Maine Garden Ideas
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Four Best Tomatoes for Short Season Gardens

Picture
'Early Girl" by Stacy Spensley/Flickr
Growing tomatoes in short-season gardens can be a challenge at times, but that shouldn't stop you. Maybe you can't grow the biggest and juiciest beefsteak tomatoes in your garden, but you can grow flavorful tomatoes that will ripen on the vine. I know. I've been growing tomatoes in my home garden in Maine for over 25 years. My garden is right on the border of USDA Plant Hardiness Zones 4b and 5a and can go either way depending on the year.  I've seen summers with as little as 60 days of frost-free weather, but most years stretch to 90 days or more.

I've tried a number of different tomatoes, but always come back to my favorites as they thrive in cool Maine summers and often ripen on the vine in late August.

Better Boy 
'Better Boy' is available from Burpee Seed and is often available as seedlings in local greenhouses. This indeterminate tomato grows to a height of 36 to 40 inches and matures in 72 days from the time of transplanting. Fruit is bright red and well formed. These tomatoes are ideal for slicing for sandwiches or eaten right from the vine as their flavor is sweet and tasty.

Early Girl 
'Early Girls' produce smaller tomatoes than 'Better Boy', but make up for their size in flavor and abundance. These globe-shaped, red tomatoes can be eaten right from the vine, used in salads or sliced for sandwiches. They also can well. Maturing in as few as 54 days, Early Girls are my tomato of choice, as they nearly always begin to ripen well before the frost.

Celebrity 
'Celebrity' tomatoes are often sold for short season gardens and are preferred by many gardeners in my area. These determinate plants grow to a height of 12 to 18 inches and mature in approximately 70 days. Labeled as a heavy yielder, this tomato should produce well in short season gardens. My experience has been less that positive. Flavor was good, but size and abundance were less than expected.

New Yorker 
New Yorker is recommended for northern gardens as it reportedly sets out well in cool weather. These determinate plants produce 7 oz fruit, mature in 63 to 66 days and are prized for canning, as they contain low acid and produce sweet, meaty fruit. Again, my experience with 'New Yorkers' has been disappointing, as they do not produce as well as 'Early Girl' or 'Better Boy' in my garden. For container grown tomatoes, 'New Yorker' may be a good choice

'Early Girl' is by far my first choice of tomatoes for my northern garden, but 'Better Boy' is a close second. I typically grow some of each. Other gardeners in my area report good luck with both 'Celebrity' and 'New Yorker' as they ripen early and do not require a lot of space.

Copyright © 2014 Nannette Richford



  • Home
  • Garden Thyme Blog
  • Themes
    • Butterfly Gardens
    • Moon Gardens
    • Sensory Gardens
    • All About Fairies
  • Flowers
    • Annual Flowers >
      • Alyssum
      • Cosmos
      • Geraniums
      • Marigolds
      • Morning Glories
      • Nasturtiums
      • Petunias >
        • Reviving Petunias
      • Snapdragons
      • Sunflowers
      • Sweet Peas
      • Zinnias
    • Perennial Flowers >
      • Golden Glow (Rudbeckia laciniata ‘Hortensia’)
      • Lupines
      • Purple Coneflower (Echinacea Purpurea)
    • Maine Wildflowers
  • Veggies
    • Warm Season Vegetables >
      • Beans >
        • Growing Beans
        • Growing Pole Beans
        • How to Make a Teepee Trellis
      • About Corn >
        • Growing Corn
        • What is Baby Corn, anyway?
        • Can you grow corn in containers?
      • Cucumbers >
        • Grow a cucumber in a bottle
        • Growing Pickling Cucumbers
        • Growing cucamelons (Mexican Gherkin)
        • Why do cucumbers blossom but fail to set fruit?
        • Trellising Cucumbers
        • Making Cucumber Relish
        • Powdery Mildew on Cucumbers
      • Melons
      • Peppers >
        • Growing Peppers
      • Squash >
        • Growing Zucchini
        • Spaghetti Squash
      • Tomatoes >
        • How to Harden Off Tomato Plants
        • How (and when) to Prune Tomatoes
        • Magnesium Sulfate (Epsom Salt) for Tomatoes
        • Blossom End Rot in Tomatoes
        • Growing Cherry Tomatoes in Hanging Baskets
        • 4 Best Tomatoes for Short Seasons - Early Tomatoes
        • 5 Early Maturing Tomatoes for Short Season Gardening
        • How to Ripen Green Tomatoes
        • How to Make Sun-Dried Tomatoes at Home
        • Grow Your Own Amazing Pomato Plant - Tomatoes on the Top and Potatoes on the Bottom
    • Cool Season Vegetables >
      • Cole Crops
      • Greens >
        • How to Grow Spinach
        • How to Grow Malabar Spinach
        • How to Grow Swiss Chard
        • Harvesting and Cooking Beet Greens
        • How to Grow Microgreens
      • Onions & Garlic >
        • How to Grow Garlic
        • How to Grow Onions
      • Peas >
        • Growing Garden (shelling) Peas
        • Growing Sugar Snap Peas
      • Potatoes >
        • How to Grow Potatoes in Containers
        • How to Grow Potatoes in Hay Bales
      • Root Crops >
        • Growing Beets
        • How to Grow Carrots
  • Herbs
    • Growing Basil
    • Growing Chives
    • Growing Lavender
    • Herbal Tea Garden
    • How to Grow a Culinary Herb Garden
    • How to Grow Herbs in Sponges
    • Colonial Herb Garden - Classroom Project
    • Herbed Butter
    • Making Herbed Oils
  • Gardening Basics
    • Seed Starting Basics
    • Grafting Basics
    • Soil >
      • Starting a New Garden
      • How to Prepare Soil
      • How to Test Soil Drainage
      • What Type of Soil Do You Have
      • Soil Mix Recipe for Containers
      • How to Make Compost Tea
      • How to Use Mulch
      • Control Blister Beetles
  • Birds
    • Hummingbirds >
      • DIY Hummingbird Feeders from Recycled Bottles
      • Annuals for Hummingbird Gardens
      • Perennials for Hummingbird Gardens
    • About Birdseed
    • Choosing a Birdfeeder
  • Fiddleheads and Fairies
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • How to Marinate Roasted Vegetables