Kitchen Garden Forum

As I grow a fair proportion of my tomatoes for processing for the freezer in purree, next year I'd like to grow a really high yielding variety. Can anybody recommend one that has a high yield as well as having a good flavour. I currently grow old favourites such as Moneymaker and Alicante but wonder if there's a more modern variety which might provide a higher yield.

Hello Primrose
I hesitate to suggest a variety for taste and yield. If you are interested in good yield have you thought of growing bush-type toms. If you have room they can be grown like strawberries in a bed of straw. No staking, tying in or pinching out is needed as you simply let them ramble all over the place and produce masses of fruit in a good year. I think the straw helps ripening too.

John

PS If you do try this, remember to put slug pellets under the straw.

Hi Primrose,
I grow Amish Paste and Cornu des Andes for processing. The Amish Paste is higher yielding than the other, but the Cornu des Andes has the best flavour. They are both very fleshy with few seeds, so produce a better sauce, etc, than the usual salad types but there are probably higher yielding varieties out there.

I've grown Jersey Devil from plants of Distinction for 3 years now. They're very dense and heavy with a good flavour. I've also dried them and kept them in olive oil, 'sunblush' style.
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Granny

As a matter of interest, how were your Moneymakers this year? I grew one plant in the greenhouse out of interest as I had a free packet. Tremendous yield, but suffered from greenback and the taste was, well, sort of tomatoey, but otherwise bland in the extreme. The wife actively disliked it and refused to eat them. Fortunately, enough Gardeners Delight and Tropical Ruby to keep her happy.

The Moneymakers I've grown this year have been OK in terms of yield but it may be my imagination that they don't seem to have had quite the same amount of flavour as previous years. They're grown against a south facing fence and have had as much sunshine as there has been available, but I'm afraid with this dismal summer, that has been rather inadequate. I also grow Gardeners Delight and that tends to be my benchmark for a tomato with good flavour, and despite the lack of sunshine, their flavour seems to be as good as ever. If I could find a larger size tomato for purreeing and preserving that had the same flavour as G.D. I would be a happy tomato grower.

Primrose, try these from Seeds of Italy.
http://www.seedsofitaly.com/product/26