Tomato testing at the Farmers Market

Tomato tasting at the Farmers Market. Photo by Darrell Blackwelder, for the Salisbury Post.

By Sherry Walker

For The Salisbury Post

On Saturday, the Master Gardener volunteers held a tomato tasting of cherry tomatoes at the Salisbury Farmers Market. Approximately 100 people participated, sampling five varieties of tomatoes commonly called cherry or salad tomatoes. Many people grow cherry tomatoes in pots on their patio or tucked into their landscape for a bite size burst of flavor, a perfect healthy snack. You may think all cherry tomatoes are the same, but there are many flavors, colors and shapes and local farmers are growing several different varieties.

In the taste test, the favorite this year was test variety (E), a round, yellow tomato called sweet gold yellow hybrid. A close second was (B), named chiquita pink grape. For those that have not had grape tomatoes, they are shaped more like a pear than the typical round ball cherry tomato. Mr. Smarty, a red grape tomato variety and under the test label (A), was next in the voting. Closely following Mr. Smarty was the smooth, round, red Mount Belle (D), followed by (C), a dark, purplish-pink skinned tomato called chocolate cherry. All of the voting was very close, which shows everyone’s taste buds and preferences are different.

Special thanks to Eagle and Son Produce Farm, David Correll, Red Barn Market and Duard Cress for donating the tomatoes. All varieties tested are available at the market so if you didn’t get to participate, go buy some at the market this morning and taste them for yourself.

Toi Degree will demonstrate cooking with fresh corn on July 24.

Sherry Walker is a Master Gardener volunteer.