Johnny's Artisan Tomatoes

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by Fred Hempel

We finally have a Green Zebra-type cherry good enough to make our farm's box.

2014 Baia Nicchia Farm cherry tomato flat.

https://www.facebook.com/BaiaNicchia...type=1&theater

Fred, I see it and I wonder how it compares with the already known Green Zebra Cherry, a variety I got from Reinhard Kraft in Germany several years ago and have been offering in my recent seed offers here.

I think Tania must have most of the history now so I'll link to her page for it,

http://t.tatianastomatobase.com:88/w...b=General_Info

Quite a few places have been offering it the past few years, and also for 2014.

I like it a lot and really would like to know how it compares to the Green Zebra Cherry that I already know.

Carolyn

[Fred Hempel]

Hi Carolyn,

I have grown "Reinhard's" GZ Cherry, and while it can be excellent, in our field there is a tiny window in which excellence appears. It always seems to go from hard to over-ripe in what a matter of minutes.

Of course, your mileage may vary...

This "new" Green Zebra has very nice flavor, and in our field, a nice long window in which the good flavor persists.

The plant is actually a dwarf we bred, which we put on the shelf in 2009 when we moved away from breeding dwarfs. However, I have renewed interest in dwarfs this year, and the seed packet said great flavor, and I seem to not have been mistaken when I wrote it.

[Fred Hempel]

For anyone interested in the Artisan Cherry tomatoes (past, present and future). They will be prominently featured in our August workshop.

Most of our 1 acre tomato test plot is filled with Artisan Cherry projects and most of the workshop will be spent looking at, and tasting the various lines that we have.

[pinetown]

Hi Fred,

I took your tomato breeding workshop in March.

I bough the Artisan tomato package from Johnny's and this is the first year I've grown your tomatoes.

I live at 3200' in Central California. I grow in raised beds that have Fusarium Wilt and this has been an unusually hot summer. I would not have expected this to be a good tomato year, but your tomatoes are doing well.

Last night we did a mini tomato tasting with 7 varieties from my garden. There were four of us and the tomatoes were score one to five (five being the best).

Here are the scores, Solar Flair 14, Lenor 10, Sunrise Bumble Bee 16, Indigo Rose (it wasn't ripe) 8, Blush 18, Pink Berkeley Tie Dye 13 and Green Tiger 16.

Your tomatoes were a big hit and I'll sure be growing them next year.

Thanks!
Janice
in the Sierra

[Fred Hempel]

Hi Janice,

Thanks again for coming down this spring. I am sorry I didn't have ripe tomatoes then. I think I have the right connections now, though, for ripe tomatoes next March.

I am glad the tomatoes are doing well for you this year. It is interesting that you are having a hot year, because here it has been pretty moderate.

It looks like you grew some pretty tough competition... and it is nice that my son's tomato (Blush) did well. I always get nervous about taste tests, in a way that is not unlike when I watch my daughter play competitive volleyball.

Thanks also for not mentioning that Pink Tiger scored "3"...

Fred

[Fred Hempel]

Yes. We're entered in the American Made competition that Martha Stewart holds. Hopefully a vegetable grower wins, and the category we are in is not dominated by syrups, baked goods and jellies.

Not that there's anything wrong with sugar and overly refined carbohydrates...

And I'm a speaker at the National Heirloom Exposition where I will say crazy things like "heirlooms don't exist" and "all existing tomato varieties are doomed". All for effect, of course. Because the underlying principle that allows me to make these statements is the principle of continual genetic change, which is really a good thing.

[pinetown]

Hi Fred,

Here are more tomato tasting results. This tasting is put on by local Master Gardeners in Sutter Creek. We have been holding it for tweny-one years. There were probably 50 or so entries. I only had two ripe Blush on the day of the tasting, so I think it would have done better. Sungold is always a favorite at our tasting.

Janice
in the Sierra

Red tomato:
1st place: Japanese Black, from Steve Honeychurch of Plymouth
2nd place: Brandywine, from David Brubaker, Sutter Creek
3rd place: Early Girl, from David Brubaker, Sutter Creek broke the tie with Ace and Big Beef
Other high scorers were Beef Master, Arkansas Traveler, and Black Krim.

Non-Red Tomato
1st place: Green Tiger, from Janice Johnson of Pioneer
2nd place: Lucky Tiger, from Janice Johnson of Pioneer
3rd place: Carbon, from Deb Lyons of Pine Grove
Other scores of note were: Blush, Japanese Black Trifle, and Pineapple.

Cherry Tomato 1st place: Sungold, David Brubaker of Sutter Creek 2nd place: Sungold, from Deb Lyons of Pine Grove 3rd place: Sungold, from Jim Carr of Volcano broke the tie against 3 other Sungolds.
Scorers of note included Sweet Million, Isis Candy, and Matt’s Wild. Thanks again to our judges: Steve Muni, George Erdosh, and Chef Darius Somaly from the Hotel Sutter.

[Fred Hempel]

Thanks Janice. It's interesting that Lucky Tiger and Green Tiger weren't included in the "cherry" tomato category.

[pinetown]

I couldn't attend the tomato tasting, so I sent my tomatoes with a friend. My Tiger tomatoes are at least twice as big as most cherries. I let them decide which category and was glad they didn't put them in with the Sungolds. Sungolds are always first, second and third winners in the cherry category at our tasting. I think that the Tigers would give them a run for their money though. In my garden the Tigers have out performed all my other tomatoes. I haven't decided about the size, it's a little big to just pop in my mouth, and if I bite it I squirt seeds everywhere. They are my new favorite tomato, don't ask me which one, I like them all.

Janice
in the Sierra

[Cole_Robbie]

Today at farmer's market, I saw a guy in a Johnny's hat and shirt. I asked him if he worked for Johnny's, and he said yes. I told him my table had been full of Artisan tomatoes earlier in the morning, but I had sold them all. Then he whipped out a Johnny's hat and gave it to me. It's a nice hat.

[Fred Hempel]

Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie

Today at farmer's market, I saw a guy in a Johnny's hat and shirt. I asked him if he worked for Johnny's, and he said yes. I told him my table had been full of Artisan tomatoes earlier in the morning, but I had sold them all. Then he whipped out a Johnny's hat and gave it to me. It's a nice hat.

I have a Johnny's hat too. But it is too small for my big head.

[Fred Hempel]

Artisan Cherry tomatoes at Suttons in Europe

[BigVanVader]

I will be growing the Artisan collection this year as well, Robbie have you had any trouble selling the green ones?

[Cole_Robbie]

I give one to anyone who views them with skepticism. The two green ones are my favorite to eat, and I tell customers that. Cherry-sized tomatoes lend themselves to sampling quite easily. I ended up with the same customers coming back to buy them all summer, so the free sample was only necessary once. Some people would also buy them on the recommendation of the other customers at the table.

[Fred Hempel]

The green ones are a challenge. While I am one who also thinks the flavor is perhaps the best (when ripe, and not over-ripe) they can cause issues for farms trying to sell them.

I suggest that they are typically best NOT included in mixed baskets, because they are often viewed as not ripe, and when people finally eat them (if ever) they are over-ripe, and not good.

That's why I typically include them packed alone. Like Cole Robbie has said, customers who do try them often become devoted to them, and want straight packs anyway.

I would suggest that a grower might be best served by producing smaller amounts of Lucky Tiger the first year, with the understanding that it takes a little extra effort upfront to get the ball rolling. Then, in subsequent years, once customers are on-board, increases in the amount of Lucky Tiger grown (relative to other cherry tomatoes) can be increased with increases in demand.