My earliest is always 'Gold Nugget' -- I insist on growing it every year. It doesn't have 'big tomato flavor', but is fine for how early, *pretty*, and productive it is! I've been growing it for more than 10 years. Always have plenty of tomatoes before the end of July. It's beautiful mixed with other tomatoes! People who don't like sweet tomatoes always like it.

My second vote would go to 'Stupice' -- early with nice tomato flavor, but it doesn't produce much for me. Nice small plants though. :) I've grown it a few years over the past handful of years.

And I've been a seed-saver and grown my tomatoes and almost everything else from seed for many (many) years. lol!

oh! I just saw that you're in zone 6b. That's a LOT warmer than here!

My vote is for Stupice - great flavor, very prolific. I grow only open pollinated tomatoes and save seed from year to year, so start from seed. Start a few of these in February and keep increasing their pot size as they grow, then plant them out in early May with some protection. They are fairly cold tolerant and will set and ripen fruit by June.

-Rosalinda

This year my earliest (only) ripe tomato has been Alicante. It's a red, golf ball size tomato. I just picked it this week. I'll be eating it tonight!

It beat out Legend & Siberian which are suppose to be early tomatoes. I haven't tasted any of the three yet though. It's my first year growing all three of them.