What Tomato Seedlings Are You Selling At Markets?
 

This is my 13th year putting on a plant sale. I am particularly wondering what zone 4 growers are selling. We tend to offer more open pollinated than hybrid. People like early tomatoes as well as canning and saucing types. We try to offer what the local greenhouses are not selling. Customers buy Delicious, Goliath and Lemon Boy, but I don't personally grow them. We usually sell out of Glacier, Sheyenne, Amish Paste, Mama Leone, Sweet Tangerine, cherry tomatoes and Earliana. There may be a few others. We have dropped some varieties because the price of seed has gotten too high-Defiant, Plum Regal, and Juliet.

Here is my list. I would like to see yours.
Glacier
Siletz
Early Wonder Pink
Early Siberian
Sheyenne
Mountain Fresh
Sweet Tangerine (Burpee)
Cosmonaut Volkov
Legend
Coure Di Bue
Mama Leone
Siberian Pink Honey
Amish Paste
Sweetie*
Black Cherry
Sunsugar
Gardener's Delight
Bloody Butcher
Black Giant
Lemon Boy
Pink Berkeley Tie Dye
Delicious
Chapman*
Neves Azorean
Crnkovic Yugoslavian*
North Dakota Earliana
Goliath
Jet Star
Chalk's Early Jewel
Russian Rose*
New ones this year*
Barb

I take all my extras to market from my own garden. Customers tend to want to know my favorites, and will buy based on that recommendation.

Almost everyone wants a red variety. Last year I sold a lot of Cosmonaut Volkov. This year I am going to grow a lot of Mat-Su Express, because it was my favorite red from last year, which is a statement that will sell a lot of plants.

My earliest sales at market are dwarf plants to container growers. I try to have one dwarf of each color that is my favorite. I like Mano, Sweet Sue, Tasmanian Chocolate, and Coastal Pride Orange. Fuzzy Wuzzy is another plant that will always sell, due to the unique look.

Some tomatoes have names that sell; others just have the misfortune of having names that are not as attractive to customers. Dancing with Smurfs and Gargamel are both good names. When people ask the difference, I tell them that they are both blue, but Gargamel is bigger :)

My customers tend to shun non-English names that are hard to pronounce. I am guilty of translating a few names to make them easier to pronounce and understand.

Short list here. Down here it is staple for these:

Atkinson
Early Girl
Better Boy
Big Boy
Beefsteak
Celebrity

Can't keep those in stock. It like pulling teeth to get them to try something else. Thing is most don't even do well down here, but folks stuck in their ways and gotta have these year after year even though they know they're not going to produce.

Like Cole-Robbie, I take some extra heirloom plants along. Gotta try and get folks to get adventurous. For me too, those with funny names usually go first.

[QUOTE=Starlight;625768]Short list here. Down here it is staple for these:

Atkinson
Early Girl
Better Boy
Big Boy
Beefsteak
Celebrity

Can't keep those in stock. It like pulling teeth to get them to try something else. Thing is most don't even do well down here, but folks stuck in their ways and gotta have these year after year even though they know they're not going to produce.

Like Cole-Robbie, I take some extra heirloom plants along. Gotta try and get folks to get adventurous. For me too, those with funny names usually go first.[/QUOTE]
I have not tried Atkinson, but have the others. I'm going to try the dwarfs again this year. My tomatoes just did not do well last year. I had to leave the wall o waters on late because I was in Ireland for two weeks and then in July three weeks through Canada and Alaska. I just sent in a soil test today because it has been a few years.