Non-finicky varieties?

[Cranraspberry]

@Tormato I didn’t know that Sun Gold trick, thank you! We’re unfortunately working with some very tight spaces, but I will keep that in mind. Tons of rain and very high water table where we are, so splitting is an issue not only with SG. I elevated our plot with tons of wood chips and built 12” raised beds so that has helped with drainage quite a bit, but the donation plot has beds that have sunk down so much it’s pretty much like growing in ground.

[Seven Bends]

@Seven Bends I don’t know if fusarium was holding it back, but I am curious to see if it would perform any differently in a non-fusarium plot. Given your experience I suspect it’s something about our region. But then again if you’ve ever seen Millennial Gardener on youtube - he’s in one of the Carolinas where it’s a lot more hot/humid/rainy than here and Big Beef is one of his top performers! So it’s a mystery.

Good point. My three failures all were from the same pack of seeds, and I've had some other issues with that vendor's seeds. Maybe it's not even Big Beef in that envelope. I'm tempted to buy a Big Beef plant from the local pop-up stand this spring and give it one last try. If you do grow it, please report back on your results. And good luck with your project; hope you get lots of great produce for the food bank!

[Cranraspberry]

Okay so given that I’m trying to avoid ordering more seeds and optimizing grow light space here’s what I have so far, I’d love to hear your thoughts:

Peppers
1. Early Sunsation F1 yellow bell - 70d
2. King of the North Improved red bell (have some doubts about this one - was a freebie from TGS, but most of my other pepper seeds are non-bells, so it’s either this or two Early Sunsations) - 60d

Eggplant
1. Matrosik (thank you Marsha!)

Tomatoes
Cherry 1: Cherry Roma - 80d
Cherry 2: buy a SS100 or similar start at nursery - 70d
Heirloom 1: Beauty King (not sure about this one but I think the yellow/red is going to be more attractive than black which is what most of my other heirloom seeds are. Other option is Russian 117 - too bad I don’t have OR117 seeds! I also have Hawaiian Pineapple seeds but sounds like both BK and HP aren’t super productive) - 80d
Slicer 1: Big Beef or Estiva if I can get those - 75d
Slicer 2: Momotaro - 70d
Slicer 3: Celebrity as a “safety” tomato (haven’t grown determinates, Jet Star is an indeterminate option) - 70d
Slicer 4: buy a Supersonic start at nursery - 75d

[Yak54]

I'm betting Momotaro does the best ! Also an option for Sungold that doesn't split is Sunorange.https://tomatogrowers.com/collections/t ... rid-tomato

[Cranraspberry]

@Yak54 Momotaro was such a standout last season. We all got very sick and then left for a long vacation last August, so my garden was neglected for over a month which of course coincided with a rare drought. When we returned in mid-September this was Momotaro:

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And this is SOTW and Brandy Boy:

71630582477__6E45E455-A160-4E18-AAFB-31F73045E943.jpeg

I didn’t take pictures of the other survivors, but none of them looked nearly as good as Momotaro. He was still blooming when I took him out after first frost in November!

[habitat-gardener]

A couple more ideas. In my dry-summer climate, in different years, these two were standouts for reliably cranking out round reds week after week:

Rose de Berne. Did well in part sun and full sun.

Bush Early Girl F1. Once it started, did not stop producing until frost. Determinate.

[Yak54]

@Yak54 Momotaro was such a standout last season. We all got very sick and then left for a long vacation last August, so my garden was neglected for over a month which of course coincided with a rare drought. When we returned in mid-September this was Momotaro:
71630580069__C02B64FE-B785-418F-9023-A009420A806E.jpeg71630578331__15A1223F-B9F9-4997-8189-6E41492A7078.jpeg

And this is SOTW and Brandy Boy:
71630582477__6E45E455-A160-4E18-AAFB-31F73045E943.jpeg

I didn’t take pictures of the other survivors, but none of them looked nearly as good as Momotaro. He was still blooming when I took him out after first frost in November!

I've grown Momotaro for 9 or 10 years and thought it was the best hybrid variety out there. One year it produced over one hundred tomatoes on a single plant. And the taste and flavor is better than any other hybrid I've ever grown. And I've grown more than a few.

[Cranraspberry]

That’s two votes for Early Girl!
I actually have Rose de Berne seeds but haven’t grown it yet. Maybe I could do that one instead of Celebrity/Jet Star.

[Cranraspberry]

@Yak54 interestingly my Momotaro seedling was the saddest of the bunch - almost didn’t plant it out. But then it just took off.
This year in my own plot I’m trying out Mountain Rouge which has some Momotaro in its lineage in the hopes of finding a fusarium-resistant Bradywine alternative. Brandy Boy started showing signs of fusarium in July, so I need something more resistant.

[GVGardens]

Sorry @Cranraspberry looks like I'm late to the party. I help grow for a local pantry. Like @karstopography said, you definitely want what we’d consider “boring.” The most red, generic looking tomatoes possible. The others just rot. One of our clients told me: purple looks like poison and yellow looks like it's not ripe. Basically, pretend like you’re growing for your grandma or a cantankerous neighbor and everyone will be happy!

If it’s in a space that you won’t be tending to as regularly as your own (even if it's a different plot in a community garden), think about getting more compact tomato varieties so you don’t have to worry about pruning/training/containing and so they’re easier to cover with bird or shade netting. I don’t bother with bird netting at home but it’s different when you’re trying to grow as much food as possible for a pantry. This is where hybrid determinates are your friends.

TOMATOES THAT HAVE WORKED WELL
-Slicers: Carmello (OP, 75d, indet), Momotaro, Super Sioux (OP, 70d, indet), Bella Rosa (70d, det, f1), Better Bush (68d, compact indet, f1), Dixie Red (70d, det, f1), Amelia (75d, det, f1). Trying Neptune (OP, 70d, det) for the first time this year. We used to do Early Girl but it has been plagued by disease and unproductive the last 2 years. **I wouldn't do Beauty King or a non-red heirloom. Stick with dependable and boring. Russian 117 if you already have the seeds but otherwise Bella Rosa or Dixie Red or Super Sioux. And I'd personally do Carmello instead of Celebrity based on past experience.
-Cherries: Juliet, Super Sweet 100, Sakura. Trying Mountain Magic for the first time this year. **I'd do Juliet or Sakura instead of Cherry Roma bc they do better here but maybe it's different where you are.

PEPPERS
Of the peppers we grew, folks liked Jimmy Nardello, Gypsy, and Lunchbox the best. No one took hot peppers.
-Peppers were unpopular. We won’t be growing any this year. With bell peppers, we didn't get enough production each week to make it really worth it in a group setting. But maybe you'll have better luck. Worth trying once! **Trust your instincts and do Early Sunsation instead of King of the North.
-Ask the director about their demographics. My friend’s community garden grows a TON of serrano, chilaca, and thai chiles because their neighborhood has large immigrant communities that request them.
-Don’t grow mild peppers that look hot. For example, I love Corbaci but they looked “spicy” and off putting to folks, even though they’re a sweet pepper.
-If no one takes the peppers, they freeze well without blanching. We did this and then made a big batch of Hoppin John for an end of season volunteer party.

FLOWERS
If you have room to interplant with zinnias, do that. We’re actually doing more cut flowers instead of peppers this year. Zinnias were a huge, runaway hit. We just stuck them in solo cups so they fit in people’s cupholders. Same with basil, which was popular because it's so expensive at the store.

[Cranraspberry]

@GVGardens this is fantastic, thanks for all the advice!

I will switch to something else for the heirloom. I wonder if I should just do Brandy Boy or SOTW, or maybe a larger slicer like Bodacious to keep things consistent.
I was actually wondering if this would be a good use case for determinates, but I don’t have any experience with them and the only seeds I have are a somewhat random selection that I got as part of a shipping error (Celebrity, Bobcat, Legend).
I hear you on the cherry Roma - the 80 DTM was also concerning me. Do you think a larger cherry/cocktail would work? I believe I have a 42 Days freebie pack somewhere and Red Racer.

I have Jimmy Nardello seeds but was worried people would think they were spicy.

Regarding what’s popular the gardener who has been managing the relationship says they mostly request Southern vegetables - collards, okra etc which she will be tending to.

And yes, last year I definitely ran out of steam even with my own plot, so trying to factor in August burn out as well.

[Cranraspberry]

The flowers are a very interesting idea. I’m not sure we have the space this year but I will bring it up with the other gardener!

[GVGardens]

@Cranraspberry
-I think Brandy Boy or SOTW would be fine. Bodacious has had disease issues for us and it's not even offered at our local plant sales this year, which tells me a lot of folks had trouble with it locally but maybe you'll have better luck. Carmello would still be on the top of my list.
-Yes to determinates! It'll make your life easier. Try Bobcat? Or if you're buying seeds my top pics would be Bella Rosa, Dixie Red, or Neptune.
-A larger cherry would probably work, especially if you're also doing Super Sweet 100.
-Jimmy Nardello surprised me because I thought it looked spicy. But it was the year we offered 0 hot peppers so maybe people got over their fears? But it's hard to say because we generally had a lot of leftover peppers of all kinds.
-Sounds like what's popular at yours is also popular at ours. Heads up: no one took eggplant. The older folks don't know what it is and the younger folks think it's too fussy to cook. One older gentleman threw it back over the fence at us!
-If/when people get sick of stuff, switch to saving seeds. Our pantry plot has produced a ton of seeds for our local seed library!
-To fight burn out, I do determinates. Because by the time they're done producing, it's hot and disease-y and I don't feel bad pulling them.

I think of the food pantry plot as an experiment because it's stuff I normally wouldn't plant for myself. But if a plant survives with less attention than my tomatoes and is popular with lots of people, I grow it for me the following year as my "insurance tomato." So have fun with it!

[GVGardens]

Also, Dixie Red, Amelia, and Mountain Magic are resistant to all 3 races of Fusarium.

[Cranraspberry]

@GVGardens wow this is all amazing info. Really trying to avoid buying more seeds, but the more I think about it the more I like the determinate idea. I’ve been curious about Mountain Gem for a while and wanted to plant it next season, but maybe I trial it this year. Fortunately the donation plot is fusarium-free (not sure how that’s possible), last year I planted my leftover non-resistant tomatoes there and they held up all season.

It’s funny about eggplant - we love it in our household, but even my friends never wanted any because they have no idea what to do with it! Fortunately the organization that runs the pantry picks up the veggies once a week and handles distribution. I’d rather not know just how much of it goes to waste! Or have eggplants thrown at me ha.

[Seven Bends]

Also, Dixie Red, Amelia, and Mountain Magic are resistant to all 3 races of Fusarium.

Mountain Merit is another one to consider. Also resistant to all 3 races of Fusarium, and a small/medium slicer rather than a salad tomato. Uniform, round, pretty, red tomato with good flavor. I grew it one year and it stood up to foliage diseases comparatively well.

[Cranraspberry]

@Seven Bends reading about it now. I spoke with a farmer at our farmers market last year and he really praised the Mountain series, apparently they do very well in this region.

[Seven Bends]

@GVGardens this is fantastic, thanks for all the advice!

I will switch to something else for the heirloom. I wonder if I should just do Brandy Boy or SOTW, or maybe a larger slicer like Bodacious to keep things consistent.
I was actually wondering if this would be a good use case for determinates, but I don’t have any experience with them and the only seeds I have are a somewhat random selection that I got as part of a shipping error (Celebrity, Bobcat, Legend).

I agree with @GVGardens that Bodacious isn't the best choice. It's a nice tomato with good flavor, but it has been more susceptible to early blight and septoria in my garden than Better Boy and Whopper. I've grown it the past two years to give it a good try; might not plant it this year despite still having seeds. Neighbor gardener went all in with it two years ago, about a dozen plants, wasn't happy and hasn't grown it again, so that's two negative reviews from your immediate climate area.

Bodacious has no specified disease resistance, other than catalog-speak of "laugh-off blight resistance," without specifying what kind of blight. Presumably not resistant to fusarium, since they don't claim it. Better Boy and Whopper both have several claimed disease resistances, including Fusarium 1 for Better Boy and Fusarium 1 and 2 for Whopper.

Celebrity is a dependable, decent tomato, and resistant to F1&2. It's my brother's main cropper, though he's further north. If you already have seeds, why not just go with that? I'd probably grow at least one indeterminate as well, though.

BHN-589 is another semi-determinate, more compact tomato with high resistance to F1&2. Supposed to have good flavor also. I have seeds but haven't grown it yet. Johnny's lists it as a hoophouse tomato but it also is grown outside. I can send you a few seeds of it plus some seeds of some of the other hybrids including probably Supersonic; pm me if you'd like them.

I grew Brandy Boy in 2023 for the first time and I don't think I'd choose it for a food pantry. Too many oddly-shaped tomatoes, too much size variation, not the most appealing color, too much splitting. And sometimes it tasted kind of weird and had a mushy texture, probably weather-dependent. Plus, it's a really big, unruly plant. SOTW is a great tomato, but production entirely shuts down for me in mid-summer due to heat. You'll get more productivity out of something else, I think.

[Tormato]

JImmy Nardello is a very productive pepper. I just wonder what people will do with it when they bring it home. Cutting it open, will they be disappointed that it's extremely thin, great for frying but not much else? I'd think that most would want a thick-walled pepper.

[TomatoNut95]

I can't stand thin walled peppers. California Wonder is my #1 pick for bell pepper.