tomatoes for market

[charline]

I thought there was a thread about this but cant find it...
Some young friends of mine a starting a small business with different kind of vegetables and asked me about tomatoes. I can give them seeds, no problem, but if anyone can help with the varieties. I personnally grow only for flavor. So harvest is not a big question for me. But I think it should be considered when you grow for sale. Also should they keep quite good.
They dont have any greenhouses, everything in open garden. I think they should grow different colors , to be different from the other vendors.

so please give me your ideas, thank you very much

[rhines81]

Originally Posted by charline

I thought there was a thread about this but cant find it...
Some young friends of mine a starting a small business with different kind of vegetables and asked me about tomatoes. I can give them seeds, no problem, but if anyone can help with the varieties. I personnally grow only for flavor. So harvest is not a big question for me. But I think it should be considered when you grow for sale. Also should they keep quite good.
They dont have any greenhouses, everything in open garden. I think they should grow different colors , to be different from the other vendors.

so please give me your ideas, thank you very much

Try the GROWING FOR MARKET section of the forum
http://www.tomatoville.com/forumdisplay.php?f=139

[Dutch]

Originally Posted by charline

I thought there was a thread about this but cant find it...
Some young friends of mine a starting a small business with different kind of vegetables and asked me about tomatoes. I can give them seeds, no problem, but if anyone can help with the varieties. I personnally grow only for flavor. So harvest is not a big question for me. But I think it should be considered when you grow for sale. Also should they keep quite good.
They dont have any greenhouses, everything in open garden. I think they should grow different colors , to be different from the other vendors.

so please give me your ideas, thank you very much

Hi Charline,
Thank you for starting this interesting thread. A couple of my thoughts on this is that folks at markets tend to buy with their eyes. They typically are looking for red perfect looking, blemish free fruit. Big Beef and Champion II are two that work in my area. It should be interesting to see what others have to say.
Thanks again Charline!
Dutch

[Fred Hempel]

I think that when growing for market, one thing that gets overlooked is durability. Some varieties get very soft when they color up, and taking them to market leads to much waste from bruising.

In some places people want red and round. In other places people want crazy colors. Flavor is what brings people back though.

Here are some varieties I would grow in small numbers (or not at all) because of durability issues: Copia, Berkeley Tie Die, all yellow bicolors (except maybe Northern Lights), Green when ripe beefsteaks and any other tomatoes they know to get very soft, very fast when ripening.

Two durable lines to consider, that still have exceptional, full flavor: Momotaro (hybrid) and Amana Orange (heirloom).

[Fred Hempel]

Was just thinking about our tomatoes --

Spike -- Not for market, very soft, very fast.

Jazz -- Average durability

Orange Jazz -- Good durability, but not the best.

And this also got me thinking about other shapes that are durable -- Speckled Roman comes to mind as a pretty durable tomato that looks like a paste, but eats like a beefsteak.

[Lindalana]

I am growing one tomato this year that Tania names as perfect organic market tomato- Aurora. Named after Aurora Borealis, old USSR variety.
http://tatianastomatobase.com/wiki/Aurora
Will let people know how it goes after this season.

[charline]

I think Sweet Ozark Orange is one to consider.
Another one I have and think it keeps good enough is Tasmanian Blushing Yellow.
then there is Black Amber, could work as well and puts out many maters.

what about Cherokee lime stripes? super flavor and if picked when not fully ripe then keeps well

still searching for more......
thanks everybody

[Cole_Robbie]

I have good luck with all of Fred's varieties, especially the Artisan cherries. They are a big seller for me. This year, I am going to try to also have a saladette sized mix of different colors, too.

Taxi is my biggest high tunnel standout. It is yellow tomato with mild flavor, not bad, just mild.

Cosmonaut Volkov is my best normal-looking red variety. It yields uniform, attractive fruit. Ugly, cat-faced tomatoes don't sell.

[imp]

Taxi is one I shall have to try- my neighbor doesn't like strong tomatoes and she has the idea firmly planted that she can only eat yellow tomatoes. I know, I know, but sometimes it's easier to not argue the point, LOL, she is a lovely lady and a good friend. Of course, I am not that sort of stubborn...



And not one of my Cosmonaut Volkovs cam up ( along with Green Doctors Frosted and Pappy Kerns). Not sure what I did wrong, but will have to give it a try again. Maybe try to start it again in a week or so.

[carolyn137]

Having visited France,yea many years ago and reading threads and posts from those in France,if it were me I wouldn't be all that conserative about storage,durarbility and such, b/c I find the French to be adventurous when it comes to almost anything,whether it be food, clothing,music,you name it,so I would be adventurous in selection of tomatoes as well.

For sure most of them should be great tasting,that's a MUST so rather than name varieties,although I could,I'll just refer to categories.

Large dark colored ones, beefsteaks, also same for cherries

GWRipes for sure,maybe some of Reinhards green and purple and chocolate ones, but of course green for this category and of course some of the great green cherries

Striped ones, beefs and long ones

Reds,hearts,cherries and beefs

Pinks, ditto above

Orange/yellow,hearts,beefs and cherries

White/ivoryones, not sure,depends on specific varieties IMO

Just for novelty ones how about Reisetomate,should get lots of comments and draw in proseptive customers, taste not all that good and also some of the fuzzy ones like Garden Peach and friends.

Years ago I use to sell fruits on contract to a large farm stand so I know all about spoilage,etc,and it was up to me to stop by there and discard ones that had split,etc,so that is also something that I think your friends should also note Charline.

Carolyn

[BigVanVader]

I'd second Cole on the Bumblebee series. Great prod/taste and perfect sampling size. I'd also say definitely have a good red perfect tomato since many will only buy those no matter what. I just grow what I find interesting and people usually buy most of it.

[charline]

I thought I would let you know what varieties I gave her for her project.

- Cherokee lime stripes
- Sweet Ozark Orange
- Black Amber
- Tasmanian Blushing Yellow
- Coeur de boeuf red
- Lucinda
- Garden Peach
- White Sugar
- Girl Girl's Weird Thing
- Russian Rose
- Gloire de Versailles
- Blush
- green Tiger
- Lucky Tiger
- Sunrise Bumblebee
- White Rabbit

we will see if she and her customers are happy with this.....

[reddeheddefarm]

Taste is king. Offer samples. every time we did that at farmers market it would sell. we do that with the chefs we work with too. taste is everything

[Gardeneer]

If you are in Europe, you need to have a nice artistic presentation.

IMO, nothing can beat a nice combination of various contrasting colors.
I would sell them as mix colors /varieties, beside individually.

Yes, shelf life is a consideration for market growers. Lots of dark varieties seem to have shorter shelf life. I would also avoid the varieties that crack real easily due to thin skin.JMO

Gardeneer