Of these tomatoes, which look good to you?

I'm working on a project for our school: our Roots & Shoots afterschool club will be hosting a tomato fundraiser: they'll be starting & growing seedlings for sale in May. We're choosing from a number of seeds through Seedsavers: First, since our school colors are yellow and green, I thought a "salsa garden" would be fun, so we're going with a tomato/tomatillo combo.

So, we'd use of one of these two tomatoes,depending on how focused they are on organic seedhttp://www.seedsavers.org/Details.aspx?itemNo=825, http://www.seedsavers.org/Details.aspx?itemNo=446(OG), and this tomatillo: http://www.seedsavers.org/Details.aspx?itemNo=774(OG) (how much would organic seed matter to you?)

Then I found a bunch of other somewhat unusual varieties that interested me, personally - we can probably only choose a few, so I'd love feedback as to which you think will sell the best to the culinary-minded. Sorry for the links, but I don't want to grab somebody else's photo:

I like varigated tomatoes and the pointier paste-type shape: http://www.seedsavers.org/Details.aspx?itemNo=981(OG)

These are a decorative, fernleaf variety that still apparently makes tasty fruit: http://www.seedsavers.org/Details.aspx?itemNo=29(OG)

An orange cherry tomato that isn't the ubiquitous sunsugar: http://www.seedsavers.org/Details.aspx?itemNo=1229(OG)

A mini cherry tomato: http://www.seedsavers.org/Details.aspx?itemNo=109(OG)

These have interesting foliage as well as being award-winners for taste (though they're just plain red): http://www.seedsavers.org/Details.aspx?itemNo=1226(OG)

If you've got any feedback, please let me know, and if you're interested, I'll update you on how things are going.

Hi, I think this is great! Which school is it and when do you anticipate having the sale? I will come by and buy plants!

For the first question, I am not at all focused on organic seed (should I be? I don't think I ever thought about it...) I would definitely choose the second orange tomato, Moonglow, because it won the Heirloom taste-testing, and because it is ready sooner (80 vs. 90 days is a lot when you are waiting for garden tomatoes!) and because the other one says it is sweet, and that is not my preferred tomato taste.

The Silvery Fir Tree tomatoes say nothing about flavor, which makes me suspicious. The hanging basket potential could be good or bad; I think it would not make me enthusiastic, but it might interest people with a different yard / sun setup.

The Speckled Roman look like fun, and I do think that part of the pleasure of an heirloom tomato is how it looks, and that you know you are eating an heirloom tomato even before you taste it. I would buy this if you were selling it.

I was going to say that I would go for the orange cherry tomatoes because they were bigger, and then I reread the description and saw that they are smaller. I'm annoyed with small tomatoes at the moment because I have had a couple of bad exeriences with them going soft very fast. It is, of course, different when you can pick them right off the vine and eat them. But 1/4 inch (the orange ones, if that is not a misprint) seems very small. Your last pick, the Velvet Red, are an inch, and won a taste competition; that's the one I would want.

Last year was the first year we had enough sun to grow tomatoes in our current location(we took down a tree), and we grew five tomato plants, each a different variety, mostly heirloom. So that argues in favor of offering a variety. While you are at it, why don't you grow some basil plants to sell, too? Even people who only have windowsill space can grow a couple of kinds of basil, or a couple of plants.

Thanks very much for your feedback, Judy - and I'm glad you mentioned it, because I'd thought the silverleavf was a regular-size tomato. I am guessing the kids will want to stick with organics because of the mission of the club. (fortunately, seed starting mix is organic, so we don't have to do too much with that)

Since we're a bit weak on the full-size side, I'm going to add these two: a black variety I've never seen before that looks more hardy than Krim or Cherokee Purple: http://www.seedsavers.org/Details.aspx?itemNo=1237(OG)and a rose variety: http://www.seedsavers.org/Details.aspx?itemNo=1395(OG)

This is another black varietal, but it's determinate - of which we only have one option. I don't know that I'd buy it from the description and photo: http://www.seedsavers.org/Details.aspx?itemNo=19(OG) but when looking elsewhere, it looks like a terrific, deep-red-fleshed tomato.

Last summer we grew those Mexican Midgets and a medium-sized variety called Stupice. Both were good. The Mexican Midgets (which were on your list) weren't terribly different from other cherry tomotoes. The Stupices (which I don't think were on your list) were nothing special - taste good, but I think I'd opt for something new next summer.

I grew the Stupice last year as well. Not a bad tasting tomato, not great. Their best trait is that they are an early variety and a good producer. For me (and another person I know) these were ready in 50 days from transplant and were the last to die off. You can pick all the green ones before the last frost and let them ripen on your counter (not in the sun). I think the last ones I ate last year were in October (maybe November?). Medium sized fruits that were perfect for salads - think of it as a "go to" tomato - you'd have plenty of them. I am going to recommend them for a friend that will be gardening for the first time this year. His kids won't have to wait forever to see a tomato growing in the garden!

For a great tasting cherry, I would recommend black cherry. It grows well here and the gardening club I am a part of has been growing it for the past three years.

Seedsavers is a great source. Get your orders in now though, they get quite backed up. Sorry I don't have any input for the other varieties.

Good luck.

I grew Speckled Romans a few years ago - very tasty in sauces, and as you say, the appearance might be fun for kids to see.

For a bigger, yellow tomato, I've had luck with Dr. Wyche.
http://www.seedsavers.org/Details.aspx?itemNo=975
There's an interesting back story to it - how Dr. Wyche ran a circus, and developed the tomatoes when the circus overwintered in Oklahoma. It was fertilized with elephant, lion and tiger droppings.

Hi- I would suggest that you post this on the gardenweb site [url]gardenweb.com[/url]
They have a lot of different forums there including a midwest board and a tomatoe board, and they have a ton of members there. It is the busiest garden forum around, and they have several people who regularly answer posts on the tomatoe board, who are experts on heirloom tomatoes, and regularly write on that subject. You might also try the organicgardening.com site too, which is the site for organic gardening magazine, which is also fairly busy. BTW- Where are you going to sell the plants? Hope this helps, Nancy

Thank you all very much for your feedback: the kids were glad to hear what people had to say about their choices. Ultimately, though, the decision was left entirely to them, and this is what they decided on (Tom, I'm sorry I didn't see your idea in time, otherwise I'm sure they would have gone that route:)

School Colors salsa garden: Green Husk Tomatillo & Gold Medal Tomato
Speckled Roman
Velvet Red
Mexico Midget
Black Sea Man

I will keep you all updated on the progress of this experiment. Looks like, if things go well, we'll have about 300 plants for sale, which will be grown in an organic mix in recycled milk cartons.

Well, our little project has had moderate success:



We will be selling our seedlings next Wednesday until they are sold out at the Ridgeville Farmer's Market starting at 4pm and going for as long as I can keep volunteers there (so at least until 5!) If we have seedlings left, we will be continuing the sale at the next week's market.

So, what would you pay for an organic seedling like these? I will admit, there is a certain risk involved here: we can't offer a guarantee; we are trying to support a school club, so there is a charitable aspect to these tomatoes.

Hi- I am surprised that the Ridgeville market has survived as long as it has. Every time I go there, it is sorely lacking in both farmers and customers. I only went one time last summer, but I went there to get some lettuce and corn in August, and I was told that the one veggie guy that had signed up for the market, only came three weeks, before a family emergency, prevented him from coming any more. I was able to get some sub par corn, but no lettuce. Nichols were there the first year, and it was worth going there just for them, but then they decided that it was not worth their while to go there, and they did not come back the second year.

I am especially surprised that they are opening up so early this year. I might go there next week, just to get some asparagus, and look at your tomato plants since I will not be able to make it to the Evanston market this Saturday. I personally would not pay any more than $3 per plant. I can get them at Anton's for less than that. BTW- One of the weeklies I noticed has a farmer's market guide for 2010, and they mentioned that the farmer's at Evanston are going to start charging for disposable bags. I believe this was New City. I know Henry started doing that last year, and he got some flack over it. Hope this helps, Nancy

Update: as the weather really looks iffy today, if you are planning to make a special trip to this market to pick up a seedling, please PM me. I will do my best to make sure we're there, but I don't think my volunteers or supplies will survive a downpour.

Michele - can you perhaps still get a space at the Evanston Garden Fair on the 21st/22nd? Try contacting the people at The Talking Farm - they may want to give you a hand, considering their stated educational mission. It's worth a shot, at any rate - plus the plants get another week of grow-time to get established, and you'd be pretty much guaranteed a 100% sell-through at the fair. Call 'em!

Thanks to everyone for your feedback, and to those of you who stopped by to buy seedlings! We raised $230, are left with a few runty specimens that are going to local school gardens, and are pretty happy with the result!

We learned a lot - the most surprising part was the significant cost of potting medium! I didn't realize that this would cause the tomatoes some strain, so we lost a few seedlings that started out like gangbusters to lack of soil. Next year, we'll be less ambitious and will start the tomatoes later in the season - and won't expect the plants to be as big.

In addition to recycling our milk cartons for containers, and using old paper towels as wicks for the water, we also found a great, natural and free resource for fertilizing our plants: our school's fishtanks (one of which used to be the large tank at the Davis Street Fishmarket!) I did some research on aquaponics, and while this is by far not a complete system, the seedlings seemed to really enjoy the rich wastewater from the tanks.

Congratulations! $230 and a lot of learning. Can't beat that.

Unless you're in a greenhouse and can control temp and light, most people start tomatoes no more than 6 weeks, 8 at the outside, before hardening off and then planting out. If grown under grow lights, they need a LOT more light than seems possible or they get tall and lanky. They are better if shorter and stubbier.

We had them in one of these, inside the school, with the lights on a timer so they got about 16 hours a day. I think the main issue in terms of size was lack of space for roots to grow, and lack of fertilizer until late in the game, but they did pretty well, considering it was a first attempt.