Finally, the garden bed that many of you have been waiting to see…the tomatoes! Tomatoes are easily the most popular garden vegetable, and most visitors to our garden want to see how our tomatoes are doing.

We don’t have a theme for the tomatoes this year, other than trying to have a range of varieties showcased.

 We do, however, have a few different caging / staking / trellising methods planned. As you may have noticed in the Bed 2 plans and again with this bed, we will be featuring one of our A-frame trellises over the walkway again this year. We are also growing a couple other tomatoes on a trellis in the bed. Then we have a determinate tomato in a cage, and the remainder of the varieties (both determinate and indeterminate) using the stake & weave system with metal posts and twine.

Trellises: On the trellises we are growing some cherry / saladette type tomatoes.

‘Verona’ is a variety that is similar to ‘Juliet’ but is reputed to be slightly larger and more flavorful.

‘Esterina’ is a gold cherry tomato that has high yields and good crack resistance.

‘Lucky Tiger Cherry’ is an elongated, green-striped cherry tomato with a red blush. It has a sweet-tart flavor.

Caged Determinate:  ‘Early Doll’ is an early maturing (55 days) variety with 4-5 oz. fruit.

Stake & Weave: We are showcasing several different types that will demonstrate how the system works for different sized plants. We are planting two of each variety.

‘Beefy Boy’ is a red, hybrid beefsteak that we had in the garden last year. It yielded well, but had some cracking issues. 12-16 oz. fruit. Indeterminate.

‘Tiren’ is an Italian hybrid that is similar in shape to the heirloom San Marzano, but is earlier and higher yielding. 5-6 oz. fruit. Indeterminate.

‘Goliath Original’ is a highly disease resistant hybrid with 10-15 oz. red fruit. Indeterminate.

‘Orange Slice’ is an orange colored beefsteak with fruit up to 16 oz. Indeterminate.