comparison was that Cherokee Carbon did not perform as well as either Cherokee Purple or Carbon. Cherokee Carbon did not taste better, or as good as either of the two. As for me, out of the three I ranked Cherokee Carbon 3rd ☹. Hope you enjoy the results of my little trial. Always love your vids. Bayonne, New Jersey.
So…which one won the taste test??… 😁
I’ve grown Cherokee purple(LOVE) and am(hopefully) growing carbon this year for the first time.
@@cherylk1518 Well as for taste I felt that Cherokee Purple and Carbon were equally wonderful. So that was a flip of the coin. As for performance, Carbon did out perform Cherokee Purple. Less problems and more fruit.
Also, I love the look of this shot! The wall in the background adds perfect color and the greenhouse looks amazing! It will be interesting how it functions in the hot San Diego summer. I am in Escondido.
I actually grew a variety of the currant tomatoes you showed off in this vid. Aptly named "Red Currant Tomato"-- all of my plants were stunted last year, but eventually managed to take off.. but man, those Red Currants were _bushing_ so quickly and producing fruits so fast I was picking about a half a pound's worth of fruit. Daily. From just *two* plants. I'm glad I had them off the ground (basically on 'tables' for my outdoor kratky set up), because they were large enough to just barely sprawl out from their 3 1/2 foot platform they were on.
Admittedly, it was hard to use them practically. As you even mentioned, I just kinda ate them like candy lol.
Great list! I have changed over to Cherry and grape style only this year. I find in my area they grow better, less issues and get plenty of fruit. Here are my current top 5. 1. Barry's crazy cherry 2. Sun Peach 3. Sun Gold 4. Black Cherry 5. Tie currently between Sweet 100 and Praxxus
SunPeach is amazing!
@@dross10001 I agree!! I was thinking it should be number 1. :)
@@shanec8812 Another one you should try if you haven't is Isis Candy. It's right there with SunPeach and possibly a little sweeter.
@@dross10001 I've heard that it is excellent! I may give it a go next year! Thanks for suggesting!
I still have tons of tomato paste and whole in my freezer from previous seasons, so this year is dedicated to prettier toms (and only growing a few). Thanks for making this "serious" video. I fell in love with your channel because of this type of teaching. It works well with my brain this way 😅 But I do enjoy the full of fun and funny series too. Keep rising, Kevin. Best wishes sent your way. Cheers from 🇨🇦
Yep, you are talking way over what my beginner gardener brain is ready for. Wish I could find someone as knowledgable and in depth as you in my zone 10a Florida area. It’s slow going but I will get there.
No roasting here! I agree with your selections. Had no idea you owned Botanical Interest. Trying some of your bush variety tomatoes this year in containers. Can’t wait!!
I've grown both San Marzano and Amish Paste. Yes, the San Marzano was prolific. But I've got to say, the Opalka paste tomato wins hands down. As big or bigger than Amish Paste, meaty, and the flavor is amazing.
Loved Opalka, and agreed it was far superior fruit in both flavor and size, however mine all died with early blight only got a few tomatoes off it.😢 That is the only reason I’m not growing them this year.
Sounds great! Any notes on productivity and shelf life for opalka?
You should try grafting tomatoes on potatoes! I’ve heard of people doing it, and harvesting the potatoes once the tomatoes are finished producing.
French fries and ketchup. One plant for one delicious side dish.
I love growing white currant tomatoes. They grow well in above 100 degree weather and produce hundreds of dime sized cream colored tomatoes that you can eat by the handful
One of the best cherry tomatoes I planted this year was the black cherry. Unique in taste, super sweet, and contrasts visually with supersweet 100 on a plate or salad
When Jacques face pops up!😂🤣😂
I'm growing 24 varieties. Four of them are ones you're growing: Sungold, Amish Paste, Cherokee Carbon, and Mountain Merit. Mine are going in the ground Monday!
The Cherokee Carbons make amazing sauce too
I love my sungolds but I was confused when you talked about them cracking.. I have never had that problem.. I do pic them a few days early but even when I leave them on the vine they only crack when it rains to much.. hummmm.. another tomato I will always grow is the Amana Orange beefsteak .. its flavor is sooo good and a huge tomato .. I added a few to the salsa last yr and omg it added a sweetness that was just so yummy... I may have to try a few here you mentioned .. ty for your suggestions .. Happy Gardening .. 🌿
Jacques' head popping up off to the side regarding the Sun Gold cherry tomatoes killed me. Great funny little edit.
The one tomato I grow every year is the grape « Juliet » flavor perfection and great texture too!
I grew those for years because they were incredibly prolific, although the skins are on the tough side and the taste is just pretty good. But I swore off when a wind storm came through and one broke my expensive, and I thought indestructible, Texas Tomato Cage. (The other tomatoes that weren't a wall of dense foliage did fine.)
I grew Chocolate Cherry tomatoes here in Southern Idaho last year. I had so many from just one bush I had to keep giving them away in addition to salads and canning many.
LOVE chocolate cherry! I grew it for years, but decided not to last year. The unpredictable growth habit vexed me. Instead, I grew super Sweet 100 and Riesentraube(maybe technically not a cherry). Out of spite, a chocolate cherry sprouted next to my raised bed. I think it wanted to teach me a lesson😂. The other two varieties paled in comparison.
This year I am giving the sungold a try along with the chocolate cherry.
I'm trying a bunch for the first time but san marzano was the only one in your video lol. for cherries i did sunrise and pink bumblebee, indigo rose, and chocolate cherry. San marzano, speckled roman paste, brandywine, thorburn's terra cotta, pineapple, garden peach, and purple and verde tomatillos... i was inspired by your salsa garden video and want to make my own salsa garden :) (i got tequila sunrise and pot-a-peno peppers for it)
I like varieties that are different, but I don't like "weird" varieties. I'm with ya on the Sun Golds, though! I tried ot one year just to have some variety, and it's been part of garden ever since! I'm growing the Super Sweet 100s f0r the first time thos year because I've heard so much about it. Also, although my husband loves the Sun Gold tomatoes as much as I do, he also likes to see red tomatoes in the garden.
1:48 LOL - friend pop-up :D
Beautiful illustrations on your seed packets-worthy of framing in groups!!!
Glacier tomatoes are some of my favorites for growing in west Michigan. Even with some shade and sandy glacial soils, they produce right up to the last frost and then we pickle all the green ones. Also you guys bought one of my favorite seed companies?? Please do a colab with Max Miller for historic herb gardens. I really had to search to find wormwood seeds this year. A roman garden, medieval pottage, or victory garden seed collection would be awesome.
This year is my first time growing tomatoes
growing Re Umberto sauce tomato and "La Palma" Wild tomato
You should do the ideal lineup for varieties that can do well in containers
Coming back to this video to add to your collection of paste tomatoes... Cuore di Bue is AMAZING! It's great for sauces, great for sandwiches... The flavor is awesome. And they are pretty big!
The Sweet 100 is my favorite. The Sun Gold is great but isn’t as prolific for me.
I ordered 12 six-cells from you and was disappointed with the size at first. Then I put them in the Universal Tray and they all fit perfectly...BOTH WAYS! Genius!
Sun gold, cherry bomb, stupice, tigerella, Kellogg’s are my go to every summer. Delicious!
I thought about Sungold but, I couldn't find the seeds. So instead I found Honeycomb Hybrid from Burpee. I've decided on just cherry and grape tomatoes this year so the plan is Honeycomb, Gardner's Delight, Sweeties, Large red cherry, Yellow Pear and for a paste just a regular Roma. Wish me luck!
Ahh! I'm so proud of myself. I am brand spanking new to raised bed gardening. (Well, gardening on a scale of any kind at least.) And I chose some tomato plants by reading about them and not watching any videos. I chose Sun Gold, Amish Paste, the one with 100 in the name, San Marzano (because I cook with those bought in cans from Italy). I got something called Better Boy or Big Boy or I don't know something "boy". Anyway, I'm going to see if I can find a few of the heirlooms you mentioned since I love the flavor of those. I also have some seed packs from my nursery that are YOUR SEEDS! Way to go ME! Thank you for reinforcing me and educating me!
I’m growing Berkley Tie Died for the first time. Strong plant, can’t wait to see how the fruit is.
This video reminded me of my sad little tomatoes lol. Just as they have started flowering, the clouds in my country decided to cover the sun and have been doing so for 8 days straight at this point. Oh well, can't control the weather.
Yes Please... a lesson on Grafting Tomatoes 🍅