Tomato Varieties - So Delicious, So Many to Choose From
There’re so many tomato varieties to grow and eat. They all vary in size, color and even in taste. We’re going to discuss some really attractive, delicious varieties that are popular and really cool to add to your garden.
Let’s start with…
Green Tomatoes
These make some tasty recipes and are part of a southern tradition. They’re tart, crunchy and relatively unique within the tomato varieties. Light, selective harvesting of immature green tomatoes will produce 2 crops from a single planting.
However, fall frosts usually leave at least some immature tomatoes in all gardens. Here’s how to test them out…
Slice a green tomato with a sharp knife and try to cut one of its seeds in half.
Matured tomatoes have seeds that are suspended in a jelly-like juice and will shift away from the knife so the seeds don’t get cut. The seed from a tomato that hasn’t matured will not ripen off the vine and is best prepared green.
Green tomatoes are excellent for your health. They have 3 times the amount of calcium as red tomatoes and also contain a little more vitamin C than them. It’s great to have them in your garden as there are so many meals that you can prepare with them.
Ground Cherry
This particular tomato variety is often referred to as strawberry or husk tomato and is not really a typical tomato. They’re low bushy plants that bear round yellow fruit about the size of a small cherry inside a thin, paper-like husk.
Native to the Central and South American tropics, there are several wild and domestic species. However, the highly flavored ones are generally referred to as the giant ground cherry or cape gooseberry.
Ground cherries are delicious, sweet and fruity in flavor. They’re quite similar to pineapple. I love to snack on them as they taste so good especially in salads.
They can grow in poor soil and do not require a lot of care. All you have to do is to follow the same procedures for planting and growing tomatoes.
Harvest them when they have turned yellow and become a little soft. You should expect about 75 days to maturity and about 2 pounds of fruit from each plant.
Husky Tomatillos
A tomatillo is a large green tomato relative with a husk. Husky tomatillos are easy to grow and better yet, are not bothered by pests and diseases as regular tomatoes are.
The flowers are set earlier and the fruits can be harvested sooner. You can sow the seeds directly in the ground in many regions. This can be done outdoors once all danger of frost has past.
But if your growing season is short, start your seeds indoors. Apply the same level of care as you would for regular tomato plants. Harvest the fruits when they fill the husks and are still firm and green.
Remove the husks whenever you’re ready to use the fruits. You can use them raw in your salads…
Or…
Why not cook them to make a delicious green salsa in your kitchen? It’s your choice. Their nutrients consist of protein, vitamin A, vitamin C, iron and are a good variety for growing and eating.
Campari Tomato
This variety is very juicy, sweet and has a low level of acidity. They’re extremely red and are bigger than the cherry tomatoes.
The campari tomato was originally from Europe and became popular from the moment it was introduced on the hit TV series The Sopranos. It takes about 70-80 days to mature and can grow to about 6-9 feet in height.
This cultivar is a globe-shaped hybrid with regular leaves and is resistant to the tobacco mosaic virus. You can use this tomato type to make a lot of yummy snacks and appetizers. They’re an excellent source of vitamin A, C, K and contain some cancer preventing properties.
Beefsteak Tomato
Beefsteak tomatoes make up some of the biggest tomato varieties. They’re usually pink or red with a lot of small seed sections inside the fruit.
It’s really popular in home gardens and can be eaten raw. Some of them weigh about 1 pound or more as they’re very big and a little heavy. There’re even some common beefsteak varieties such as pink beefsteak, big beef, bucking bronco just to list a few.
These are perfect ingredients for salsa, casseroles and salads. Beefsteak tomato contains an excellent source of dietary fiber, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin K, potassium and manganese.
So therefore it’s a good, healthy choice.
There are thousands of tomato varieties in the world that come with their different taste and uses. What’s good is that you’ve got a lot to choose from and they’re all generally healthy.
You can choose the tomato varieties you like and add them to your garden because they’re all generally quite easy to grow.
For more examples of tomato varieties you can check out
grow garden tomatoes
to get some excellent info on the different types of tomatoes along with some tomato growing tips and ideas.
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