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Suze · July 16, 2009

I'm considering selling some of my excess tomatoes at market next year.

One problem I am thinking I might run into is how to label all the varieties in an appropriate way. When I pick, I label with a sharpie on the top in some way that makes sense to me - eg, CP for Cherokee Purple, GG for Green Giant, and so on.

And, a complicating factor is that I usually grow over 100 different varieties a year. Now, the abbreviated lettering I do on the tops of the tomatoes is meaningful to me because I know what I am growing, but that abbreviation may not make any sense to the buyer. It has also been pointed out to me that some buyers may not care for my sharpie writing on the shoulders of the tomatoes, either.

One option is to just rub it off before I go to market and offer a mix of various "heirlooms" for sale, but I figure at least some might like to know what they are buying.

Of course, one easy way for me to solve this is to stop growing so many varieties and only offer a few at market, but I would rather not do that.

Any thoughts on how to handle this?

July 16, 2009	#1
Suze Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Texas Posts: 3,027	Labeling multiple varieties? I'm considering selling some of my excess tomatoes at market next year. One problem I am thinking I might run into is how to label all the varieties in an appropriate way. When I pick, I label with a sharpie on the top in some way that makes sense to me - eg, CP for Cherokee Purple, GG for Green Giant, and so on. And, a complicating factor is that I usually grow over 100 different varieties a year. Now, the abbreviated lettering I do on the tops of the tomatoes is meaningful to me because I know what I am growing, but that abbreviation may not make any sense to the buyer. It has also been pointed out to me that some buyers may not care for my sharpie writing on the shoulders of the tomatoes, either. One option is to just rub it off before I go to market and offer a mix of various "heirlooms" for sale, but I figure at least some might like to know what they are buying. Of course, one easy way for me to solve this is to stop growing so many varieties and only offer a few at market, but I would rather not do that. Any thoughts on how to handle this?