Your ole tomato standby?

[camochef]

TimothyT,
I compared KBX to Kelloggs breakfast last year. I had grown Kelloggs breakfast for 4 years and after the first season when I discovered they did much better with a little less water than most tomatoes, I really got to like their creamy texture and wonderful taste.
2009 was my first year growing KBX and like the Kellogg's breakfast I had them in both gardens. In Garden #2, which was planted first, the Kellogg's Breakfast did better. I thought this unusual as I normally find the potato-leafed version outperforming the regular version of a variety. Still production was better on the Kellogg's breakfast, taste was pretty much identical.
Garden #1 which was planted significantly later, the results were the opposite! Here I found KBX to produce almost 2 to 1 against the Kelloggs Breakfast. The fruit was a little larger on the whole too. I would think that this can be contributed to the fact that as fruit was forming we finally got a month(Aug) that was dryer and warmer, more like our normal summer weather and that the larger leaves sheltered the fruit from the hot sun, more than the regular leafed foliage.
The Kellogg's Breakfast also reached the end of its lifecycle before the KBX which continueed to produce up to the colder weather set in.
I think we all agree that last year was far from the norm, at least around here. Therefore, I'd be looking forward to their performance down your way, and the comparisons that you find. I have to admit that taste wise there wasn't much difference at all.
Good Luck! and keep us informed!
Camo

[timothyt]

Thanks for the KB/KBX info. Camo! I'll let you know how they compare in my garden later in the season.

T

[giardiniere]

A few that I try to find a place for each year are: Eva Purple Ball, Traveler, and Pantano Romanesco.

[peppereater]

Traveler, by golly, I only had one season, but I swear I'll grow it from now on. BTW, in my garden, I can attest to fantastic production from both B from T and Kelloggs. Simply amazing. Both of them appealed to almost everyone, one friend liked KB better than Brandywine....don't ask me why.

[amideutch]

I Havn't grown long enough to establish any perennial's yet but getting there. Just too many varieties out there. Here are my favorites so far. Ami

Yellow; KBX leads the pack with Casey's Pure Yellow and Isis Brandy.
Purple; Spudakee Purple, Purple Dog Creek, Indian Stripe and JD's Special C-Tex.
Pink; Cowlick's, Hege German Pink,Toedebusch Pink and Big Cheef.
Red; Indiana Red, NAR, Brannar PL Red, Ashleigh and Akers West Virginia PL.
Black; Black From Tula PL (Spudatula), Rogers Best Black and Amazon Chocolate.

[reavilh]

This may sound silly to some, but I grew up with my Grandfather planting about 1/2 acre of Big Boys, and I love the taste of them. I always grow 10-12 plants. I also have been trying the Cherokee Purple, and like the taste, but have yet to get a good sized crop from it. We don't have a greenhouse, and are stuck buying plants from our local nursery, but hope to solve that this year.

[amideutch]

reavilh, try Spudakee Purple which is the PL (potato leaf) version of Cherokee Purple for better production and disease resistance. Ami

[camochef]

I have to agree with Amideutch, Spudakee did much better for me last year than Cherokee Purple, but in all fairness, Cherokee Purple was my #1 tomato the year before. It's never been a great producer here, but has been worth growing. My biggest complaint with them is they don't have the shelf life that most tomatoes do. On the other hand, they make a fantastic sauce!
Hope all your plantings do well this year!
Camo

[grapenut]

So far the only tomato I grow , year after year is, Early Girl. It is not the best tasting I have ever grown, but it is good, and I can count on it to produce, no matter what, It may not do as well in other places, or even taste as good, but here in Oregon, it is one I count on ... yes ,I have been saving the seed now for around 6 years with no change in growth or flavor... now I need to try the other Brandywine, the pink is great... but the others sure sound tempting, a dried Brandywine is like tomato candy, dang good stuff.