"best of" lists from group gatherings?

habitat_gardener · February 10, 2009

Here and there I've noticed some tomato descriptions include a tag line "voted best at [name of regional gathering] [year]." Has anyone compiled best-of lists from all the regional gatherings? It'd be interesting to see if there are regional trends.

In my garden, the "best" tomato is different every year because of weather, high proportion of new-to-me varieties each year, placement in garden, attractiveness to squirrels, etc.

tomatoguy · February 10, 2009

I have had a small gathering for the past three years. Usually there are 15-20 people voting. They are comprised of my family and friends who grow my plants for the most part. There were usually about a dozen varieties sampled. Here are some of the varieties that have finished in the top 3:

Mong
Green Zebra (don't ask me, I didn't vote for it)
Stump of the World
Earl's Faux
Mortgage Lifter
Berkeley Tie-Dye (best multi-color I have ever tasted)
Yellow Perfection

mater

**Lee** · February 10, 2009

Check out the Tomatopalooza forum for a synopsys of the
favorites from each event.
Also the CHOPTAG forum may list their annual best tasting winners.

Lee

**carolyn137** · February 11, 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by habitat_gardener

Here and there I've noticed some tomato descriptions include a tag line "voted best at [name of regional gathering] [year]." Has anyone compiled best-of lists from all the regional gatherings? It'd be interesting to see if there are regional trends.

In my garden, the "best" tomato is different every year because of weather, high proportion of new-to-me varieties each year, placement in garden, attractiveness to squirrels, etc.

Your last paragraph to me is the most important one.

And I don't put too much on what any tasting results are in terms of "best" varieties b'c you have to know what the competition was in order to make any sense of it and when there are a large number of varieties present for tasting not everyone tastes everything, and finally, not everyone bothers to fill out the forms to rate the various varieties.

Been there, done that, used to hold lots of tomato tastings in the past.

tomatoguy · February 11, 2009

A bit off topic but I should mention that my friend, Perry, is getting quite good at growing heirloom tomatoes. I introduced them to him, or vice versa, about 4 years ago. Being an old geezer like me he was already an experienced gardener. So, he has been growing my plants ever since and last year built raised beds. The Green Zebra and Yellow Perfection entries mentioned above are Perry's babies. Sometimes a little tomatoevangelism goes a long way.

Rik ain't doin' too bad, either.

mater

remy · February 11, 2009

Over here on the Niagara Frontier, Earl's Faux won best in 2007, and Stump of the World won best in 2008. Sweetest went to Sungold both years.
Remy

feldon30 · February 12, 2009

I'm not so quick to dismiss formal or informal winners at tomato tastings as long as some heavy hitters are present. Earl's Faux and Stump of the World are IMO, heavy hitters.

JD's Special C-Tex was especially delicious at the 2007 SETTFest. Despite the scoresheets and an attempt to quantify tomatoes, there were just too many tomatoes and too little data to really count. As I found when I visited Suze's place, tasting more than 30 tomato varieties in a row is quite difficult. Over 50 seems unlikely in one sitting.

We didn't have any scoring sheets or make any attempt at accuracy in 2008, but as I was going down Michael Gunn's table, preparing samples of different varieties, it was by pure chance that I sampled Mountaineer Mystery. In fact I did not expect much as the tomato was very large and cracked at the top. However it was exceptional. I had Suze and a few others come over and they felt that it was the best or one of the best at the event.

Now again neither of these were quantified results, but the number of people who saved seeds of Mountaineer Mystery truly surprised me.

Varieties taste different from year to year. Paul Robeson was delicious in '07 and just so-so in '08. But each variety has a potential. Celebrity has a different flavor potential than Stump of the World. I choose to grow varieties that have a higher "flavor potential" in the hopes that if the soil, temperature, and rainfall are right, I'll have exceptional tomatoes.

creister · February 12, 2009

Amen to what Feldon said.

**tomatoaddict** · February 12, 2009

Quote:

tomatoevangelism

What a perfect word!

rnewste · February 12, 2009

"To-ma-to-e-van-gel-is-m"

You're gonna drive Worth crazy - - it is an 8 syllable word!

Ray

tomatoguy · February 12, 2009

Quote:

Originally Posted by feldon30

In fact I did not expect much as the tomato was very large and cracked at the top.

Being very large and cracked at the top has never slowed me down a bit.

mater

February 10, 2009	#1
habitat_gardener Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: California Central Valley Posts: 2,540	"best of" lists from group gatherings? Here and there I've noticed some tomato descriptions include a tag line "voted best at [name of regional gathering] [year]." Has anyone compiled best-of lists from all the regional gatherings? It'd be interesting to see if there are regional trends. In my garden, the "best" tomato is different every year because of weather, high proportion of new-to-me varieties each year, placement in garden, attractiveness to squirrels, etc.

February 10, 2009	#3
Lee Tomatopalooza™ Moderator Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: NC-Zone 7 Posts: 2,186	Check out the Tomatopalooza forum for a synopsys of the favorites from each event. Also the CHOPTAG forum may list their annual best tasting winners. Lee __________________ Intelligence is knowing a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is knowing not to put one in a fruit salad. Cuostralee - The best thing on sliced bread.

February 11, 2009	#6
remy Buffalo-Niagara Tomato TasteFest™ Coordinator Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Z6 WNY Posts: 2,354	Over here on the Niagara Frontier, Earl's Faux won best in 2007, and Stump of the World won best in 2008. Sweetest went to Sungold both years. Remy __________________ "I wake to sleep and take my waking slow" -Theodore Roethke Yes, we have a great party for WNY/Ontario tomato growers every year on Grand Island! Owner of The Sample Seed Shop

February 12, 2009	#7
feldon30 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2006 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 5,346	I'm not so quick to dismiss formal or informal winners at tomato tastings as long as some heavy hitters are present. Earl's Faux and Stump of the World are IMO, heavy hitters. JD's Special C-Tex was especially delicious at the 2007 SETTFest. Despite the scoresheets and an attempt to quantify tomatoes, there were just too many tomatoes and too little data to really count. As I found when I visited Suze's place, tasting more than 30 tomato varieties in a row is quite difficult. Over 50 seems unlikely in one sitting. We didn't have any scoring sheets or make any attempt at accuracy in 2008, but as I was going down Michael Gunn's table, preparing samples of different varieties, it was by pure chance that I sampled Mountaineer Mystery. In fact I did not expect much as the tomato was very large and cracked at the top. However it was exceptional. I had Suze and a few others come over and they felt that it was the best or one of the best at the event. Now again neither of these were quantified results, but the number of people who saved seeds of Mountaineer Mystery truly surprised me. Varieties taste different from year to year. Paul Robeson was delicious in '07 and just so-so in '08. But each variety has a potential. Celebrity has a different flavor potential than Stump of the World. I choose to grow varieties that have a higher "flavor potential" in the hopes that if the soil, temperature, and rainfall are right, I'll have exceptional tomatoes. __________________ [SIZE="3"]I've relaunched my gardening website -- [B]TheUnconventionalTomato.com[/B][/SIZE] * [I][SIZE="1"]*I'm not allowed to post weblinks so you'll have to copy-paste it manually.[/SIZE][/I]

February 10, 2009	#2
tomatoguy Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Rockvale, TN Zone 7A Posts: 526	I have had a small gathering for the past three years. Usually there are 15-20 people voting. They are comprised of my family and friends who grow my plants for the most part. There were usually about a dozen varieties sampled. Here are some of the varieties that have finished in the top 3: Mong Green Zebra (don't ask me, I didn't vote for it) Stump of the World Earl's Faux Mortgage Lifter Berkeley Tie-Dye (best multi-color I have ever tasted) Yellow Perfection mater

February 12, 2009	#8
creister Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Abilene, TX zone 7 Posts: 1,478	Amen to what Feldon said.

February 12, 2009	#10
rnewste Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Campbell, CA Posts: 4,064	"To-ma-to-e-van-gel-is-m" You're gonna drive Worth crazy - - it is an 8 syllable word! Ray