Tomatoes are the glory plant of the gardening world. Everyone want to grow the best tasting tomatoes or the largest tomato varieties. But open any seed catalogue, and you’ll quickly be overwhelmed. I’ve rounded up the best tomatoes to grow in your garden, for your situation. From cherry tomatoes, to the best container varieties, to the best for sauces, there’s something here to suit whatever you’re looking for.
P.S.–I’ve even rounded up the best varieties for those of us who don’t like raw tomatoes!!
P.P.S–No, we’re not crazy, there’s just something about the high acidity that weird raw-tomato-hating people like me don’t like.
Like videos better? Here’s some of my favourite tomato varieties, plus a fun taste test!
Best Cherry Tomatoes
Cherry tomatoes are wonderful for eating by the handful on a hot Summer’s day. Though they’re best used fresh, I’ve been known to throw a few in with my sauces for a little hit of sweet. You’ll love the Super Sweet 100, Sungold, Sweet Millions, Amethyst Cream, and Sunsugar varieties.
Last summer I planted the heirloom Yellow Pear. They look exactly like their name suggests and are very easy to seed start. They’re my pick for those of us who like both cherry tomatoes and low acid tomatoes.
The Best Tasting, Sweetest Tomatoes
When it comes to taste, Brandywine, Mortgage Lifter, Ferris Wheel, and Sicilian Saucer are some of the best varieties around. They’re also all very large varieties that look impressive. Because let’s face it, who doesn’t want to grow as big of a tomato as possible?
So many tomatoes, so little time? I'm sharing my top picks so that you can pick the perfect tomato variety to grow for your situation.Click To TweetLow Acid or Yellow Tomatoes
If you’re a person who doesn’t like raw tomatoes, you might like (or at least tolerate) yellow tomatoes. Try Lemon Boy, Oxheart Yellow, Amana Orange or Yellow Pear.
I have a had great success growing Lemon Boy tomatoes. They always grow quite large, are one of the earliest to ripen, and taste delicious in my tomato sauce.
Last Summer Amana Orange replaced Lemon Boy as my new favourite. They grow even larger, and are an heirloom variety–meaning I can save the seeds and plant some for free next spring.
Black (Purple) Tomato Varieties
The black (or purple) varieties of tomatoes are more complex tasting and are often compared to a fine wine. I personally like them for their looks and how they make the colour of my tomato sauce a little more vibrant. Try the Black Zebra, Black Krim, Black Russian, or Purple Cherokee varieties.
Easy to Grow for Beginners
While you can grow any tomato as a beginner, it’s nice to grow a variety that’s large, great tasting, and produces a large harvest. Beefsteak, Italian Heirloom, Celebrity, and Primo Red all make the cut. In 2020, a very challenging growing year, I had great success with Ukranian Purple and Striped Roman too.
Grow the Best Tomatoes
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The Best Tomatoes to Grow for Sauce
Pasta lovers in your family? Save yourself a bit of money and make your own pasta sauce this year. Roma, Amish Paste, San Marzano, and Supremo are all good varieties for sauce.
Sunrise Sauce is an orange, low acid paste tomato, that is very productive and lasts a long time. We’ve had some sit on our counter from September to November without going bad.
Oxheart tomatoes are my new favourite because they’re so big!! They barely have any seeds and are so satisfying to grow, plus they make excellent sauce. If you find small paste tomatoes annoying, you’ll want to grow oxheart next year.
Need a sauce recipe? Try my roasted tomato sauce with lots of different vegetables snuck in.
Tomatoes for a Short Growing Season
The Canadian Prairies are blessed with a short growing season, so we need varieties that have a shorter maturity window. Thankfully, there are lots of quick growing tomato varieties to choose from. Try Sub Arctic Max, Prairie Pride, Centennial Rocket, Bison, Russian Saskatchewan, Early Girl, or Manitoba. 4th of July also lives up to its name–your first ripe-on-the-vine-tomato should appear around that date.
Are Fresh Tomatoes in Winter Possible?
Think fresh tomatoes from your garden are an impossible dream? Grow Longkeeper tomatoes this year and you could be eating fresh tomatoes in February or even March. Harvest them when they are pink or green, store in a cool, dry, place, and eat them as they ripen.
The only downside is that they’re not a very flavourful tomato, but they are more flavourful than grocery store tomatoes in the dead of winter.
Best in Containers
Growing a patio garden this year? You’ll want to choose bush (determinate) varieties such as Roma, Bush 506, 4th of July, Brandywine, Juliet, or any variety that has dwarf, mini, or tiny in it’s name. Any variety of cherry tomato will also do very well.
Grow your tomato plant in as large of a container as possible, for the best production. For more tips on container gardening, check out this post about my backyard container garden.
Need more help growing tomatoes?
I’ve compiled this handy 10 page guide to growing beautiful tomatoes. Just the basics in easy to understand language. To get yours, just click this link, enter your email address, and it’s yours!
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Happy gardening!
Any varieties you think belong on this list? Let me know in the comments!
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Kristen is a former farm kid turned urban gardener who owns the popular gardening website, Shifting Roots. She is obsessed with growing flowers and pushing the limits of what can be grown in her zone 3b garden. She also loves to grow tomatoes, but oddly enough, dislikes eating them raw.
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