Tomatoes are used in so many different recipes. The first step in deciding what to make is choosing which type of tomatoes you want to use. After a year of growing various types of tomatoes, I have learned that certain ones work better for different recipes. I have also learned that when it comes to canning my tomatoes certain varieties work better for different purposes. For example, Super Sauce (Roma) tomatoes work better for dicing and canning. They hold their shape and taste great. They also work well in soups since they dice well.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Let’s take a look at the different types of tomatoes. There are three main types of tomato plants, and what you should plant depends on your space, climate, and the type of tomatoes you want to harvest (such as cherry, slicers, paste, etc.). Here’s a quick rundown:
🌱 1. Determinate (Bush) Tomatoes
- Growth Habit: Grows to a certain size (3–4 ft), then stops.
- Fruit Production: All at once over a few weeks — good for canning!
- Care: Easier to manage; no pruning required.
- Ideal For: Containers, small gardens, and short growing seasons.
Popular Varieties:
- ‘Roma’ (great for sauce)
- ‘Bush Early Girl’
- ‘Celebrity’
🌿 2. Indeterminate (Vining) Tomatoes
- Growth Habit: Continues to grow and produce fruit until the first frost.
- Fruit Production: Harvest is staggered, making it perfect for fresh eating all summer.
- Care: Requires support (cages or stakes), and benefits from pruning.
- Ideal For: Best suited for larger spaces and gardeners looking for a long harvest period.
Popular Varieties:
- ‘Brandywine’ (heirloom, rich flavor)
- ‘Sungold’ (sweet cherry tomato)
- ‘Beefsteak’ (large slicer)
- ‘Cherokee Purple’
🍅 3. Semi-Determinate
- Growth Habit: Falls between determinate and indeterminate varieties, growing taller than determinate but less sprawling than indeterminate.
- Fruit Production: Harvest is slightly staggered but not continuous.
- Care: Requires light support; and some pruning is optional.
Popular Varieties:
- ‘Mountain Merit’
- ‘Glacier’
What Should You Plant? (Based on Goals)
| Goal | Suggested Types & Varieties |
|---|---|
| Lots of sauce/paste | Determinate – ‘Roma’, ‘San Marzano’ |
| Fresh salad snacking | Indeterminate – ‘Sungold’, ‘Sweet 100’ |
| Big juicy slicers | Indeterminate – ‘Beefsteak’, ‘Brandywine’ |
| Fast harvest, small space | Determinate – ‘Early Girl’, ‘Patio Princess’ |
| Mixed harvest with less maintenance | Semi-determinate – ‘Glacier’, ‘Mountain Magic’ |
Canning Tomatoes
If you’re interested in canning tomatoes, especially for sauces, pastes, salsas, or crushed tomatoes, you’ll want varieties that are:
✅ Meaty with low moisture
✅ Few seeds
✅ Rich in flavor
✅ High in yield and ripen at once (for batch processing)
🥫 Best Tomato Varieties for Canning
🍅 Roma (Plum) Tomatoes – Top choice
- Type: Determinate
- Why: Thick flesh, very few seeds, not watery
- Popular Varieties:
- ‘Roma VF’
- ‘San Marzano’ (an Italian heirloom, prized for sauce)
- ‘Amish Paste’ – meatier and slightly sweeter than Roma
🍅 Opalka
- Type: Indeterminate
- Why: Long, pepper-shaped fruits with rich flavor and very little juice
- Note: Keeps producing, so good if you want to can small batches over time
🍅 Viva Italia
- Type: Semi-determinate hybrid
- Why: Disease-resistant, high yield, good flavor, very dense flesh
🍅 Heinz 1439
- Type: Determinate
- Why: Bred for the Heinz company for ketchup and paste; very consistent fruits
🍅 Big Mama
- Type: Indeterminate
- Why: Giant paste tomatoes (up to 5 inches), great for thick sauces
💡 Pro Tips for Canning Tomatoes:
- Paste types are best for thick sauces.
- Use citric acid or lemon juice to ensure safe acidity when water-bath canning.
- Blend in a few slicers or cherries if you want a sweeter sauce.
Did you know there were so many tomatoes out there? I surely did not and will continue to explore all there is to offer! As I was canning last year, we were given tomatoes that were yellow/orange in color. They were so pretty to watch the box of tomatoes turn from green to red or yellow/orange. The box reminded me of the fall; it was beautiful.
For another day I will be looking for recipes that I can put on my shelves to enjoy. I will be sure to share them with you as well! We always can spaghetti sauce and salsa with our produce. Time will tell what else we will try. The possibilities are endless!
Faith in God & Tomatoes
🌱 Sowing & Patience
Just like growing tomatoes, faith begins with planting a seed — sometimes small, sometimes fragile — but full of potential. When did your faith in God start? Were you a young child being guided by your parents? Were you older possibly even an adult before your faith started? Maybe you even came back to your faith after a time away. Is it fragile at this point in your life or has it grown into something more?
“Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” – Hebrews 11:1
When you plant a tomato seed, you can’t see the fruit yet — you water, wait, trust the process. Faith is the same. It asks us to believe and act, even when we don’t see the outcome right away. Part of having faith is knowing that you may not always see it but still believing.
🔅 Growth Needs Ligh
Tomatoes crave sunlight — without it, they grow spindly and weak.
So does faith.
We need the light of God’s Word, His presence, and time in prayer to grow strong and fruitful. We need to take time to enjoy the sunlight that God is providing for us. He gives us the tools to help us grow strong in our faith we need to take the time to soak up the sunlight that God provides us.
“Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” – Psalm 119:105
✂️ Pruning for Purpose
Tomato plants often need pruning to thrive. We trim suckers and dead branches not to harm them — but to help them direct their energy into bearing fruit.
God sometimes prunes our lives too — removing distractions, relationships, or habits — not to punish us, but to help us grow into something better.
“He cuts off every branch… that bears no fruit… so that it will be even more fruitful.” – John 15:2
🍅 Fruit That Lasts
Tomatoes ripen in time — they don’t rush. But when they’re ready, they’re nourishing, vibrant, and full of life.
God calls us to be fruitful, too — to show love, joy, peace, and kindness in a way that feeds others around us.
“I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit — fruit that will last.” – John 15:16
🥫 Preserving the Harvest
When we can tomatoes, we’re preserving what’s good so it lasts through the hard seasons.
Faith is a little like that too — we store up what we’ve learned in the light to carry us through the dark.
“I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” – Psalm 119:11