By Dr. Mercola
Tomatoes are the most popular garden vegetable (technically tomatoes are a fruit, but they’re used more like a vegetable) in the U.S., with 95 percent of home gardeners planting them in their backyards.
About 4 of 5 people say that out of all homegrown foods, tomatoes are their favorite.1 Indeed, the flavor and texture of a supermarket tomato can’t compare to that of a homegrown variety.
Not to mention, tomatoes are exceptionally healthy, especially when they’re grown organically at home, and incredibly easy to grow.
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It’s possible to successfully grow tomatoes even if you don’t have a green thumb — in containers, raised beds or virtually anywhere there’s soil — but simple tips can turn otherwise ordinary tomatoes into extraordinary tomatoes.
Step No. 1: Choose the Best Tomato Variety
Supermarket tomatoes are designed with travel readiness and pest resistance in mind. At home, you can choose tomato varieties based on their reputation for flavor and intended use as well as hardiness in your growing region.
Heirloom Tomato Seeds …
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Source matters, so choose seed companies wisely. Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds is one such option, which has a number of the best varieties and guarantees their seeds to have no chemical coatings.2
Mother Earth News conducted an online survey of more than 2,000 mostly organic gardeners to reveal the best tomato varieties by region and for North America overall.3
For North America, the best slicer tomatoes included Brandywine, Early Girl, Better Boy and Beefsteak. Top cherry tomatoes included Super Sweet 100, Sungold, Black Cherry and Sweet Million.
In the category of “really big tomatoes,” the winners were Beefsteak, Brandywine…