Many tomatoes tasted - best of the bunch so far....

[nctomatoman]

What a challenging tomato season - disease, bugs, extreme heat are causing some typically wonderful varieties to struggle.

Anyway - here is the best of what I've tasted thus far:

Katinka - a slightly different spin on the gold cherry tomato theme, not as fruity as Sungold but quite good and very productive. flavor 8/10
Anna Banana Russian - very nice bright yellow heart shaped variety, selected by a Washington gardener from Anna Russian. flavor 8/10
Sungold - nothing more to say....we just love it! flavor 9.8/10
Sleazy A - Bruce hit the jackpot with this great New Big Dwarf X Carbon hybrid! flavor 8/10
Sneezy - This is Patrina's big hybrid success - Golden Dwarf Champion X Green Giant, for those who like them tart - flavor 8/10
Earl's Faux - perhaps the best large tomato I've had this year...and yes, I think it may be Brandywine! flavor 9/10
Mexico Midget - we love these as well....too bad they are such a pain to pick! flavor 7.5/10
Kimberly - just a great early tomato. Flavor 7/10
Lime Green Salad - so easy to grow, so productive..flavor 7/10
Black Cherry - our second favorite cherry, very full flavor - flavor 8.5/10
Dora - we've only had one that wasn't scarred due to bugs or disease, but delicious, and great interior color..flavor 8/10
Liz Birt - another of our favorites this year, very few seeds, flavor 8/10
Sweet Gold - a nice hybrid, more yellow than Sungold, larger, meatier, a machine, cracks less. flavor 8/10
Farmers Market pink potato leaf - got this from a fruit at the Market in 1999, labeled German Johnson, grew out PL, delicious, different interior than Brandywine, can grow huge - flavor 8/10
Lucky Cross - grew pink, not bicolored, for me - probably similar to its parent, Brandywine - utterly delicious, but I wish I got the bicolor....flavor 8.5/10
Tiger Tom - I really love the tart, snappy flavor, early on - flavor 7.5/10
Red Brandywine - really doing well in a poor location, just a nice tomato - flavor 7/10
Cherokee Purple - typically fine - flavor 8.5/10
Noire Charbonneuse - very large, Cherokee Purple color, more oblate - delicious - flavor 8/10
Brandywine - my neighbor is growing one of my seedlings, doing just fine - flavor 8.5/10
JD Special C Tex - a great Cherokee Purple colored tomato, more firm, more oblate - flavor 8/10

Varieties that are average tasting this year - Black Altai, Granny Cantrell (disease and bug issues), Doc, Grumpy, Witty, Bashful, Sleepy, Happy, Dopey, Silvery Fir Tree, New Big Dwarf, Marmande, Red Robin, Sophie's Choice, Saucy Green, Taxi, Volunteer Cherry 1 (red) and 2 (gold), Sungold Select II red, Farmers Market pink reg leaf 1, Farmer Market pink reg leaf 3, Gary O'Sena, Green Giant reg leaf yellow, Yugoslavian PL round pink, Large Barred Boar, Speckled Peach, Mutant Stick Grub's Mystery Green reg leaf yellow, GMG PL green, German Johnson, Noire de Coeusboeuf, Eva Purple Ball, Turkey Chomp pink, Cuostralee, Aker's WV, Dr. Wyche Yellow, Kellogg's Breakfast, Andrew Rahart Jumbo Red, Neves Azorean Red, various Brandywine F3s (different colors)

Total Failure - no fruit to taste due to early death - Citron, Indeterminate Green Grape, Giant Green Zebra, Brad's Black heart (did save some seed from a small fruit that shelf ripened, did not taste), Berkley Tie Dye, Beauty King, Lucky Cross F1 (saved seed from damaged fruit, did not taste), Yoder's German yellow, Azoychka, Striped Cavern, Paul Robeson, Earl of Edgecomb, Yellow Brandywine, Lillian's Yellow, Wins All, Humph, Anna Russian, Lucky Cross, Magnus, Tennessee Britches, Carbon, Speckled Roman, German Queen, OTV Brandywine

Yet to taste - green fruit on the vine: Cherokee chocolate, Eva Purple Ball, Cherokee Green (2 plants, 2 sources), Lemon Boy, Gradpa Ludolph's Red, Mountaineer Mystery (huge pink, nearly ripe), Little Lucky, Green Giant, Dinner Plate A, Dinner Plate B, Fuzzy Cherokee

[dcarch]

Thanks for the information.

I will refine my list for next year.

dcarch

[MawkHawk]

Craig, some of the Lucky Cross that I grew from seed from you started out pink but turned bi-color after sitting on my counter for a few days. But taste was the best of the year for me. Thanks again for the seeds.

[Grub]

Wow! There is an inordinate number of average-tasting tomatoes on your list that are among the best-tasting on mine.

Sounds like you were really challenged Craig. And I'm not sure what to make of it.

The continuiing El Nino drought conditions Down Under will once again be great for concentrating flavours. Rain is a fading memory here.

In fact, soon I'll have to water with Budweiser, which is pretty close to water anyway :wink:

Glad there were some good ones. I think a Sungold X might be a must-do for you.

[Little_Rhody]

Hi Craig,

I especially look forward to your garden reports because we have some favorites in common. Too bad you didn't get to taste so many after all that work. I was curious to see what you thought of Feraltomatoes' striped bi-colors. Up here in RI the toms are just getting ripe, last weekend and this weekend. My RL green giant is not yellow, looks like red/pink so far. Lots of sungold, black cherry, juane flamme and amish gold, which are awesome. Black from tula and german red strawberry are great too. Hope to have more results next week. I have a few interesting ones I can't wait to taste.

[Mantis]

Hmmm, we must have a few taste buds in common Craig but a good few different. But that is how it should be eh.
You are right about the rain being a fading memory Grub. Looks like restrictions are going to mean household use only down here very soon. So a small tank is going in beside the side of the house to catch the laundry water. Also another rain water tank, we can only hope eh.

[nctomatoman]

With respect to differing tastes - my view is that it is more that tomatoes I've loved in the past are not doing all that well this season.

Black Altai, New Big Dwarf, GMG PL green, Eva Purple Ball, Cuostralee, Aker's WV, Dr. Wyche Yellow, Kellogg's Breakfast, Andrew Rahart Jumbo Red, Neves Azorean Red all tasted slightly to much better in years past....they will all get future chances in the garden, that's for sure! In my 14 years of gardening here, this has been perhaps the most challenging!

[honu]

Craig, Thanks, I love posts that compare and numerically rate different varieties side by side. And very helpful to see which varieties turned out delicious and healthy despite disease, bugs, and heat -- which are ever-present in my garden.
I absolutely love Sungold, and anxiously waiting to taste Black Cherry, but disappointed that it's been so stingy w/ fruit for some reason.

[Earl]

Craig, we had our first taste of Green Giant today. I'm sorry, but it kicked butt of your Green Giant that won Best Tasting at CHOPTAG last year. :-)

It was a bit over ripe [split on the bottom], so we tasted the shoulders. Man, it knocked our socks off!!! Thanks for putting this one out there for us to try.

[travis]

Best tasting tomato from the garden so far this year is ...

Cherokee Green 8)

... by far.

PV

[nctomatoman]

Hey Earl - I am not surprised - the fruits I sent Lee off to CHOPTAG with were the end of the crop, and the plant was wheezing along. My plant is not in a great spot, set fruit quite late and high up, and I don't expect to taste it till I return from vacation.

What a tomato, hey!

[Earl]

What a tomato, hey!
_________________
Craig
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You've got that right! But look out, Grub's is pretty darn exceptional too. :-) Going to be an interesting CHOPTAG Fest!

[Grub]

Earl,
Will you be offering both at Choptag? If so, it will be fascinating to see what everyone thinks. I like them both too. Will be watching from afar with great interest.
Thanks for your efforts.

[Earl]

Grub, yes, both. Must have 10-15 Grub's but will only take about 5. I'll be taking about 30 types. Man, I know I picked over a hundred lbs. of tomatoes today, and still left fruit on some plants.

[Grub]

Sounds like a stellar season.
Congratualtions Earl.