Growing tomatoes in Florida (without drenching them in pesticides) is actually harder than most non-Floridians think. 
So, I am especially happy to have produced  these beauties organically using earth boxes.

Pictured:
Kumato, Campari, Japanese Black, Black from Tula (Russian), Italian Tree Tomato, Rumana Rustica, Cuore di Bue and a family heirloom from Calabria.

Very nice Frank. I am a tomato sandwich kinda guy. LOL

A good sauce tomaote is zapotec pleated, it's like a cuer de bouef but different flavour a bit for me, fairly hollow but makes a nice sauce much like a good roma.  How have the whiteflies been this year?

They look great, congratulations!  Why are they hard to grow there?

Those look beautiful, Frank. Black from Tula is one of my favorites! Mine are still a few weeks away.

Those  tomatoes are beautiful! What makes them so difficult to grow - is it those pin worms? My daughter in law has stopped growing them because of the pin worms. 

Really nice looking tomatoes Frank. Way to go.

Those look really good.  I've grown Cherokee Purple the last 2 years and I really enjoy eating them.

The vast number of soil pathogens, air borne diseases and constant high temperatures with high humidity are not conducive to growing tomatoes. There are short growing windows in the spring to early summer and in the late fall that if threaded will lead to success. A lot of us have eliminated the soil problems by growing tomatoes in containers.

Is that Japanese Black Trifle?  If so, how do you like it? Every winter when looking through seed catalogs, I contemplate giving it a try.

I can see a big plate of caprese in your future, or at least it would be in mine if I had a plate of those! They look great.

Frank,

Do you get production through the summer with these varieties?  It would be great to find a good tasting tomatoe that produces through our extremely hot summers.  I was so psyched to get someplace warmer only to find out it gets to hot for most veggies including tomatoes.  Bummer! : (

Nice looking tomatoes! I haven't tried growing any of the Heirloom varieties yet but have grown many Celebrities, Roma and several cherry varieties. I did try a variety called Pineapple this season. It grew great but only produced 2 fruits and they were very good. In my corner of the world its hard to beat the production and taste of a good Celebrity. The main problem we run into in my yard are the horn worms and worst of all the stink bugs. Just when they start to turn color the stink bugs attack and scare up the meat so bad its hard to eat them.

Ah... now we are talking the same language!  I have several new varieties going on and am specifically in love with a weirdo named Riesce. I got one seed, but have been taking the little suckers and grafting them into other cherry like tomatoes... so now I have a few plants.  I also have an amazing ground cherry (tomatillo like) aside from many blacks I got from this forum member, (Paul Robenson, black cherry, cherokee and brandwine) those are all new to me. My plants look fantastic with many blossoms. We finally got the hot weather and they are loving.

I am curious as to your tree tomato. What does that look like? post a picture.  My mother had a tomato tree, it was as large as the mulberry and very prolific... but that was in Brazil. I wish I could get that seed again. 

your fruits look marvelous. Maybe we can trade seeds?  I will have pictures soon.

This year I grew 55 different cultivars. All heirloom varieties. Found a lot of keepers. I need about 1000 pounds of tomatoes to put up for the year. I make salsa, tomato sauce, tomato soup, pizza sauce, canned whole tomatoes and stewed tomatoes. Also countless mater sandwiches and BLT's!

Orange Minsk-


Dester-


Cherokee Green-


Gary O' Sena-


Fish Lake Oxheart-


Berkeley Tie-Dye-


Casey's Pure Yellow-


BTD, Solar Flare & Big Zebra-


Dora, on the scale-


Black and Brown Boar-


Russian Queen-

All I can say is WOW!!!!

What Smaritza said!  

I grow Purple Cherokee, Mr. Stripey, Sungold, San Marzano, and volunteers.  Last fall I had a pot of thyme I brought in to try to winter over.  A tomato seed must have dropped in there because by around Valentine's I had a 2 1/2 high plant with 3 tomatoes.  Being WI they ripened in a so. window and had a tomato taste but not the intensity or sweetness of a sun grown tomato.  I planted the original plant and a cutting off of it and I am impatiently waiting for a ripe tomato.  They are between a cherry and a patio in size. 

I have grown Stupice in the past and they are very prolific and an early bearer for zone 4 folks.  The taste is not as rich to me as other tomatoes but they make up for it in acceptable taste and great production.  Had to have 6 ft. cages though because they went sky high.  I really like the Old German big yellow/orange tomato too!

Eatmoreyeah, what kind of wood did you use for the raised bed?  And FMD and Eatmoreyeah, what are your favorite tomatoes for fresh and for sauce?

Good looking tomatoes, Frank.

Thanks for sharing.

I was given a bunch of seeds by another friend and I misplaced them. They were some unique variants.

The japanese black truffle is alright but if you get hybrid version of it, the tomatoes taste the same but the vigour and disease resistance is much better, more consistent size and less blossom end rot.  As the vines get older and the heat comes on the tomatoes end up getting smaller too, not a bad variety though.

Gorgeous tomatoes in here. I cut way back on tomatoes this year to fit in some new crops. I'm only growing Black Cherry, Black Krim, and Indigo Rose. I also have some kind of unknown volunteer.

Very good looking tomatoes.

I grow Rutgers here every year. They say that's an heirloom. There is even a program going on at Rutgers to recreate it from the original crosses .

Frank…. That is one nice dish of heirlooms, thank you for sharing. 

As my profile photo suggests, you and I share a common interest in heirlooms.   As do several other forum members it appears!   I grow about 30 plus varieties every year, some repeat proven winners for me and some new and on trial.   Aside from enjoying the fruits of my labor and sharing abundance with neighbors, I end the summer with a freezer full for winter dishes.

Charles…. You win the prize for collection of heirlooms.  Wow…300!    Thanks for sharing your growing layout photos and expert example of how to trim a tomato plant for optimum production.  Beautiful…..!

So what exactly is your approach to pruning tomatoe plants for max productions? Ive read to remove all lower leafs close to the ground and remove all suckers from the main cane. Also to remove leafs up to the fruiting branch once tomatoes are set. Is this close to what you do?

I composed this little ditty below  while making dinner last summer and feeling jubilant because it was the first day my garden produced enough tomatoes for a family sized tomato salad.  Tomato salad is a big deal all summer at my house. This dish was interesting  range of colors of heirloom varieties.  Brandywine, Mr. Stripy, Pink Ox Heart, Golden Jubilee, and one Identified only “Purple With Green Stripes”.  to name  a few of the dozen or so varieties I planted.

  
Pomodoro insalata

I Love Tomatoes ,Let Me Count The Ways

Pear shaped and Ox Hearts, oval or flat
Fresh from the vine, to eat just like that.
Slice them with basil and drizzle with oil
Sauce them with spices or grill them in foil.

Bloody Mary’s for brunch are a nice social mix

And the juice in the morning is a hangover fix.
Pomodoro insalata with fresh crusty bread
Sliced cheese on the side, and wine, white or red.

Purples and yellows, pinks, reds and stripes
Heirloom tomatoes are the very best types.
When the frost comes and the garden is past.
We fry green tomatoes and savor the last.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~