[sam51]

hi all, I want to grow potatoes and tomatoes on my plot next year.
im hoping to put up a green house,

1st potatoes, want to start asap with new potatoes, what sort are the best.
2nd tomatoes, want to grow them nice big beef steak tomatoes,
what sort are best, had a good lot of those cherry tomatoes this year, but not to keen on them.
too small for my liking.
thanks sam.

[solway cropper]

What's best is entirely down to personal preference. The great thing about growing your own is that you can try out all the hundreds of different varieties and find those you really like.

I like Lady Christl as a tasty new potato but that's just me.

[DD.]

There's a good few on here that will vote for Lady Christl!

[mumofstig]

There's a good few on here that will vote for Lady Christl!

I'm one 

[sunshineband]

There's a good few on here that will vote for Lady Christl!

I'm one 

Snap! 

[sam51]

I've had over 100 views and only 4 replies.
I thought this was a forum to help people,
especially new veg growers like me.
pretty poor really,
come on peeps you can do better.

[Yorkie]

I beg your pardon?

If you want people to help, then insulting them is no way to go about it!

If you took the trouble to look at the forum index board, you would see that there are tomato and potato polls on there which you could research.
http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?board=51.0

Or also use the forum search facility.

[JayG]

Gosh Sam - do you have a 24 hour time limit to receive "X" number of replies?

Everyone on here (including the mods) give of their time willingly and for free to help other members out whenever they can - try Yorkie's suggestions, and a bit more patience (it's a relatively quiet time of year.)

[gavinjconway]

I've had over 100 views and only 4 replies.
I thought this was a forum to help people,
especially new veg growers like me.
pretty poor really,
come on peeps you can do better.

Wow.... Not a great start with remarks like that Sam51....

You may want to say a few words and add your locallity etc in the introduce yourself section so people can see where and who you are and what your ambitions are with regard to gardening and veg growing etc. This may get you some points towards a new fresh start..

[m1ckz]

after that i wouldnt waste my time in replying.... just my thoughts

[Yorkie]

I think it's time to get back on topic rather than just continue to have a go at Sam.

So, back to the original questions:

1st potatoes, want to start asap with new potatoes, what sort are the best.
2nd tomatoes, want to grow them nice big beef steak tomatoes,what sort are best, had a good lot of those cherry tomatoes this year, but not to keen on them.
too small for my liking.
thanks sam.

New potatoes - the first and second earlies are best for new potatoes.  The FEs are ready soonest after planting, the SEs take a little longer to be ready for digging up.

Lady Christl is indeed a much-favoured FE, as is Arran Pilot.
Charlotte is a very popular SE, pretty resistant to slugs and other diseases.

I'm not familiar with beefsteak tomatoes but perhaps others are?

[BabbyAnn]

As already commented, putting your location in might be a great help, especially with regards to tomatoes  - beef steak toms can take longer to ripen than the smaller cherry type ones, so if you have a shorter season than most, you may struggle.

This year my greenhouse plans were changed at the last minute when I decided to go mad on chillies, so a lot of tomatoes were planted outdoors and I have to say the beef steak ones came out a lot better than previous greenhouse attempts.  I grew Mortgage Lifter, Marmande, Cherokee Purple, Black Russian and Brandywine and they were all fine - I wasn't too struck on the Cherokee Purple but more from a cultivation and appearance point than eating qualities.  I also grew Burpees Delicious in the greenhouse ... a bit of a mistake as they turned into humongous plants before starting to flower (and there was no extra feed to encourage leafy growth - just the genes determining plant size), they struggled to set fruit at first, greenhouse temperatures soared in the heatwave but eventually some decent sized fruits which were quite nice but I wouldn't go out of my way to grow them again. 

[diospyros]

I found a website that lets you put in what you are looking for e.g. shape, colour, floury or waxy, disease resistance, how you like to cook them etc... to select your ideal variety.  It's an impossible question "what is the best variety" it's like saying what's the best car or the best pair of running shoes, it all depends on personal preference.

How did we ever decide anything before we had internet forums eh, we looked in books and seed catalogues. Now we just post a question on a board and expect other people to make our minds up for us.

[DD.]

How did we ever decide anything before we had internet forums eh,

That ability disappeared along the with ability to plan your planting on the back of an old envelope. It seems you need fancy software and spreadsheets these days. But that's an old chestnut!

[sam51]

thanks to those with the nice advice,
no comment on the others,
everyone has to start somewhere.
I thought my first post was pretty straight forward.
as potatoes and tomatoes are one of the most popular veg,
I thought I would have had loads of good advice.
maybe this forum isn't so popular.
I have managed to buy
john harrisons book the complete veg gardener,
which I found via this forum.
toodle pip sam.