Choose the Best Tomato for Your Favorite Recipes

Melinda’s Garden Moments is heard Mon.-Fri. at 7:45 and 10:45 a.m. and 4:45 p.m. on 97.9 WHAV.

Melinda’s Garden Moments is heard Mon.-Fri. at 7:45 and 10:45 a.m. and 4:45 p.m. on 97.9 WHAV.

Sliced, sauced or cooked in your favorite recipe; tomatoes are a favorite and versatile vegetable. And they taste best when grown and harvested from your own garden or container.

Ensure the best flavor and greatest results by selecting the most disease-resistant varieties and growing your tomatoes in full sun and moist well-drained soil.

Further narrow down your selection and grow varieties best suited to the intended use.

Bite sized tomatoes are great for salads, relish trays and snacking. Sweet ‘n Neat produces clusters of red cherry tomatoes on compact plants.  And try the explosively sweet Sungold cherry tomato.

Paste and sauce tomatoes like Romas, have meatier fruit, making them perfect for sauces, soups and preserving.  San Marzano heirloom paste tomato has become popular with gourmet and home chefs.

And grow a few slicing tomatoes to enjoy on sandwiches, hors d’oeuvres, and salads.

A bit more information: Use determinate tomatoes for small space gardens and containers. They grow a certain height, stop growing and produce their fruit over a relatively short time. Be prepared to stake or tower indeterminate tomatoes that grow throughout the season, producing flowers and fruit until you prune out the tip or frost kills the plant.

Use the Bonnie Plant Tomato Chooser for more detailed information and help choosing the best tomato for your growing conditions and the intended use.

For more gardening tips, how-to videos, podcasts and more, visit www.melindamyers.com.