Customers rarely understand the costs involved. Sun Chocola is ok so far, but it's been a very wet year, and it's difficult to make very many judgments yet about flavor. I have really liked Sun Peach; it's a definite grow-again.

[QUOTE=Cole_Robbie;313293]I'm picking out seed to order for an outdoor summer market garden. I was hoping to be able to grow hybrids that have at least decent flavor. I was also wanting to have several colors of tomato to make an eye-catching display at market.

Here are my picks so far. I would love to hear any feedback on them:

Brandymaster - Red, Pink, and maybe yellow. I'm a big fan of Brandywine.

Lemon Boy

"Heirloom Orange F1" - I think it's new: [url]http://www.geneticseed.com/comm_viewproduct.aspx?ID=3657[/url]

Tomande - [url]http://www.geneticseed.com/comm_viewproduct.aspx?ID=3506[/url]

I'll probably have Big Beef as another red, and I'll have Cherokee Purple, too. No one buys the black and purple tomatoes, but they at least attract attention and start conversations when people say "ewww! Those tomatoes over there don't look right." :)[/QUOTE]
Have you ever sliced the black ones and offer tastes? I think the black and purple ones look so amazingly rich when sliced and make the prettiest salsa. Not to mention taste. I can't imagine people turning them down after tasting.
Golden Sunburst is hugely productive for me,along with Carbon Copy. I'm not a big fan of Golden Sunburst but CC is my very favorite cherry,by far.

The difficulty of samples is being able to comply with all the health code regulations. It's not impossible, but I would need another person to help me. That's what I like about cherries and small tomatoes. If I give an intact tomato to a customer and they eat it, that does not trigger the health code rules.

I haven't tried Carbon Copy. I grow a lot of cherry varieties; I should try that one next year.

I have had the same issues as Cole when it comes to samples. I don't pay as much attention to my tomatoes as I should so most of my larger varieties aren't all that nice looking. At the few places where I can still give cut samples, even the ugly tomatoes sell after people taste them. But I can't cut at my best market. So I mostly just take a large selection of cherries there. Yes the flavor sells them too.

The last 2 Saturday markets we've "hawked" our heads off selling "radish pods" by offering samples. We have to talk a lot, but tasting and giving ideas on how to use them sells a lot of pods. over 3 - 5 gal buckets yesterday.

Carol

[QUOTE=Cole_Robbie;484807]The difficulty of samples is being able to comply with all the health code regulations. It's not impossible, but I would need another person to help me. That's what I like about cherries and small tomatoes. If I give an intact tomato to a customer and they eat it, that does not trigger the health code rules.

I haven't tried Carbon Copy. I grow a lot of cherry varieties; I should try that one next year.[/QUOTE]

My only problem with CC does split with heavy rains but when it's hot and dry the flavor is incredible.
I had a fully ripe Matt's Wild Cherry today. Had forgotten how amazing they taste. I think it's only been in the ground about 45 days.

I am trying Matt's Wild for the first time. I grew it mostly for seed, because I think the plants will sell well. I'm never going to grow it to sell, though. Even though they taste good, it takes a thousand of the little things to fill up a box.

[QUOTE=Tracydr;484912]My only problem with CC does split with heavy rains but when it's hot and dry the flavor is incredible.
I had a fully ripe Matt's Wild Cherry today. Had forgotten how amazing they taste. I think it's only been in the ground about 45 days.[/QUOTE]

Tracy - I picked my first Matt's Wild today as well. I hope to have more by next weekend. Mine have been in the containers on my deck for about 40 days - not too bad, considering we had 4 inches of snow on Mother's Day, plus the Monsoon of 2015 for 3 weeks.

HWA

Wi-sunflower, I have had good success with " rat-tailed radish" pods at market. But still, I am curious what ideas for uses you suggest. I just mention salads and stir fries, but I always love new (to me) ideas!

My Mom loved them on sandwiches because she never had lettuce around plus it adds flavor.

A restaurant pickles them. Not sure what they do with them afterward tho. In drinks ??

On a relish tray with dip.

They should be batter fryable, like the french fried green beans.

Just as a nibble. I get customers that just eat them as they are walking the square, like others eat the strawberries.

In a soup like egg drop soup, right at the end so they just wilt. Or any "vegetable" soup.

Carol

Here is this morning's market table: [url]http://i.imgur.com/7yiUWRN.jpg[/url]

In case you can't read my bad hand-writing, the larger tomatoes on the left are Taxi and Gribovskiy. In the front middle is a box and a half of Spike, one of Fred Hempel's new varieties.

Carol,

I love radish pods! I always had a large patch growing wild at my So Cal home. I should find some seeds and grow them here in Oregon. I also used them as green treats for my turkeys when all the grasses dried up. They would "gobble" them up until their crops were bulging.

Robbie, your display looks gorgeous! No tomatoes at market yet here in So Oregon.

Cole I love the way you get past the organic thing it works for me.:yes:

worth

Thanks.

People see that 'pesticide-free' sign, and just start eating the tomatoes as soon as they buy them, often giving them to their kids. I feel a real obligation to keep everything as clean as I can. I was up til 2 am last night washing and polishing off all those tomatoes.

I heard a daily vendor a few spaces down this morning tell a customer about their produce, "oh, it's [I]organic[/I]; you don't have to wash it." I cringed.

Yah, I hear stuff like that too and wonder how real those people are. Just because it's "organic" doesn't mean there is nothing bad on it. Some organic approved pesticides are more dangerous than anything "chemical". Red Devil dust has a very low LDL which means even a small amount can be toxic.

Carol

Isn't hog flop organic and many times loaded with parasite eggs./puke

I shudder to think of it.

Worth

Cole, are those cherries the artisian mix?
If so or not, I had my first one the other day (I ordered totally tomatoes) and it was fabulous.

The Artisan Mix is in there. I'm a big fan of Fred Hempel's varieties. Added to it are, if I can recall them all:

Sun Gold/Peach/Lemon/Chocola/Green
Helsing ★★★★★★★★ Blues
Chang Li
Hssiao His Hung Shih
Prune Verte
Tiger-Like
White Cherry
Amethyst Cream
Brown Berry
something marked "Ambrosia" that gives me orange cherries, one small one and one big one.

Next year, Helsing ★★★★★★★★ Blues will be replaced by Dancing With Smurfs, HHHS will drop off in favor of Chang Li, and I will also drop Sun Lemon and Sun Green, as well as Tiger-Like.

Worth,

Yes it is and if it and cow stuff isn't "composted" or worked into the soil, can be quite dangerous.

Several years ago, I think in Arkansas, a supposed "organic" farmer sprayed raw hog manure on his growing cantaloup crop. I believe melons were already on the plants. That was 1 of 3 big recalls in just a couple of years. That was for Salmonella I think. I tried to find an article on it but it was too long ago (more than 5 years)

Those big ag failures were what screwed us farmers market growers as that's when many health depts changed their "sampling" rules. We could sell many more melons and heirloom tomatoes when we could give samples.

Carol

[QUOTE=Wi-sunflower;487060]Worth,

Yes it is and if it and cow stuff isn't "composted" or worked into the soil, can be quite dangerous.

Several years ago, I think in Arkansas, a supposed "organic" farmer sprayed raw hog manure on his growing cantaloup crop. I believe melons were already on the plants. That was 1 of 3 big recalls in just a couple of years. That was for Salmonella I think. I tried to find an article on it but it was too long ago (more than 5 years)

Those big ag failures were what screwed us farmers market growers as that's when many health depts changed their "sampling" rules. We could sell many more melons and heirloom tomatoes when we could give samples.

Carol[/QUOTE]

Typical knee jerk reaction.
They are making us fill out a form before we can stand on a ladder at work now.
If we go over 6 feet they make us have a meeting and we have to fill out a level 2 permit before we can work.
This takes 2 days to do it.

Just about done with the idiots.

Worth

New to market this year
 

This is my second year growing a garden. I only had around 50 plants last year. This year I went big and I am doing farmers market. This was tonight's table.

Angela, I have the SAME sign for my booth, except it is 6 ft long. I got it on a Staples special deal. The tomatoes look great. Here in Oregon, one can be certified "organic" (and that is the only way you can use that word) or you can be "Certified Naturally Grown" which is a different organization. Other than those, we are allowed by law to use the words "No Synthetics Used"...which is what our sign says.

Ya, That pi$$is me off! I can understand not being able to use there seal "Certified Organic", but to make a word (Organic) illegal to use is such crap! I wanted to use "grown using all organic practices" but I figured that would be pushing it.

[QUOTE=coronabarb;488319]Angela, I have the SAME sign for my booth, except it is 6 ft long. I got it on a Staples special deal. The tomatoes look great. Here in Oregon, one can be certified "organic" (and that is the only way you can use that word) or you can be "Certified Naturally Grown" which is a different organization. Other than those, we are allowed by law to use the words "No Synthetics Used"...which is what our sign says.[/QUOTE]
as far as I know, if you use organic practices, and sell less that 5,000 dollars a year, you can legally call it organic. Local laws may vary, but that's the federal regulations on the matter.

[URL="http://www.ams.usda.gov/AMSv1.0/getfile?dDocName=STELPRDC5099113"]Organic FAQs[/URL]

[QUOTE=Cole_Robbie;465697]Green was the color of today's market table:
[URL]http://i.imgur.com/kLSCLEi.jpg[/URL]

I brought 180 plants, and I took home 18. It was a good day. Seven of my ten flats were dwarfs.[/QUOTE]

Today was like deja vu all over again. Here was my table this morning: [url]http://i.imgur.com/k5QcMjI.jpg[/url]

[QUOTE=Cole_Robbie;552166]Today was like deja vu all over again. Here was my table this morning: [url]http://i.imgur.com/k5QcMjI.jpg[/url][/QUOTE]

Sounds like you are having avery successful season. The plants look wonderful. Congrats! :)

thanks

I need to give up on trying to sell plants of green when ripe varieties. It just isn't happening, even when I have grown the variety before and tell customers it tastes good. No one can wrap their mind around the idea of a ripe tomato being green. I can sell every other color, but not green

Yeah that is an awesome and wow long table. :) Glad to see your plants had no frosty high tunnel problems. 8-)

I always delude myself into thinking "maybe this year Martha Stewart will rave about GWR tomatoes and everything will change"

[QUOTE=Cole_Robbie;552173]thanks

I need to give up on trying to sell plants of green when ripe varieties. It just isn't happening, even when I have grown the variety before and tell customers it tastes good. No one can wrap their mind around the idea of a ripe tomato being green. I can sell every other color, but not green[/QUOTE]

I can't sell any other then red and purple/black, so your doing better than me! I gave some white/orange/green tomato plants to a church garden. Maybe I'll get more interest in them next year?

[QUOTE=Cole_Robbie;552173]thanks

I need to give up on trying to sell plants of green when ripe varieties. It just isn't happening, even when I have grown the variety before and tell customers it tastes good. No one can wrap their mind around the idea of a ripe tomato being green. I can sell every other color, but not green[/QUOTE]

Ditto, I haven't sold a single Beryl Beauty and all the other Dwarf Project varieties sold faster than anything. I don't grow the GWR's anymore either for the same reason.