In the Garden // Tomato Review

Gold Nugget

Size: Cherry
Variety: Bush
Flavor: Nice acidity.
Source: Last years crop, originally from Seedy Saturday in Victoria
Would you grow again? Yes, yellow tomatoes aren't my fave in terms of flavor but I would grow these again solely because they were the first to ripen.



Rocket

Size: Cocktail
Variety: Bush
Flavor: Mildly sweet, thinner skin than the Glacier.
Source: West Coast Seeds
Would you grow again? Yes but only because it's such an early tomato, the flavor could have been better.



Glacier

Size: Cocktail
Variety: Bush
Flavor: Mildly sweet, thicker skin is not so nice.
Source: West Coast Seeds
Would you grow again? Probably not. It ripened at the same time as Rocket but was a little less flavorful and had a less desirable texture and a slightly thicker skin.






Sweetie

Size: Small Cherry
Variety: Vine
Flavor: Super sweet, flavor winner!
Source: West Coast Seeds
Would you grow again? Absolutely, this was my all time favorite tomato. It wasn't the first to ripen but it certainly was ready in time to have a good season. The flavor was incredible and the baby cherry tomatoes were perfection. I would grow an entire garden of these! Yum yum.




OSU Blue

Size: Cocktail
Variety: Vine
Flavor: Very bland, flavor looser.
Source: Last years crop, originally from Chorus Frog Farm on Salt Spring Island
Would you grow again? No way. These were a bit of a mystery, the seeds were marked Sweet Million but what grew from them is nothing else but an OSU Blue from last years crop. These plants produce stunning fruit but mine were completely flavorless.


Ailsa Craig

Size: Cocktail
Variety: Vine
Flavor: Bland.
Source: Last years crop, originally from Cannor Nursery
Would you grow again? Nope. I'm not sure what happened with these because last year they were quite tasty, this year they were completely flavorless and not worth the wait.


Siletz

Size: Slicing
Variety: Bush
Flavor: Watery and bland.
Source: West Coast Seeds
Would you grow again? Never! These were very watery, had zero flavor, and were pretty mealy. I strongly prefer cherry and cocktail tomatoes and don't normally eat slicing varieties but wanted to try these just for a little variety in the garden. Next time I'll stay true to my preferences, it's sort of like choosing to knit a sweater that doesn't really suite your body type.



Size: Cherry
Variety: Vine
Flavor: Mild acidity and sweetness. Less flavor than the Golden Nugget.
Source: Seedy Saturday Victoria (2011), Sunbird Seeds
Would you grow again? Probably not. As mentioned above, yellow tomatoes are not my favorite, I like to grow them for their colour, and because the Golden Nugget was tastier and earlier, I would choose to grow it over the Yellow Pear.




Peaceful Cherry

Size: Cherry
Variety: Vine
Flavor: Acidic and flavorful, nice bite.
Source: Seedy Saturday Victoria (2011), Vibrant Seeds
Would you grow again? Yes although I think in the end I would choose to grow Sweet Millions over this variety, they are more productive.


Nic's Tomatoes

Size: Slicing
Variety: Bush
Flavor: Mildly sweet, good flavor for a slicing variety.
Source: My landlord
Would you grow again? Every year my landlord would leave a bucket of young tomato plants he had started, on my stairs to add to the garden. I have no idea what these were but they had a neat shape much like an heirloom and good flavor for being a slicing tomato. I realize this isn't very helpful because the variety is a mystery but I've included them here as a reference for myself.


San Marzano Lampadina 2

Size: Roma
Variety: Vine
Source: My Aunt bought these for my Mom, I believe the distributor is Weston Seeds
Would you grow again? No, these tomatoes were totally depressed to be growing in my garden and not in Italian soil where they belong. Our season is too short and the temperatures don't get hot enough. I grew these for my Mom so I can't comment on how they tasted in the end.


Early Cascade

Size: Cocktail
Variety: Vine
Flavor: Good balance of acidity and sweetness, best of the bunch for this size. Thinner skin than Glacier and Rocket.
Source: West Coast Seeds
Would you grow again? Don't think so. The whole time I was growing them I thought that their name "Early Cascade" was some sort of joke, they were one of the last to produce fruit, and when they finally did, the fruit remained green forever! They were just beginning to turn when I pulled them off the plants at the end of the season, I had to put them in a brown paper bag in order to ripen them. That being said, they were yummy for being picked prematurely and the plant itself was by far the healthiest plant in the garden.