Our tomatoes will be in our largest raised bed this year, which gives us lots of space. We are going to have two each of 8 different varieties. We wanted to try some common varieties, as well as some different things.

One thing that we are doing differently this year is that all of our plants are coming from a local greenhouse, with two exceptions, and those we are ordering as plants from a company.

1. ‘Mountain Fresh’ – I know the image says Mountain Fresh Plus, but I’m pretty sure that we are getting straight Mountain Fresh. This is a determinate, red slicer that has good disease resistance.

2. ‘Mountain Merit’ – Another determinate, red slicer with good disease resistance. Both of the “mountain” varieties are supposed to have pretty good crack resistance as well.

3. ‘Celebrity’ – This is our comparison variety for yield, cracking, and earliness. Determinate, red slicer as well.

4. ‘Phoenix’- Another determinate, red slicer with good disease resistance. This one has slightly larger fruit and is supposed to have good heat tolerance as well.

5. ‘Indigo Kumquat’ – This is from the new Indigo series, with the dark purple coloration on the shoulders. This is a grape tomato that is orange with the purple shoulders. It is indeterminate, but has some good disease resistance.

6. ‘Indigo Apple’ – Another Indigo series tomato, this one is more in the 2-4 oz. cocktail size range. It is red with purple shoulders. It is also indeterminate with good disease resistance and crack resistance.

7. ‘Pink Berkeley Tie-Dye’ – This is an heirloom-type tomato that is a beefsteak/slicer type. It has darker red/wine colored skin and flesh with metallic green stripes on the skin. I grew this one in my garden at home last year and really enjoyed it. It is NOT crack resistant, however! It is indeterminate and has good disease resistance.

8. ‘Chef’s Choice’ – This one is brand new on the market this year. It is an orange slicer with large fruit and some disease resistance. It is also indeterminate.