Final selection-snacking tomatoe and dehydrating tomato

Tracydr · December 21, 2011

I'm putting the final touches on my list, actually a little late on getting planted. I'll be planting most of my seeds tomorrow, except for anything I need to order/buy.
I'm trying to find a good in-hand snacking tomato in addition to Sungold and Black Cherry. Last year, I only planted Reisentraubes, thinking we would love a nice grape and we ended up not likening them. I wasted a large section of garden on 7-8 plants. I was able to dehydrate the tomatoes and they were better but still not great. I would describe the flavor as bland, not sweet, not tart, not bad but not good either.
Not sure what we didn't like about them. I like sweet tomatoes and my husband likes acid but neither of us liked the Reisentraube, though they were grown in the same garden as all our other tomatoes, none of which we disliked. They tasted like grocery store cherries even though all our larger tomatoes were wonderful.
Here's what I plan to grow:
Black Cherry
Lime Green Salad ( not really a cherry but I guess it's a saladette?)
I also have seeds for:
Ildi
Green Grape
Ghost Cherry
Yellow Pear
Maybe Juliet, couldn't find the seeds but know I had them
Im open to ordering some seeds, hybrid or open pollinated. Some that I've been interested in are:
Sara's Galapagos
Tess's Landrace Currant
Tommy Toe
Rose Quartz
Juan Flamme

I want big flavor. We love Cherokee Purple and Arkansas Traveler if that helps with the flavor profile. Large production would really be nice as well, especially something with heat tolerance, although I know that AZ heat is impossible. I will most likely pull plants by July and start over for fall so sometimes plants that do well in cooler weather and short season are actually good, too.
I'm also looking for a good dehydrating tomato. Either the same or in addition to our snacking tomatoes. I like to cut the cherries in half and stick them on the dehydrator. Smaller ones can be dried whole.
I'm not concerned with the semantics of cherries vs grapes or currants, although I love learning more about this issue. Just want a mouthful bursting with flavor. A bowl full of a few different colors would be a nice bonus, too although not necessary.

habitat_gardener · December 22, 2011

Of your choices, I've grown two.

I love Tommy Toe. I've grown it at least 4 years and it tastes great at any stage of ripeness. It's one of my favorite tomatoes. It's not acid and not too sweet; more of a robust flavor.

I grew Juliet only once, but I remember it was very productive with an ok but not great flavor.

Other small tomatoes I've liked include
SunSugar F1, a sweet yellow tomato
Super Snow White, a sweet white tomato
Babywine, pink and a little larger than a grape, good flavor but it wasn't very productive for me this year
Black Plum, good flavor and very productive. I've grown it a few years and it's been more consistent for me than Black Cherry, though in good years Black Cherry has a bigger flavor.

SEAMSFASTER · December 22, 2011

Tracy,

Big flavor? Jaune Flammée blew me away the first time I tried it in Summer 2010. It vaulted instantly to the top of my favorite tomato list. It didn't quite measure up to expectations in 2011, but was still very worth growing. Again, it must be left to fully ripen to get the fabulous, intense flavor.

My experience with Riesentraube matches yours. I was excited about it by everything I read, but it was neither very sweet nor very flavorful. It also happened to finish dead last in a tomato tasting event I hosted.

Ildi finished middle of the pack and did not impress me much - good, but not great. (I would be glad for a handful of fresh Ildis right about now, however!)

Green Grape - covered in another thread - excellent!

Sungold and Black Cherry - definitely Top 10 for flavor in my book as well.

Your Yellow Pear seeds will make good hamster food...

For me, Rose Quartz is on par with Sungold - quite sweet, distinctive, refreshing, clean flavor. I could never get enough of them!

I really liked Juliet as well, but would not place it quite with the 4 standouts I've mentioned.

Sara's Galapagos - hmmm. I've posted about this one elsewhere. Wonderful taste, maddeningly small. You got kids? Put 'em to work picking these tasty little morsels. If not, I hope you have more patience than I. Of course for a backyard garden, the effort to pick should be well worth it.

I've heard from several that Principe Borghese is one of the best drying tomatoes out there. I grew it and enjoyed it fresh, but did not have enough extra to make drying worth the effort, so I cannot speak from experience.

Good luck, I have relatives in the Phoenix area - it's practically useless to even try growing most garden vegetable there through the summer heat.

Tracydr · December 22, 2011

Quote:

Originally Posted by SEAMSFASTER

Tracy,

Big flavor? Jaune Flammée blew me away the first time I tried it in Summer 2010. It vaulted instantly to the top of my favorite tomato list. It didn't quite measure up to expectations in 2011, but was still very worth growing. Again, it must be left to fully ripen to get the fabulous, intense flavor.

My experience with Riesentraube matches yours. I was excited about it by everything I read, but it was neither very sweet nor very flavorful. It also happened to finish dead last in a tomato tasting event I hosted.

Ildi finished middle of the pack and did not impress me much - good, but not great. (I would be glad for a handful of fresh Ildis right about now, however!)

Green Grape - covered in another thread - excellent!

Sungold and Black Cherry - definitely Top 10 for flavor in my book as well.

Your Yellow Pear seeds will make good hamster food...

For me, Rose Quartz is on par with Sungold - quite sweet, distinctive, refreshing, clean flavor. I could never get enough of them!

I really liked Juliet as well, but would not place it quite with the 4 standouts I've mentioned.

Sara's Galapagos - hmmm. I've posted about this one elsewhere. Wonderful taste, maddeningly small. You got kids? Put 'em to work picking these tasty little morsels. If not, I hope you have more patience than I. Of course for a backyard garden, the effort to pick should be well worth it.

I've heard from several that Principe Borghese is one of the best drying tomatoes out there. I grew it and enjoyed it fresh, but did not have enough extra to make drying worth the effort, so I cannot speak from experience.

Good luck, I have relatives in the Phoenix area - it's practically useless to even try growing most garden vegetable there through the summer heat.

Yes, it is almost useless to try to grow in summer heat. Last summer was the worst, even the okra stopped setting during our record heat of August. Two weeks over 115. My plan this year is to pull everything when stuff stops producing enough to be worthwhile, rather than bothering with trying to keep it alive, and plant a cover crop like lab lab, amaranth, or sorghum. Maybe sesame or buckwheat? Something that I can feed the grain to or greens to the chickens and still get some usefullness for the garden would be nice.
I finally have an indoor seed starting set-up so I should be able to start a second batch of seeds for fall without frying them in the shade like I did last summer.
Juanne Flamme seems to be a little hard to find seeds for. Although, I think I saw them on your website?
Starting to get things narrowed down a little. This thread is certainly helping.
Maybe Reisentraube doesn't like western soil or dry air? It is German, after all?

Tracydr · December 22, 2011

What about Blondkopchen or Isis candy?
As far as summer heat, I may try a patch of striped cushaw, which I've never grown before. Or, some other crazy growing heat loving squash.

December 21, 2011	#1
Tracydr Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2011 Location: Laurinburg, North Carolina, zone 7 Posts: 3,207	Final selection-snacking tomatoe and dehydrating tomato I'm putting the final touches on my list, actually a little late on getting planted. I'll be planting most of my seeds tomorrow, except for anything I need to order/buy. I'm trying to find a good in-hand snacking tomato in addition to Sungold and Black Cherry. Last year, I only planted Reisentraubes, thinking we would love a nice grape and we ended up not likening them. I wasted a large section of garden on 7-8 plants. I was able to dehydrate the tomatoes and they were better but still not great. I would describe the flavor as bland, not sweet, not tart, not bad but not good either. Not sure what we didn't like about them. I like sweet tomatoes and my husband likes acid but neither of us liked the Reisentraube, though they were grown in the same garden as all our other tomatoes, none of which we disliked. They tasted like grocery store cherries even though all our larger tomatoes were wonderful. Here's what I plan to grow: Black Cherry Lime Green Salad ( not really a cherry but I guess it's a saladette?) I also have seeds for: Ildi Green Grape Ghost Cherry Yellow Pear Maybe Juliet, couldn't find the seeds but know I had them Im open to ordering some seeds, hybrid or open pollinated. Some that I've been interested in are: Sara's Galapagos Tess's Landrace Currant Tommy Toe Rose Quartz Juan Flamme I want big flavor. We love Cherokee Purple and Arkansas Traveler if that helps with the flavor profile. Large production would really be nice as well, especially something with heat tolerance, although I know that AZ heat is impossible. I will most likely pull plants by July and start over for fall so sometimes plants that do well in cooler weather and short season are actually good, too. I'm also looking for a good dehydrating tomato. Either the same or in addition to our snacking tomatoes. I like to cut the cherries in half and stick them on the dehydrator. Smaller ones can be dried whole. I'm not concerned with the semantics of cherries vs grapes or currants, although I love learning more about this issue. Just want a mouthful bursting with flavor. A bowl full of a few different colors would be a nice bonus, too although not necessary. Last edited by Tracydr; December 21, 2011 at 10:24 PM.

December 22, 2011	#5
Tracydr Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2011 Location: Laurinburg, North Carolina, zone 7 Posts: 3,207	What about Blondkopchen or Isis candy? As far as summer heat, I may try a patch of striped cushaw, which I've never grown before. Or, some other crazy growing heat loving squash. Last edited by Tracydr; December 22, 2011 at 12:45 PM. Reason: Duplicate post

December 22, 2011	#2
habitat_gardener Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: California Central Valley Posts: 2,543	Of your choices, I've grown two. I love Tommy Toe. I've grown it at least 4 years and it tastes great at any stage of ripeness. It's one of my favorite tomatoes. It's not acid and not too sweet; more of a robust flavor. I grew Juliet only once, but I remember it was very productive with an ok but not great flavor. Other small tomatoes I've liked include SunSugar F1, a sweet yellow tomato Super Snow White, a sweet white tomato Babywine, pink and a little larger than a grape, good flavor but it wasn't very productive for me this year Black Plum, good flavor and very productive. I've grown it a few years and it's been more consistent for me than Black Cherry, though in good years Black Cherry has a bigger flavor.

December 22, 2011	#3
SEAMSFASTER Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: American Fork, Utah Posts: 160	Tracy, Big flavor? Jaune Flammée blew me away the first time I tried it in Summer 2010. It vaulted instantly to the top of my favorite tomato list. It didn't quite measure up to expectations in 2011, but was still very worth growing. Again, it must be left to fully ripen to get the fabulous, intense flavor. My experience with Riesentraube matches yours. I was excited about it by everything I read, but it was neither very sweet nor very flavorful. It also happened to finish dead last in a tomato tasting event I hosted. Ildi finished middle of the pack and did not impress me much - good, but not great. (I would be glad for a handful of fresh Ildis right about now, however!) Green Grape - covered in another thread - excellent! Sungold and Black Cherry - definitely Top 10 for flavor in my book as well. Your Yellow Pear seeds will make good hamster food... For me, Rose Quartz is on par with Sungold - quite sweet, distinctive, refreshing, clean flavor. I could never get enough of them! I really liked Juliet as well, but would not place it quite with the 4 standouts I've mentioned. Sara's Galapagos - hmmm. I've posted about this one elsewhere. Wonderful taste, maddeningly small. You got kids? Put 'em to work picking these tasty little morsels. If not, I hope you have more patience than I. Of course for a backyard garden, the effort to pick should be well worth it. I've heard from several that Principe Borghese is one of the best drying tomatoes out there. I grew it and enjoyed it fresh, but did not have enough extra to make drying worth the effort, so I cannot speak from experience. Good luck, I have relatives in the Phoenix area - it's practically useless to even try growing most garden vegetable there through the summer heat.