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| I'm thinking of dropping Early Girl and trying a different variety instead next year. Just for some background. My dad died a year ago and I've taken over the vegetable garden (which was his territory). My dad always grew romas and early girls. Every year. I think he liked them since they produced well and he didn't manage to kill them. My mom, grandma, and I never cared for romas. We don't can or do sauce usually, just eat them fresh. About the only thing I thought romas were good in was bruscetta. So I dropped the romas this year, and did a cherry, a brandywine, a big beef, and an obligatory early girl. The Early Girl has been producing well, but as the big beefs start to come in, it just highlights to me that Early Girl is a pretty mediocre tomato, taste wise. I'm thinking next year I may drop that one, find another early ripening tomato that has a better taste. Anyway, sorry for the long cool story there. Does anyone have any suggestions for a different early slicing tomato? |
Follow-Up Postings:
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| Cool Cara, I'm one to agree that Early Girl is just early and only slightly better than store bought, but dismal in the homegrown tomato taste buds. Fourth of July is a much better early, and Rutgers is still popular for a reason. Mountain Princess is a good Early. So next season you're looking for determinate(s). And thatt's my suggestion |
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- Posted by Donna.in.Sask 2b (My Page) on Fri, Jul 26, 13 at 11:26
| Try a Sungold/Sunsugar cherry tomato, and perhaps some of the "black" tomatoes...might not be as early but you'll have much better flavour. Sometimes the only positive attribute of early tomatoes is their "earliness" - at the cost of flavour. |
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| I don't think any of the "early" varieties are noted for taste. Sure some are better than others but they still won't compare to a mid-season variety. The only thing they really have going for them is that they are early. I tried Kimberly this year and it was a BIG disappointment. Stupice and Bloody Butcher are both better IMO but small compared to Early Girl. Matina is one of the better earlies according to some but others don't care for it. So if I was going to look for an early one similar to EG in size I suggest Jetsetter. Good healthy plants with good disease resistance and better than average production of large 10-12 oz fruit. Dave |
Here is a link that might be useful: Jetsetter tomato
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| i had early treat this year. not sure if it's the same as all the other 4th of july hybrids, but it's not bad. I would only use it in a salad. which is perfect b/c they are golf ball size. and they really produce all season long. |
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| I replaced my Early Girl with Momotaro. Much better flavor and, while I had both in the garden, usually had earlier ripe fruit than EG. |
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| C....EG is a good grower with fair taste....for sure. Here is my plan: we will be using the EG's for salsa. I think that will work good for us. Mine actually have good size this year in my container. |
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| C....EG is a good grower with fair taste....for sure. Here is my plan: we will be using the EG's for salsa. I think that will work good for us. Mine actually have good size this year in my container. |
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| Stop thinking about not growing Early Girl. It is a reliable producer of medium sized tomatoes. Grow a couple in honor of your dad. I always grow a few Early Girls because of their reliability. Taste varies depending on growing conditions. I harvested one in November that tasted like cardboard. The EG's ripening in the garden now have a nice zesty flavor. My guess is ripening temps may have an effect on flavor. You need about a dozen different tomato varieties. Early Girl should be one of them in the reliable category. Zeuspaul |
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| Try Cherokee Purple. These ripened very early for me and we ate our first one on Thursday and the second one yesterday. I thought they tasted very good and have reserved a spot in next year's garden for CP! Momotaro and Bloody Butcher are both on my list to grow next year for earliness and flavour. Linda |
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| My favorite is Golden Jubilee. A small, but very tasty tomato. |
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| I used to grow Early Girls, but I consistently found that as other tomatoes came on, I always ignored the Early Girls more and more. I would recommend 4th of July (very early), Stupice, and Kotlas. Bloody Butcher is okay, but not as good as the others, in my opinion. All of these are just "large cherry" sized. You might also consider Jaune Flamme. Early and quite productive. I also like Red Brandywine and Box Car Willie as excellent replacements for Early Girl. They come on just a bit later than Early Girl, but both of them are much more productive and taste much better, too. |
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| You might want to try Moravsky Div. Plus a few other tomato varieties which are adapted to your climate. Indian Stripe is a little earlier than Cherokee Purple (noted above). |
Here is a link that might be useful: Tasty early tomatoes.
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| JD's Early Black is a 50-60 day tomato with flattened irregular red/black fruits in the same size range as Early Girl. They are sweeter with more depth of flavor than Early Girl but are more prone to cracking. In my garden the plants are more compact with less foliage and produce about three tomatoes for each one that Early Girl makes. Like you I do not plan to grow Early Girl again. |
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