Which Tomatoes Grow Best in Colder Zones

Who doesn’t love a fresh slice of tomato in a sandwich or burger? Or, a delicious Greek salad filled with cherry tomatoes?

One of my favorite tomatoes is the very large Beefsteak tomato. I’ve been growing them for years, but I’ve come to the realization that our summers simply aren’t long enough to grow them outdoors. I’ve only had a few ripen on the vine over the years and they tend to be small. However, if you have a green house to harbor them and start them earlier―which I will try next year―then I believe that may work well.

For the most part, beginners do most of their gardening outdoors and that’s totally fine! The trick is to choose smaller varieties that will have the time to mature. I recommend trying disease resistant, high yielding plants, such as Tidy Treats. We planted these this year and they’re incredible! They produced plenty of cherry sized tomatoes over the course of the summer and the plants are very compact, therefore an excellent choice for smaller garden beds or boxes.

We have also tried the Celebrity and Lemon Boy, both are larger sized tomatoes and have grown very well, however not all of them had enough time to ripen before the first frost.