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I love to grow tomatoes. I've been doing it since I was 10 years old, and it's still a thrill to watch the plants grow from a few inches to nearly 5 feet in an entire season. Fresh tomatoes taste so much better than what you can buy in the store, it'

s like eating a different fruit.

You can grow tomatoes in containers or in the ground. If you grow them in containers, try adding ½ cup of lime in the pots when planting. Adding lime helps keep calcium levels high and prevents blossom end rot.

If you grow in containers, use something other than terra cotta. Clay pots dry out very rapidly, and you would have to water up to twice a day in July when the weather is hot and the tomatoes are growing quickly.

Use a good container soil and mix in time-release fertilizer. If you grow in the garden, many of the same rules apply. I rotate my tomatoes as much as possible. My garden is not huge, so some parts overlap. I plant my tomatoes deep, up to the first set of large leaves. The roots will shoot out the side and help support the tomatoes.

If you have fungus troubles, try Serenade fungus control. I've had tremendous luck with this product. Stakes and cages work well to support tomatoes. I find that using some form of support helps with yield and disease. I also pull out the suckers of the plant. This is new growth that appears in the v (the crotch) of the tomato.

Here is a partial list of tomato varieties. There are literally hundreds of them available.

Reliable Stupice, Sungold, Early Girl, and Early Swedish or IPB are popular and dependable. First-time gardeners would do well to grow at least one of these.

Brandywine--Indet. Open-pollinated. Dusty-red, fairly tangy, large fruits. Ripens late in our climate. This is a popular heirloom.

Celebrity--Det. Hybrid. Grows well in Northwest, very flavorful. Medium-sized to large, red fruit. Large plant for a determinate.

Champion--Indet. Hybrid. Bigger than Early Girl, these medium to large red tomatoes are meaty and not too sweet. Good performer, high yields.

Dona--Indet. Hybrid. Productive French variety. Medium red, oval shape, very meaty and early. This is a good choice for canning whole and for salsa.

Early Girl--Indet. Hybrid. Very early, red salad tomato. Consistently does well in taste tests.

Early Swedish or IPB--Indet. Open-pollinated. Very early, smallish, red fruits on prolific "potato-leafed" vines.

Early Cascade--Indet. Hybrid. Early, all-purpose small, red fruit. A good producer West of the Cascades.

Fantastic--Indet. Hybrid. Great flavor, does well in taste tests. Though called a mid-season, it's a bit on the late side here.

Garden Peach--Indet. Open-pollinated. Slow to ripen, keeps well. It is a fruity-tasting tomato that is actually fuzzy. Great novelty.

Golden Nugget--Det. Hybrid. Early and productive OSU release. Small, yellow cherry tomato that resists cracking. Mid-sized, nearly seedless, meaty fruit.

Jubilee--Indet. Open-pollinated. Large, orange, solid tomatoes with good texture. On the late side in our climate.

Lemon Boy--Indet. Hybrid. Yellow good-size tomato. Mid-season around here and the best of the yellow tomatoes.

Mr. Stripey or Tigrella--Indet. Hybrid. Small red fruit, with clear yellow and orange stripes. These are so sweet and fruity tasting, they're like an entirely different fruit. Very early.

Oregon Spring--Det. Open-pollinated. Very meaty, excellent tasting, mid-to large-sized red fruits. Matures in a short season. OSU release. Takes cold well.

Siberia--Det. Open-pollinated. Small to medium red tomato with green at the stem and unimpressive yields, but great taste.

Small Fry--Det. Hybrid. One inch red cherry tomatoes in clusters of 7-8. Great for small gardens, containers. Continuous fruiting, unlike many determinants.

Stupice--Indet. Open-pollinated. Very early, great tasting tomato. A sure-fire tomato in even a cool summer.

Sun Gold--Indet. Hybrid. These cherries ripen to a lovely orange. They have an extremely sweet, irresistible flavor; a personal favorite. Excellent dried.

Sweet Million--Indet. Hybrid. An improved Sweet 100 type cherry. Equally prolific and sweet, but with less cracking.

Sweetie--Indet. Open-pollinated. Lots of sweet fruit; a large cherry on large vines.

Top Sirloin--Indet. Hybrid. This new, beefy, red tomato is not yet widely available. Late to mature, but these big, flavorful fruits may be worth the wait.

Yellow Pear--Indet. Open-pollinated. Very, very prolific, mild cherry pears; intensified flavor when dried. Old time favorite.

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