My Favorite Tomatoes, 2009 Edition
by Colleen Vanderlinden • September 30, 2009 • Miscellaneous • 17 Comments
I grew tons of tomatoes this year. I finally pulled a few of the plants that stopped producing due to Septoria, but most of them are still going strong. In general, I was happy with the tomatoes this year, and we ended up with plenty for fresh eating, canning, and drying (a first for my garden!) While we didn’t grow any real duds this year, a few stood out, and I’ll definitely be growing them again:
1. Japanese Black Trifele: This was my first year growing it, and even though I had to battle both my cat and the squirrels for a taste of these, it was well worth it. They have a slightly sweet, smoky flavor that I just love. I only grew one plant, but I’ll put in at least two this year—they were not the most prolific producers.
2. Polish Linguisa: These weren’t much for fresh eating, but they were really tasty dried or roasted in the oven. They were also great for canning, as there wasn’t much gel — very meaty tomato.
3. Kellogg’s Breakfast: This was my first year growing these mammoth tomatoes, and I am growing them from now on. Their light, almost fruity taste was a nice change from some of the other tomatoes I grow. Besides being delicious, they are just really, really pretty tomatoes.
4. Tiger-Like: I grew these mainly because they sounded pretty– orange and yellow striped tomatoes. I was picturing them livening up salads. In all honesty, they didn’t make it into many salads, because we ate them as quickly as they ripened on the vine. Very tasty, slightly tart one to two inch tomatoes. There is a lot of gel in them, so if you’re not a fan of that type of texture, you may not like these, but I loved them.
5. Red Currant: Oh. My. God. I used to get all evangelical about ‘Brandywine,’ but this is the tomato I’m pushing from now on. They are tiny, beautiful, perfectly tomato-ey little tomatoes. The one plant I grew this year grew prolifically, and we get at least a couple good handfuls of ‘Red Currant’ tomatoes every day or two. I knew I had a problem when the kids caught me crouching next to the plant in the garden, eating them as fast as I could pick them. Yes, I hoarded them and kept them from my children. Sue me 
I’ve been saving seeds from all of these, plus a few others, including ‘Brandywine.’ While there were no duds, there are a few that I won’t be growing again, and I’ll post about those next time.
Have you grown any of these 5 heirlooms? What’s your opinion? And what was your favorite tomato this year?
I grew Tom Thumb and wasn’t that crazy about it. Also Tommacio, which are great dried but not so great raw. I still love Sungold and LOVED the beautiful tomatoes I grew from Wild Boar Farms seed.
Oh, yes, I love those ‘Red Currant’ tomatoes. I grew them for the 1st time last year and then again this year and I’ll grow them next year. Snack food, right there in the garden.
I totally agree about the Japanese Black Trifele. I tasted it at Chicago TomatoFest and it was awesome. I’m going to try to grow it again next year because my plants were a bust this year.
Kerry—
I am going to have to try some of those Wild Boar Farms tomatoes. I haven’t grown Sungold yet, but I’ve heard only good things about it. Maybe I’ll try it next year
Thanks for stopping by!
Hi Carol!
Aren’t they delicious? Very few of my ‘Red Currant’ tomatoes ever made it into the house
Thanks so much for stopping by!
MBT—
I loved Black Trifele. The hardest part was figuring out when they were ripe. The first one I tried was definitely not ready
If you need JBT seeds, let me know—I saved a bunch already.
These all sound lovely! I haven’t grown any of these, but I think I’ll be growing sub-arctic again. It was perfect for my short growing season, it produced heavily and early and it’s still producing in my cold fall.
You have me sold on the Japanese Black Trifele! (Actually, you had me at “smoky” with that one… lol.)
I’ll be honest, though, I tried Kellogg’s Breakfast from the farm stand near work this year, and I was less than impressed. It was actually a little TOO sweet–not enough acidity for me, I guess. On the flip side, Steve (who doesn’t really care for a lot of the dark tomatoes that I like) really enjoyed Kellogg’s just because it wasn’t, in his words, “as tomato-ey.”
Hi Suzy—My ‘Subarctic Plenty’ is still producing, too. If you want seeds from any of these, let me know!
Hi Kim! You have to try the Japanese Black Trifele. They are just gorgeous, besides being delicious. I think Kellogg’s Breakfast would be one of those tomatoes that you either love or hate. I was surprised at how sweet they were, and they definitely were a little challenging to mix with other flavors (especially since I’m not the world’s most creative cook
)
Thanks for stopping by!
All of them sound great, where can I get seeds
Hmm, have seen ‘Red Currant’ in catalogues so might have to check them out next year. Am growing ‘Tommy Toe’ this year as I have seeds left over from last year. Must admit I wasn’t mad about them, but maybe it was due to poor growing conditions. Also trying out ‘Brandywine’ for the first time. My favourite tiny tomato so far is ‘Broad Ripple Yellow Currant’ — I’m growing a few of these too.
Thanks for the list.
I grew Black Krum and Amish Paste. I did not have an extraordinarily bountiful crop. The Amish Paste struggled all summer. The Black Krum gave me a trickle of tomatoes but not a ton of them. And they did not taste as wonderful as I expected from reading about them.
Perhaps I’ll try the ones you have listed.
I grew an heirloom called ‘Mortgage Buster’ and was sorely disappointed. The few tomatoes we got were huge, and tasted great, but the two plants I had only produced about 5 tomatoes between them. Anyone else heard of these?
I think I’m going to switch back to Brandywine or Beefeaters (which have such a great taste and texture). I was also extremely unimpressed by Early Girl – cute perfect nicely rounded and BLAND tasting.
HI
I have just come across your site and loved all the info on tomatoes.I am trying winter sowing this year for the first time and can hardly wait.Thank you for all the info you have shared on this topic.I am new to veggie gardening but have grown many beautiful flower gardens over the years.I was wondering if anyone would be interested in sharing some tomato seeds with me.After reading the write ups I thought I would like to try growing Red Currant,Kellogg’s Breakfast.Japanese Black Trifle,Brandy Wine and any others that people recommend.Looking forward to hearing from seed sharers.Thank you.
Bon
I’ve got three varieties growing at the moment as seedlings (we’re just coming into Summer in Aust) This year I’m growing Tom Thumb – dwarf tomato’s in a box, Roma for hubby to eat on sandwiches, biscuits and for making bruschetta and my daughters favourite – Broad Ripple Yellow Currant. These one’s are wonderful tasting tiny little yellow tomato’s. The bush is really prolific, and she takes containers of them to school to share at lunchtime!
The Tom Thumb and Roma I’m growing because those are the seeds I had and hubby doesn’t really care if they taste great or not – he’s been brought up on cheap supermarket toms. The Broad Ripple Yellow Currant tomato’s are from seeds that we’ve saved every year from 2004 onwards.
Kerry, I just an article about the tommacio tomatoes. Do you know where I could find seeds for it?
I am looking for a high acid tomatoe…can you tell me the one to grow in georgia….Thanka Tom