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How to Pick the Best Tomato Varieties for Your Garden This Year

March 20, 2019

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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 Tweet

Low 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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

I love growing tomato plants, but it can be hard to know what tomato variety is best. I've rounded up the best varieties for beginners, container growing, making sauce, and more. You'll love these heirloom and hybrid picks for your garden or in pots. #growingtomatoes #tomato #gardening #heirloomtomatoes #containergardening #tomatovarieties #seedstarting #vegetable gardening

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.

I love growing tomato plants, but it can be hard to know what tomato variety is best. I've rounded up the best varieties for beginners, container growing, making sauce, and more. You'll love these heirloom and hybrid picks for your garden or in pots. #growingtomatoes #tomato #gardening #heirloomtomatoes #containergardening #tomatovarieties #seedstarting #vegetable gardening

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!

I love growing tomato plants, but it can be hard to know what tomato variety is best. I've rounded up the best varieties for beginners, container growing, making sauce, and more. You'll love these heirloom and hybrid picks for your garden or in pots. #growingtomatoes #tomato #gardening #heirloomtomatoes #containergardening #tomatovarieties #seedstarting #vegetable gardening

NEED HELP IN THE GARDEN?

Green thumbs aren’t just given out at birth. They’re a combination of learning about gardening and trial and error. If you wish you knew more about gardening and had more confidence in your abilities, you need the Growing Roots Gardening Guide. 

It’s an e-book plus 6 bonuses–everything you need to go from complete garden newb to confident in one growing season.  Get all the details of what’s inside here.

Ready to grow? Click this button and buy now:

Happy gardening!


Any varieties you think belong on this list?  Let me know in the comments!

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Kristen Raney

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.

4 Comments
Filed Under: Gardening Tagged: Gardening, tomato varieties, Tomatoes, vegetable gardening

About Kristen Raney

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.

Comments

  1. PATRICIA C. says

    July 11, 2019 at 2:41 pm

    Which varieties are long keepers?
    Reply
  2. pengere says

    October 7, 2020 at 12:58 pm

    Try Ansal f1
    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Vegetable Gardening 101 (It's Not Just For Beginners) - Gingham Gardens says:
    March 22, 2018 at 4:07 am
    […] salsa and sauce, but we mostly just give them away. This week, I read the most awesome article on How To Pick The Best Tomato Varieties For Your Garden This Year, written by Kristen at Shifting Roots. I’m totally going to try some of the varieties Kristen […]
    Reply
  2. Jardinage de légumes 101 - Gingham Gardens - Salutations les gens says:
    April 1, 2020 at 10:22 pm
    […] nous les donnons principalement. Cette semaine, j’ai lu l’article le plus génial sur Comment choisir les meilleures variétés de tomates pour votre jardin cette année, écrit par Kristen chez Shifting Roots. Je vais totalement essayer certaines des variétés […]
    Reply

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Welcome!

Hi, I'm Kristen and I help new gardeners learn to grow their own vegetables and beautify their yards. I also share recipes that use all that delicious garden produce. Grab a coffee (and your gardening gloves) and join me for gardening tips, simple recipes, and the occasional DIY, all from the lovely city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

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Hi, I’m Kristen and I help new gardeners learn to grow their own vegetables and beautify their yards. I also share recipes that use all that delicious garden produce. Grab a coffee (and your gardening gloves) and join me for gardening tips, simple recipes, and the occasional DIY, all from the lovely city of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

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