Mountain Vineyard (hybrid) cherry tomato
 

Last year I had the opportunity to try a new tomato variety before it became commercially available ([I]mostly through lots of begging [/I]:) ). Now that it's available for purchase ([url]https://www.totallytomato.com/P/00502/Mountain+Vineyard+Hybrid+Tomato[/url]) I thought I'd pass along my experiences & impressions with the tomato for anyone that's interested.

[B]Germination & seedling growth[/B]
Planted 8 seeds, and got 8 plants.
The seedlings were healthy and grew well. In fact, they did so well that I didn't have enough room for all of them and ended up giving some to a co-worker.

[B]Pots vs Garden[/B]
I received from Bejo (thank you Mr. Heath) enough seed to grow them both in pots and in the ground, and found the compact nature of the plants well suited for growing in pots. I did find my yield was somewhat better in the garden, but it wasn't enough of a difference to be conclusive with such a small sample size.

[B]Days to Maturity[/B]
The Mountain Vineyard plants were my earliest tomatoes last year, and were ripe a couple weeks before the "4th of July" tomatoes (the next earliest).

[B]Taste[/B]
[I]Taste is a very personal opinion, so take this with a bit of a grain of salt[/I] ...
I found the Mountain Vineyard tomatoes only mildly sweet in flavor; far less than most other cherry varieties. Instead they had more of a savory flavor; something like a "big tomato flavor in a small package"

[I]One last note[/I]
The Mountain Vineyards are rather hard to know when they are ripe, as they are a uniform ripening tomato, and the "normal" color rules don't apply to them. They also seem to develop most of their flavor late in the ripening process, so you really don't want to eat them too soon. Here's how I found to know when they are ripe:
1) Wait until they get the orange/red color of a ripe brandywine - They're just getting started
2) Wait until they get the red color of a roma tomato - not done yet
3) Wait until you're SURE they can't get any redder - STILL not done yet
4) Wait until you're beginning to wonder if they are a cherry tomato or an actual cherry - NOW they're ripe ... probably. Wait another couple days just to be sure
5) Enjoy :))

Fortunately they last a very long time on the counter so don't be in a rush to eat them. Let them ripen, and then ripen some more.

Looks very interesting. Thanks for the heads up!

Thanks for your review. I'm adding it to my cherry tom list for next year and have
it in my saved list to order. I had a great cherry tomato season so I'm focusing on a full
range of earlies through later ones for a long season.

For years I just grew a few for snacking but now up to a couple dozen...

:) - I am also finding myself adding more varieties of cherry tomatoes as time goes on, and not always deliberately. They seem to LOVE to pop up the following year as volunteers.

Glad you found the review interesting, and if/when you grow them please do let them ripen extra long ([I]I would harvest at the orange/red color and then bring them inside to finish[/I]). The flavor is MUCH more intense when they are ripened all the way

(I received from Bejo (thank you Mr. Heath) enough seed to grow them both in pots and in the ground, and found the compact nature of the plants well suited for growing in pots.)

I know Bejo Seeds,based in the Netherlands and there were and I think still are,many tomato breeders who subcontracted out to them to do seed production for them.

Bejo also has/had a place in WNY State where they produced seed as well.

Aha, I found it,here's the link about Bejo and seed production and Dr. Randy Gardner and my post about it. I think maybe post #14? I forgot.:?:

[url]http://www.tomatoville.com/showthread.php?t=42743&highlight=bejo+seeds+randy+gardner[/url]

Carolyn