North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Spidra Webster <spidra@speakeasy.net>]

On Apr 1, 2008, at 9:31 PM, Ginda Fisher wrote:

> I know a man who usually plants a large garden, but who is very ill,
> and will not be able to do that this year.  I would like to get him a
> patio tomato plant or two.  Does anyone have advice re:
>
> Good tasting patio tomatoes?
> Good sources for them?
> Tips on planting, etc., to keep it as low-effort as possible?

I'd say an EarthBox is probably your best bet for something easy.   
They've got quite a few fans even though I haven't had as great  
results as some folks have.  However, what's really great about them  
is that they water from the bottom.  So you pour water into the hole  
and it goes into a reservoir in the bottom. That means your friend  
won't have to water quite as often.  They use plastic covers which  
also cut down on any need for weeding.

As far as varieties, I like Sungold best.  It's not a "patio" size  
tomato, it's a cherry tomato.  However, it tastes fantastic.  It has  
a great balance between sweet and acid.  It's indeterminate but I  
didn't bother staking mine at all and there was no problem.  It gave  
and gave and gave.

Megan Lynch

Berkeley, CA
Zone 9b