Our Favorite Tomatoes

We grow a rotating selection of heirloom and open-pollinated tomatoes chosen for flavor and for how they perform in our desert climate. These are varieties we've grown ourselves, enjoyed, and decided were worth growing again.

Growing tomatoes in the desert is a little different from growing them in most climates. Our long season means we can grow tomatoes through winter and spring, while some varieties really come into their own as temperatures warm and can continue producing into early summer. Over time, we've learned which varieties we prefer at different points in the season, and we've included those observations below.

Not every variety listed here will be available every year. What we offer depends on what we choose to grow and, as every gardener knows, what successfully makes it from seed to plant!

Choosing a Tomato

Determinate vs. Indeterminate

Determinate tomatoes have a more limited growth habit and generally produce their crop over a more concentrated period. That doesn't necessarily mean they produce all at once. Some of the determinate varieties we grow continue flowering, setting fruit and ripening tomatoes over a surprisingly long period.

Indeterminate tomatoes continue growing and producing as long as conditions allow. They generally become larger plants and benefit from substantial support.

Tomato Types

Cherry: Cherry tomatoes are especially well suited to our desert growing season. They are typically among the first tomatoes to begin producing in the fall and some of the last to keep producing as we move into summer. Their smaller fruit develops and ripens more quickly than larger tomatoes, giving them an advantage during the relatively short windows of ideal tomato weather between temperature extremes. If you want tomatoes over the longest possible season, cherries are hard to beat.

Slicer & Beefsteak: Larger tomatoes grown primarily for fresh eating, sandwiches and salads. Beefsteaks are among the more challenging tomatoes to grow in our desert climate. Although these varieties are known for producing very large fruit, here you're more likely to harvest beautiful medium to large tomatoes rather than the enormous fruit pictured in seed catalogs. Large tomatoes take longer to develop and are more affected by our temperature swings, particularly as the weather begins to heat up. They can produce gorgeous, delicious tomatoes through our cooler winter and spring months, but they require a little more patience and aren't the easiest tomatoes to grow here.

Paste & Plum: Meatier tomatoes with less juice, making them particularly good for sauces, roasting, cooking and preserving. Don't let the name limit you, though. A good paste tomato can be delicious fresh too.

Our Varieties

The varieties below make up our tomato palette. Availability changes from season to season, so you may not see every variety at the nursery at the same time. Each description includes the basic characteristics of the variety along with From Our Garden notes when we've learned something particularly useful from growing it here in the desert.

Grow a Mix

One of the best ways to enjoy tomatoes throughout our long desert growing season is to plant a mix of types. Cherry tomatoes can start producing early and carry you through much of the season, while slicers and beefsteaks shine during the cooler months. Other varieties really come into their own as temperatures begin to warm and can keep producing into early summer. Choosing several varieties with different strengths gives you the best chance of having fresh tomatoes from fall through spring and into summer.

Our Tomato Varieties:
Marglobe

Determinate | Heirloom | Red Slicer

Fruit: Round, deep-red, medium to large tomatoes
Flavor: Classic, balanced sweet-tart tomato flavor
Best For: Fresh eating, sandwiches, salads, sauces and canning

A meaty, juicy, all-purpose tomato that works just as well sliced fresh as it does in the kitchen.

From Our Garden: Our favorite larger tomato for growing in the desert. It's also Mark's absolute favorite tomato.

Cherokee Purple

Indeterminate | Heirloom | Purple Slicer

Fruit: Large, dusky purple-red tomatoes with deep rose-colored flesh
Flavor: Rich and complex, mostly sweet with smoky and slightly tangy notes
Best For: Fresh eating, slicing, sandwiches and salads

A beautiful heirloom known as much for its distinctive flavor as its unusual dark coloring.

Kellogg's Breakfast

Indeterminate | Heirloom | Orange Beefsteak

Fruit: Large, vibrant golden-orange tomatoes with meaty flesh and relatively thin skin
Flavor: Rich and sweet with enough acidity for balance
Best For: Fresh eating, slicing, sandwiches and salads

A substantial beefsteak with especially meaty flesh for a large slicing tomato.


Red Cherry

Indeterminate | Heirloom | Red Cherry

Fruit: Small, round, bright-red cherry tomatoes produced in clusters
Flavor: Sweet with classic tomato flavor
Best For: Snacking, salads, roasting and cooking

A vigorous, productive cherry tomato that provides fruit over a long season.


Indigo Blue Berries

Indeterminate | Open-Pollinated | Purple Cherry

Fruit: Small cherry tomatoes with deep purple-blue coloring where exposed to sunlight, ripening to deep red-purple
Flavor: Sweet and fruity when fully ripe
Best For: Fresh eating, salads and roasting

One of the most unusual tomatoes we grow. Sunlight encourages the characteristic dark indigo coloring of the fruit.

From Our Garden: Ours were slow to get going when planted in spring, but really took off once the heat arrived. The flavor also became noticeably better as temperatures warmed.


Black Cherry

Indeterminate | Heirloom | Dark Cherry

Fruit: Small, round, deep red-purple to mahogany tomatoes
Flavor: Rich, sweet and complex
Best For: Fresh eating, salads, roasting and cooking

A prolific cherry tomato with some of the rich flavor associated with larger dark tomatoes.


Tiny Tim

Determinate | Heirloom | Dwarf Cherry

Fruit: Small, round, bright-red cherry tomatoes
Flavor: Sweet-tart, classic cherry tomato flavor
Best For: Containers, small spaces, fresh eating, roasting and cooking

A compact dwarf tomato that produces an impressive amount of fruit without requiring the space of a full-size tomato vine.

From Our Garden: Don't let the little plant fool you. Ours produced an incredible amount of tomatoes and continued producing over a surprisingly long period despite being determinate. We especially liked the tomatoes roasted and cooked.


Rio Grande

Determinate | Heirloom | Red Plum

Fruit: Bright-red, plum-shaped tomatoes with thick, meaty walls
Flavor: Sweet, classic tomato flavor
Best For: Sauces, paste, salsa, canning and cooking

A productive plum tomato with plenty of flesh and less juice than a typical slicing tomato. Particularly useful in the kitchen but also good eaten fresh.


Yellow Brandywine

Indeterminate | Heirloom | Yellow Beefsteak

Fruit: Large, golden-yellow beefsteak tomatoes with juicy, meaty flesh
Flavor: Rich, sweet and tangy
Best For: Fresh eating, slicing, sandwiches and salads

Known elsewhere for producing enormous fruit, although our desert growing conditions generally result in more moderately sized tomatoes.


Amish Paste

Indeterminate | Open-Pollinated | Red Paste

Fruit: Large, meaty red tomatoes that can vary from elongated plum to more rounded shapes
Flavor: Rich, classic tomato flavor with relatively mild acidity
Best For: Sauces, paste, salsa, canning and fresh eating

Larger than many traditional paste tomatoes, with dense flesh that makes it particularly useful for cooking while still being flavorful enough to slice and eat fresh.


San Marzano

Indeterminate | Heirloom | Red Paste

Fruit: Slender, bright-red plum tomatoes with thick, meaty flesh, few seeds and relatively little juice
Flavor: Rich tomato flavor that becomes especially good when cooked
Best For: Sauces, paste, roasting, cooking and canning

A classic Italian-style paste tomato prized for its dense flesh and usefulness in the kitchen.

From Our Garden: One of our favorites for the desert because it continues producing into the heat better than many of our other tomatoes.


Yellow Pear

Indeterminate | Heirloom | Yellow Cherry

Fruit: Small, bright-yellow, pear-shaped tomatoes produced in abundant clusters
Flavor: Mild and sweet during cooler weather, becoming richer, sweeter and juicier as temperatures warm
Best For: Fresh eating, snacking, salads, roasting and cooking

An extremely prolific heirloom cherry tomato with a long production season.

From Our Garden: This tomato really shines in the heat. It produces an incredible amount of fruit and keeps going well into summer, after most of our other tomatoes are finished. It's perfectly good during the cooler months, but once the heat arrives, the flavor and texture transform. The ripe tomatoes become sweet and juicy and almost pop in your mouth.