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10:19 am
February 19, 2011
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This will be my first year trying heirlooms. I picked Cherokee Red. Any tips or suggestions for a newbie on heirlooms? Did I pick a good onr to try? What have you tried?
10:32 am
November 18, 2008
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My favorites are Brandywine and Mortgage Lifter. 
11:54 am
February 10, 2009
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The only heirlooms I've tried were Brandywine and I loved them, but I've heard good things about Cherokee Reds!
12:28 pm
December 28, 2008
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Love heirlooms. As to which is best? That depends entirely upon what YOU like and what does well in your garden.
We have had tomatoes that did extremely well in our garden that were horrid from the neighbor's garden, and vice versa. We gave up trying to figure it out, and just go with what does well for each of us. The past couple of years, none of us in our neighborhood had tomatoes worth the time it took to plant them!
2:22 pm
August 6, 2010
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I didn't realize how different tomatoes could taste until I started planting heirlooms. Two that I love and plant each year are Ananas Noir and Golden Sunray. I am trying Mortgage Lifter and a couple others this year. German Johnsons are another favorite.
I love to make a salad with 3 or 4 different colors of tomatoes. I dress it with a garlic clove mashed in a teaspoon of salt, some cider vinegar, and a couple glugs of olive oil. Pretty, and delicious, and good for you!!
2:49 pm
February 19, 2011
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Thank you all so much! This forum is wonderful! So glad I found it!!!
3:52 pm
December 14, 2010
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When many of us were kids the tomatoes we are calling heirloom were the popular varieties. We used to plant a large pink fruit variety called pondorosa. I planted some Rutgers last year but I didn't have good luck with them.
5:04 pm
September 25, 2009
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Debbie, for me all of the cherokees are good – meaty and tasty! There's red, purple, brown, green – maybe more? Brandywines are great, too – really juicy and sweet. Green zebras are sweet and tangy. Actually, we love most any heirloom tomato, except for the orange ones. Just personal preference – the orange ones generally don't seem to have as much flavor as the others, for some reason.
Ross, there's a Mennonite farm nearby where mostly all they grow are heirloom tomatoes and about five thousand varieties of chili peppers! And they do grow Ponderosa tomatoes! And also Morgage Lifter, sparrowgrass. It's a good one too.
8:03 pm
January 16, 2011
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Ross said:
When many of us were kids the tomatoes we are calling heirloom were the popular varieties. We used to plant a large pink fruit variety called pondorosa. I planted some Rutgers last year but I didn't have good luck with them.
Ross, you must be up north! Rutgers do much better down here in the south. It is one of the main ones grown in Fl. for commercial sales. I plant them every year. They will still flower & produce in our extreme heat…not as abundently as with cooler temps but at least I still get some!
9:34 pm
August 6, 2010
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The best heirloom tomato is the one you pick and eat right out of the garden! I feel so sorry for people who think that tomatoes taste like those reddish things you get on a sandwich at Subway.
10:03 pm
February 22, 2010
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People! People! You've got to stop! I am drooling all over my keyboard! 
Oh for a fresh picked tomato!
7:23 am
December 27, 2008
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I have narrowed my tomato growing down to our favourite five. All five are red, ordinary tomatoes that we think are the very best of all that we have grown. I have experimented with all kinds over the last few years, but I don't have the time now to grow anything just for fun, so we cut it down to these five favourites that more than meet our needs.
1) "Portugal" tomatoes. I got the seed in a traade years ago from a gardener who's more recent ancesters brought them over from…(wait for it…..) Portugal!!! lol
They are huge, meaty, sweet and delicious!!! They are actually MASSIVE beefheart tomatoes. They jump up when planted and quickly outdistance all others. They are overly vigorous indeterminate and have to be pruned back, which I usually do around Aug 1. I grow them in our short season anyway, they are worth it. The good ones are bigger than my fist. I start them early indoors, of course. This is what they look like:
2) 'San Marzano' paste tomatoes, for sauce. They are touted to be the best paste tomatoes in the world, from Italy. We think they are. The walls are very thick and they have little water, which makes a good dry paste.
3) 'Ailsa Craig' medium sweet delicious salad tomato
4) 'Manitoba' not heirloom but organic (not GM) developed for the short Canadian winter in the prairies. Large beefsteak fruits in a short time. Very good!
5) Matt's Wild Cherry – very, very sweet. Rarely make it to the table :-) A little softer than modern hybrids but much sweeter! A large plant and heavy producer.
The only tomato seed that I sell on my site this year is the 'San Marzano'. We had such a bad tomato year last year that I just didn't get enough seed from the others to sell. Hopefully, this year will be better.
8:42 am
June 10, 2010
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I grew Brandywines last year and wasn't that impressed with them.
I heard wonderful things about the "mortgage lifter" and so bought some seed to try.
Also bought the "Julia Child" seed because I just love that woman.
I will replant Mom's paste for my sauces . Replanting as well the yellow cherries.
My DH loves the beefsteaks so will plant them for sure for him. They do make great sandwiches.
He also wants me to plant the Heinz seed again… though I think they aren't as tasty.
Goodness only knows what else I will plant as I have about 20 other varieties of seeds.
Call me crazy but, I love tomatoes. And, for my frost date up here, I can start my seeds
March 15th!
Phyllis 
1:57 pm
February 17, 2010
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Here in Georgia we have found that pink brandywines and yellow brandywines do great. We have also had good luck with big rainbow. While lots of our other varieties had big losses to tomato virus and other problems, the brandywines always produce well. I think it varies from area to area. We have lots of heat and usually have dry (but humid) summers. 
9:57 pm
May 5, 2010
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I'm still a relative gardening newbie … I tried a Brandywine last year during the coolest CA valley summer on record and netted 5 reluctant walnut-sized green tomatoes on a 6-foot plant in late September. Disappointing all round with six other tomatoes as well (even the three cherry tomatoes dragged production!), but I at least managed several batches of salsa, a happy amount of salads and green tomato chutney. Having heard so much about Mortgage Lifter and Hillbilly, I've also bought seed and am making a pass at different heirlooms this year plus the fabled Sungold cherry hybrid (I know, I know, not heirloom, but outrageously sweet!). Am starting a little late on seed thanks to a couple weeks of flu (arrgh!) but we're dealing with a recent winter storm streak that suggest our winter may linger longer than expected. Again.
8:42 am
February 20, 2011
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I have about 40 types that I plant. I plant various tomatoes for different flavors that they offer. I really like the Italian heirloom Marianna's Peace as well as an Amish Paste , Red Brandywine and a beautiful large yellow German one that the name escapes me right now, sorry. I also plant cherry tomatoes called Surgary around the yard that my " girls" 
have access to so they are happy.
TinaH
1:55 pm
March 2, 2011
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There are so many options. I've grown a number of heirlooms, but Green Zebra (tangy) and Black Prince (dark and meaty) are my all-time favorites.
8:55 am
February 19, 2011
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The Cherokee purples came today. I decided on plants instead of seeds. I was worried about their condition but they made the trip from GA ok. Now I just have to baby them inside for a few more weeks!
9:49 am
January 31, 2010
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I grow different kinds of heirloom tomatoes but the ones I like best to eat are black krim. It is an early tomatoe and the acid in the tomatoe does not bother me like it does in some other tomatoes (at least I think so)
8:45 pm
February 4, 2011
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Sheryl,
Can we in the States order seeds from you? I looked at your site and I would really love to try the Portugal tomatoes and a bunch of other stuff, but stopped because I thought they might not make it across the border!
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