East Hill Edible Gardening has the largest selection of tomato plants available in the Pensacola area. We are offering 38 varieties of tomatoes this season (see descriptions later in this post)!
Yes, it’s early for tomatoes, but the weather has been much warmer than normal and for most of us there is no threat of freezing in the next 2 weeks. In fact, it looks like great tomato-growing weather ahead which means we have more time to grow some of the bigger tomatoes. If a freeze does come, these plants can be easily covered by a cardboard box for the night. We’ve already planted more than 30 varieties in our own garden, some of which are blooming!
The following varieties are available now. We have more thorough descriptions at our booths. Lots of them are heirlooms, some are newer intriguing varieties bred for taste, most are open-pollinated, and a few are hybrids (because they offer great disease resistance):
– Atkinson – good meaty tomatoes, great for our area
– Aunt Ruby’s German Green (lg. green, spicy & sweet
– Best Boy – flavor plus great disease resistance
– Better Boy – Classic tomato flavor – good disease resistance
– Big Rainbow – beautiful deep yellow with red streaks
– Black Krim – Juicy, dark red-purple fruit, rich sweet flavor
– Brandywine, red – classic heirloom tomato
– Brandywine, yellow – yellow version of above
– Celebrity – Superior all-around w/ fantastic disease resistance
– Chadwick – large cherry tomato
– Cherokee Purple – Cherokee heirloom – superb taste
– Costoluto Genovese – Robust, tangy, “tomatoey” flavor!
– Creole – Juicy with outstanding flavor – great for the South
– Early Girl – early red meaty tomato with lots of flavor & aroma
– Eva Purple Ball – excellent flavor- great for hot, humid areas
– Gardener’s Delight- German heirloom – cherry
– Glacier– performs well in cool weather
– Golden Girl – disease resistance + great flavor
– Homestead – Firm, tasty flesh. Wilt resistant and productive
– Juliet – Crack resistant sweet cherries shaped like romas
– Kellogg’s Breakfast – heirloom orange beefsteak
– Large Barred Boar – 1 of my favorites – intriguing colors
– Matt’s Wild Cherry – small cherry tomatoes, prolific
– Mortgage Lifter – heirloom – use to pay off your mortgage!
– Peron – Solid, meaty mildly acidic interior. Insect resistant
– Pink Bumble Bee – stunning cherry tomato
– Prudens Purple – meaty, pink heirloom, PGS’s favorite
– Riesentraube – Massive yields with rich, full tomato flavor
– Roma – Good, rich tomato flavor – doesn’t need staking
– Rutgers – Heirloom with good yields and flavor
– Speckled Roman – pretty striped roma tomato
– Sub-Arctic Plenty – another that performs well in cool weather
– Taxi – bright yellow and sweet, early too
– Tigerella – Early, flavorful and high yielding
– Yellow Pear – yellow pear-shaped cherry
Plus several more cherrry tomatoes including:
– Black Cherry
– Coyote
– Gold Nugget
very fortunate along the Gulf Coast that we can grow a diverse variety of fruit trees. Satsumas, pictured here in our garden, are related to tangerines and are an easy fruit for beginning gardeners to try.