[derdsgirl]

Originally Posted by MamaMansa

We’re planning a vegetable garden for the first time in years. I gave up for a while because I kept either accidentally killing things or bunnies and squirrels would get at them. We moved last year, and I left my raised beds behind, but we have lots of garden space here. So far I’m planning tomatoes, peppers, and green beans...maybe zucchini. However, I’ve never successfully grown tomatoes. I live in the Midwest and would love tomato variety suggestions or just suggestions in general for tomato plants.

I'd start with an indeterminate cherry tomato. That is where I started a few years ago (along with a couple other kinds, but the cherry is what was successful). Indeterminates grow like weeds, and cherry tomato plants put off SO many blossoms that even if a few don't take, some will.

I'd explain all the other nuances to growing tomatoes, but the following YouTube video is where I learned most of it, and she explains it far better than I could.

This is Jess from Roots and Refuge Farm. She is my favorite gardening/homesteading YouTuber. A Christian woman with a gentle and humble spirit. She *loves* tomatoes and grows about 100-200 tomato plants per year, with dozens of varieties. This is her "how to grow tomatoes" video.