I had a good excuse to get out of the office this afternoon. I hitched a ride with a coworker to go to a cherry tomato tasting at the New York State State Agricultural Experiment Station up in Geneva hosted by plant breeder Phillip Griffiths.
Phillip has been crossing heirlooms with regular old red cherry tomato varieties, evaluating them for market appeal, and growing out the best to stabilize the crosses. He says they’re still a couple of years at least from being ready for release. But you can see some of the results above.
One of the most promising is a ‘dipping’ tomato, about the same size and shape as a ‘baby carrot’ (top row, second from the right). I think it’s got promise. I’m not a huge fan of cherry tomatoes. They’re too sweet for my taste. But all of these had better flavor and texture than the best selling cherry tomato from one of my favorite seed companies, which was also available for comparison.
I love the cherry tomatoes, the sweeter the better. I eat them like candy. I’m always looking for new varieties to try so it is good to read that someone is working on breeding new varieties.
Carol at May Dreams Gardens
I’m with Carol–pop ’em right in your mouth like candy in the garden. (If you think they’re too sweet, you can give them a little kick by wrapping a basil leaf around them first. Yum.)
All of those dark colored ones would tempt me to grow them if the seed were available for buying or testing. Did they taste as “smoky” as the darker full size tomatoes (Cherokee Purple and Black Krim come to mind) do?