Is Growing 35 different tomatoes this year too many?

I really appreciate all of the suggestions I received in the comments on my previous post about what new heirloom tomatoes to try. I really did take them into consideration and choose a number of them to try this year. It has been a really hard decision. Matron's comment said it best with her statement "There are just too many varieties to choose from!!"

Every year while it's cold outside, I like to plan the upcoming garden out on paper and choose what varieties to grow - almost like you would choose what players to have on your team. I want to assemble a championship team like those competing this weekend in The NFL conference championship playoffs. In the NFL they have a 53 man roster, so I should have 53 tomato varieties right? If only I had room for that many. I have narrowed down this year's tomato team to 35 varieties, so let me announce my starting lineup:

A football team consists of different player position groups; lineman, running backs, receivers, defensive backs etc. My tomato team is also arranged in different groups.

All of these are heirloom varieties except for six. The hybrids are designated with an (H) after their name.

First up are the early tomatoes. This is a big passion of mine so this group is heavily represented. They are:

Returning from last year,

Siletz

Sub Arctic Plenty

Orange Blossom

4th of July(H)

Early Girl(H)

This year's rookie is "New Mountain Princess" from Baker Creek, chosen because it can be ripe in 45 days.

The next group is your normal "Red" tomato category which is what has managed to stick around even with the wonderful other colors and flavors added. Also returning from last year:

Celebrity(H)

Burpee Super Beefsteak(H)

Park's Whopper(H)

Delicious

And the rookie in this category is "Climbing Triple Crop" from Pinetree Seeds because it can grow up to 15 feet tall. Cool!

The next position group is the Pink tomatoes:

Brandywine (my all time favorite)

Pink Flamingo

Caspian Pink - recommended by Connie on my last post

Mortgage Lifter - recommended by Kelli Simone

Omar Lebanese - new this year because it is supposed to produce mammoth 3 to 4 pound tomatoes!

The Orange tomatoes this year will be:

Kentucky Beefsteak

Pineapple - recommended by Connie

Persimmon - recommended by Throwback at Trapper Creek

Garden Peach - recommended by Jen and Janet

and Orange Fleshed Purple Smudge, which looks really cool.

Black/Purple Tomatoes will be represented by:

Black Krim - the veteran in my garden

Black Brandywine - invited because I love pink Brandywine

Prudens Purple - recommended by Happy Girl

Japanese Black Trifele - recommended by Patrick and Melinda Are they really pear shaped?

Starting for the Yellow Tomatoes:

Yellow Brandywine - mentioned by Harmony

Dixie Golden Giant

Lemon Boy(H) - for my Father-in-Law

The Green (even when ripe) Tomatoes this year will be two returning favorites:

Aunt Ruby's German Green

Green Zebra

Small but powerful - The Cherry Tomatoes:

Sweet Million(H) - Red

Sun Sugar - Orange

Aunt Ruby's German Cherry - Green

Black Cherry - Black mentioned by Melinda

Finally, last and least - this year's White Tomato:

White Tomesol - the punter on my tomato team.

Wow, I'm exhausted now! There you have it - 35 tomato varieties. The re-cap:

28 Heirlooms

7 Hybrids

6 Early Tomatoes

5 Red Tomatoes

5 Pink Tomatoes

5 Orange Tomatoes

4 Black/Purple Tomatoes

3 Yellow Tomatoes

2 Green Tomatoes

And a White tomato in a Green Garden!

I am also trying 11 kinds that I have never seen and listened to nine of you from my last post's comments. Thank you to everyone who made suggestions.

So, is 35 too many? Too few? How many different varieties are you going to try? Are you growing more than just red tomatoes? Heirlooms or Hybrids?

I can never get enough tomato talk!

Looking for new "strange but good" heirloom tomatoes

If you have visited my blog in the past, you probably know that I am addicted to tomatoes. I'm sure my wife wishes that I could stop with that statement because she too loves tomatoes. Unfortunately for her, I also have an unusual fascination for wierd tomatoes - the stranger the better, as long as they still have great flavor.

Eating plain red tomatoes is a bit boring to me. I would rather my BLT look something like this:

or this:

The first picture featured Aunt Ruby's German Green tomatoes and they are fantastic! The second picture was a new heirloom variety that I tried last year called Kentucky Beefsteak. Since I live in Kentucky, I am particularly proud of it. It boasts tasty large orange fruits.

Of course my all time favorite unusual colored tomato is Black Krim. It isn't exactly black in color, but look at them in comparison to the red Roma tomatoes:

Another new unusual heirloom tomato from last year was Green Zebra:

It has great flavor and the markings make it very interesting to look at. I do wish it produced larger fruits though. Here it is plated with red Brandywine (the king of flavor) and Black Krim:

Not every wild and wacky variety that I try turns out to be great. This is why I think my wife gets aggravated with my obsession. For every variety that "makes the team" there are two or three that don't get invited back. Last season's disappointments included the White Tomatoes. How cool is a white tomato? Unfortunately when you take all the pigment out of a tomato, some of the tomato flavor goes with it. They do look cool though:

The above picture is Great White and the below picture is White Tomesol:

Actually, to be fair, the flavor is still good but pretty different. I may still grow some this year, even if for no other reason than the novelty of it.

So this year I am perusing the seed catalogs and seed company website in search of more "strange but good" heirloom tomatoes. My keeper list from years past include Brandywine, Black Krim, Orange Blossom, Ky Beefsteak, Aunt Ruby's German Green, Kellogg's Breakfast and possibly White Tomelsol. A clear winner in the Pink Tomato varieties have yet to surface.

So help me out - am I missing out on a truly great heirloom tomato variety? What is your favorite? Least Favorite? What should I be looking for for my new rookie sensation this year? I'm a bit worried. I have successfully found worthy varieties to join the rooster each year, but I'm not sure about this year.

I'd like to hear your thoughts. Doesn't this make you crave a garden fresh BLT?