Love the idea of growing tomatoes, but not sure where to start? Grab a pot and some cherry tomato seedlings. They're amazingly easy to grow, and even one plant will bear a steady crop of bite-size fruits all season.
There are a few varieties you can choose from when planting cherry tomatoes. A popular variety of cherry tomatoes is Sweet Million, which bear long clusters of sweet yet tomatoey red fruit; SunSugar, which produces super sweet, richly flavored golden fruit; and an heirloom called Black Cherry, whose tomatoes have a complex, rich, sweet flavor.
All three are what are called "indeterminate" varieties, meaning they will continue to grow taller and produce more until the plants are killed by frost, which—if they really like where they are means the plants may grow to six, eight, or even 10 feet tall. If you don't want to deal with that much plant, you can ask if your local organic garden center has any dwarf or patio varieties of cherry tomatoes for sale.
Red or yellow pear tomatoes are fun because of their shape, though their skins tend to be a little thicker than your average cherry tomato. You can also often find grape tomato plants, which bear very sweet oblong fruits similar to those sold in supermarkets.
