Register for the Seedtime garden planning event: https://seedtime.us/roots-refuge-event?ref=rootsandrefuge
How to grow great tomatoes video: https://youtu.be/AMlxoBuqObA?si=9D63Kxky6x56PAiH
Wild Boar Farms tomatoes (This link takes you to some of the special packs he offers for my viewers):https://www.wildboarfarms.com/rootsrefuge2025
Botanical Interests: https://www.botanicalinterests.com
Hudson Valley Seed Co: https://hudsonvalleyseed.com
Tomato List:
Cherries:Wild Boar Berries (Red) or Gold Berries (yellow)
Honey Drop
Rosella Sweetie
Brad’s Atomic Grape
Barry’s Crazy Cherry
Big Tomatoes:
Dr. Wyche’s Yellow
Paul Robeson
Abe Lincoln Original
Italian Heirloom
Thorburn’s TerraCotta
Black Beauty
Large Barred Boar OR Pink Berkley Tie Dye
Aunt Ruby’s German Green
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WHERE TO FIND US:
– Our Website: https://rootsandrefuge.com
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37 Comments
I will be growing black beauty again this year, the super sweet 100 because why not and am trying a new to me variety called korean long. It is somewhere between a slicer and a paste. This one is a pain to harvest but the spoon tomato has an absolutely great flavor. It is my go-to snacker while working in the garden! Brad's atomic grape is beautiful but I have to say I was disappointed with the flavor. I don't know if you have tried the domingo tomato before but it is well worth looking at. Great flavor and holds the world record (17lbs)! Without trying I got several tomatoes that were 1.5 lbs. With a little effort I'm sure 3 to 4 pounds would be achievable. I am in zone 7a so I'm just starting my super hots and onions have been started for a bit. I started several varieties of garlic a few months ago but some were not stratified so I'm expecting mixed results.
I grew Barry’s crazy cherries this year (Aus summer) and they were my best producer after golden nuggets. They were delicious too!!!
"…These are a few of my favorite thinnngs!!" Sound of Music came to mind …now its stuck in my head!!!
Loved this!
Thornberg's Terracotta and Dr Wyches, my fav slicers. yellow pear my fav cherry.
Jess, Grow an extra plant if you need too. You can always bless others with the extra veggies if you can't eat them all or feed them to the animals. Also could you possibly do the other veggies you will be growing? I don't know why. But all the veggies you grow. Grow so good in our garden.
I grew ponderosas last year and loved it! It's a pink tomato! So fun! I also grew some Russian black tomatoes and fell in love with black tomatoes!
Registered…very excited!
I will have to finish watching first thing in the morning.
Last year, I grew a ton of varieties to see what performed best but also what I liked best and the 2 stand outs for me were Ananas Noir slicers and Orange Peach. The orange peach were so velvety smooth and unlike any tomato I had ever had before, although it wasn’t the most productive. The Ananas Noir were huge slicers, around 1 lb each, delicious and very productive in my garden.
I don’t even eat tomatoes 🍅 but I love Jess and her passion for 🍅🍅🍅
I can relate to having to scale back on varieties. I did that a few years ago. It’s hard! I still allow myself to experiment with one or two extras if I choose to.
Black Krim and Dr. Wyches are my 2 favorites
Yesss!! I was hoping for this 😁😁😁 always looking forward to your tomato videos!
Oooh! The TABLE!!
I love your seed starting videos! Now we need peppers, squash, okra and cucumbers!
Can anyone give me tips on how to save tomato seeds? What’s the best way to do it? I usually lay the seeds on a paper towel but they stick to it and I usually get paper towel stuck to it. What’s your way of drying them to save them? I’ve only saved seeds from last year so I’m worried about using those this year and scared they won’t germinate. Any tips?
My must grow tomatoes are Blue beauty (sister of black beauty), tropical sunset and striped Roman. That covers beefsteak, cherry and paste varieties. I planted Dr. Wyche's last year for the first time based in your list and will now always grow that one, too. I am trying a couple new Wild Boar farms this year including the crazy cherry to see how they perform in my CA garden.
Pink Berkley, pink whitmore, ananias noir (Spelling?), bumblebee, and pineapple. Might have to try the honey drop so I can get away from the cracked sun gold ones…
Brad’s Atomic is my FAVORITE!
Honey comb cherries, a classic red cherry, Pearson beefsteak, Romas. But the way you spoke of Dr Wyches I may have to get some seeds asap lol
I’m growing sunsugar, rosella cherry, sugar lump cherry, mushroom basket, rosella purple, mallee rose, dwarf lucky swirl, dwarf firebird sweet, Vilma, Aztec, titmouse, orange hat, orange dream, Pinocchio, floragold
Last year, I grew Cherokee Purple and San Marzano. Neither one did especially well as far as size goes. But, the flavor of each was quite nice. This year, I ordered seeds from TomatoFest. They are all dwarf varieties: Dwarf Aubrey's Love, Tastywine, Rosella Crimson, and Dwarf Golden Gypsy. TomatoFest even included a bonus pack of tomato seeds called Porter's Dark Cherry. I've never grown any of these varieties before; but, I'm going to try it this year.
I like to freeze tomatoes and to dehydrate them. So far, that's how I preserve them.
Jess I'm in Spartanburg South Carolina what would you grow for a sauce or paste tomatoes i am limited this yr for space.also I love Cherokee purple what is good for my climate that is simular.also suggestion on small tomatoes like Tommy toes your choice
LOVE the sweet little cherry tomatoes, they grow like the weeds they are in California, LOL! I had one sow itself in a crack in the bricks in my yard once. Someone in my gardening group online thought I was calling them crack tomatoes, like they're craveable, but they were literally growing out of the space between bricks, hah. Oh, and I would just end up roasting my sweet 100s because I didn't want to bother with dehydrating them. they turn out like candy, so yummy. I get your son's preference for dried ones!
Paul robeson is my favorite tomato❤
Let the planting begin. Always fun learning about your favorite tomatoes. The Terra-Cotta tomato is really cool looking.
I've grown Brad's Atomic Grape the last two years, and have been terribly disappointed in the flavor. The plants have also been very weak and unhealthy.
What makes Honey Drop better than Sungold?
I love Dances With Smurfs. I get that cute red star under the stem, and they are delicious.
i watched you when you first grew Dancing with Smurfs. I am almost positive you did not like it. Funny how we change
I grew dr wyches for the first time last year. Oh my gosh my whole world changed. My mouth is salivating right now just thinking about it. I also grew a sun sugar cherry tomato. It’s a relative of sungold. Best cherry tomato I’ve ever had. I watched you grow the dr wyches for a few years and I finally got the seeds last year before they sold out. Thank you for sharing. Best tomato 🍅 ever. I so wish I could share a picture of my “prized tomato” 😂
Aside from that I do always grow San marzano as my base for canning, because where I am they have always been prolific and hold strong till the end of the year. Until last year I hadn’t found a variety I loved.
Aunt Ruby German green is one of are favorites in our garden. So many friends can’t believe how tasty they are.But your right you have to keep a eye on them. We’ve also found out that if you pick them to soon and want to finish them off in the house. The weight of it gets causes the bottoms to go soft. We have never grown Abe Lincoln and would like to give them a try this year.
I moved out of the country, so I am going to miss my Cherokee purple, and the black cherry tomatoes. I am also going to miss pumpkin because I can't get seeds for any of them here.
Champagne Bubbles from MI Gardner does amazing in Houston, TX heat and humidity. It is always first to produce and last to stop fruiting as the heat sets in and the tomatoes are sweet and delicious. The plants stay healthy through the heat of summer and it always produces more in the fall. Other favorites are Sun Gold, San Marzano and Pineapple. Pineapple isn't the most productive, but the flavor is so good I still grow at least one plant every season.
I almost forgot Barry's Crazy Cherry this year too and like Jess I had to add it back to my list!
That’s it?! I can’t believe it!! There’s no way you’re only growing the varieties you mention in this video! This is said with much love, stay strong 💕
Just admit it Jess, they are all your favorite!! I love it Jess. One plant of each. Maybe just one. LOL.
🧡🙏🏼🧡
My son watches y'all, with me, and he just told me: "I know it's time to buy some more dirt, because Mrs. Jess is talking about her tomatoes again."
And yes, it is time to buy more dirt.