Shop Products
Houzz Logo Print
grovegreenguy

Early, large and tasty ?

FrozeBudd_z3/4
15 years ago

My Early Girls are loaded with fruit and thriving despite the coolish summer in this part of western Canada ... but, I've heard these are only so so when it comes to flavor. Is there a similar variety ... again, meaning early and large fruited, but with also having a rich full taste?

Thanks ... Terry

Comments (17)

  • bigdaddyj
    15 years ago

    You are in search of the tomato Holy Grail. Early? Large? AND Great taste? That's what many of us want. I have tried many, many, many, (get the idea? LOL) early varieties. None come close to the flavor of a later juicy ripe beefstake like a Brandywine, NAR, etc.

    Early Girl IMO is among the worst of the earlies. I'm talking flavor only here.

    I suggest Momotaro. It's delicious and a mid season. About 65 days for me but that is only an average. Same size as Early Girl. If you can stretch out your zone 3 some way you could ripen them in time.

  • meteor04
    15 years ago

    I actually like Early Girls...Maybe my climate? Uhmm? Large EGs? Mine never get all that big.

    Anyhoo, maybe Bloody Butchers? Not large, but early and nice.

    Here is a link that might be useful: Bloody Butchers

  • mike1970
    15 years ago

    Hmmm, how about 2 out of three? I just picked and ate my first Stupice 50 days after planting it and it was great. Juicy and sweet with a little zing. But they never get over a couple of inches in diameter. The upside is you do get a LOT of them.

    Mike

  • digdirt2
    15 years ago

    Early, large and tasty ?

    Don't want much do ya? ;)

    Seriously you can't have all 3. With either Stupice or Bloody Butcher you can have early and taste or you can stick with one of the many Early Girl clones and get early and large with blah taste.

    Breed one with all 3 and you can make a million. ;)

    Dave

  • carolyn137
    15 years ago

    Sophie's Choice from Endmonton, Canada.

    It's early, it's much larger than those mentioned above, actually in the 6-8 oz range, and does have good taste.

    Great taste? I don't know ANY early varieties that have great taste. ( smile)

    Carolyn

  • rickh
    15 years ago

    Black Prince is early for me.

    No 50 days, not 80 either. :)

  • carolynp
    15 years ago

    How about sunset's red horizon or siletz? I want one of these, too, lol. Our season is pretty short, and it's prone to falling behind by weather with regularity.

  • carolyn137
    15 years ago

    How about sunset's red horizon or siletz? I want one of these, too, lol. Our season is pretty short, and it's prone to falling behind by weather with regularity.

    ****

    Sunset's Red Horizon, whose real name is Rostova, sure isn't an early variety for me or for others that I know who have grown it. ( smile)

    Siletz is early but the fruits aren't large as the poster requested.

    Carolyn

  • FrozeBudd_z3/4
    Original Author
    15 years ago

    Carolyn, I indeed will try Sophie's Choice, especially since it's recommended for cooler climates and is from my immediate area of Edmonton, Alberta.

    I guess two out of three ain't bad when it comes to early, large and tasty, so will try several of the others you all have suggested. This is the last year for growing Pilgrim, has been a decent producer, though lacks in flavor.

    Terry

  • aloha10
    15 years ago

    I have tried Jung Seeds Ultimate Opener for the first time this year. Will report back in a few weeks.

  • macheske
    15 years ago

    If you don't mind a hybrid try Brandy Boy. My sungolds only beat the Brandy Boy by about a week and the first Brandy Boy I picked was 1 lb 4 oz. Now they're getting very close to 2 lbs.

  • macheske
    15 years ago

    If you don't mind a hybrid try Brandy Boy. My sungolds only beat the Brandy Boy by about a week and the first Brandy Boy I picked was 1 lb 4 oz. Now they're getting very close to 2 lbs.

  • tomatojoa
    15 years ago

    Just today I was looking at Dr Carolyn's book and decided to try Sophie's Choice for next year. I need some tomatoes (besides cherries) while I am waiting for the hoard of 'maters on my vines to ripen in my cool foggy coastal California climate. It's 8 PM now on the 21st of July and it's 52 degrees and drizzly outside...

  • gardenscout
    15 years ago

    I heartily recommend Bloody Butcher for early and good taste. They are not big of course, but they sure are early and tasty. I cut them into wedges and stuff them into a toasted sub roll for the first tomato sandwiches of the season. Then as the slicers begin to ripen, I collect the BBs and toss them in the freezer (in a ziploc bag, right off the vine). They go into soups and chili all winter long.

    Their best taste is when they are fully ripe, and I have noticed that the first few to ripen have somewhat thick and tough skin. But by about the third or fourth one to ripen, the skin is much more tender.

  • suze9
    15 years ago

    Moskvich is one I'd suggest you try sometime. Indet, a bit on the compact side (usually doesn't get more than 5 ft for me). Tasty 4-6 oz fruits, one of the earliest ones I've grown with good flavor that is larger than cherry/lg cherry size. Off the top of my head, Victory Seeds is one source for it. Nice pic on their website if you want to see what the fruit look like.

  • wvtomatoman
    15 years ago

    "Early, large and tasty ?"
    You can't have all three. :-) So you have to pick, but you can pick combinations. Large and tasty tomatoes are fairly common. :-)

    What is large? To me large is not these dinky little tomatoes we're talking about. So, on my scale a large tomato or a "big one" is around 2 lbs. (and larger).

    But my real reason for posting, and all kidding aside, is because of Early Girl. It seems that Early Girl does well and tastes good in some areas, but not others. I grow it every year for it's combination of earliness and taste.

    BTW, I was surpised to see that I have a Brandy Boy that is blushing about 10 days after the Early Girl blushed. This is the first year I've grown Brandy Boy so I don't know if it's consistently that early or not. If it is and the taste lives up to reports it may be a good choice. And it looks like the tomatoes are decent sized. It looks like most will be around a pound with some larger and some smaller.

    Good luck.

    Randy

  • zeuspaul
    15 years ago

    I tried First Lady this year. It produced a few days before Early Girl. The tomatoes were larger and I preferred the taste. I'll be growing more of them next year and fewer Early Girl.

    It's hard to give up on Early Girl. She has produced for me when the rest were dropping their blossums.

    Zeuspaul

Sponsored
Hoppy Design & Build
Average rating: 5 out of 5 stars9 Reviews
Northern VA Award-Winning Deck ,Patio, & Landscape Design Build Firm