Your Favorite Cherry Tomato: Cherry Tomato Maze

13 years ago

Last year I found a farm that had a cherry tomato maze. The little people LOVED it. The farm provided little plastic baskets that you filled with cherry tomatoes - they said 'don't come back til the basket and your belly is full'.

I'd like to do it at home next year. I'm not a real fan of cherry tomatoes (I mean I grow the staples but I'm not a huge fan). Does anyone have any suggestions for me?

I thought I'd grow a variety of colors, tastes, shapes...

I thought:

1. Sungold - know and love

2. Suncherry - haven't tried (tasted, not grown)

3. Zebra Cherry - haven't tried (tasted, not grown)

4. Yellow and or Red Pear - not crazy about, but variety re shape

5. Ceylon or Red Star - not tried variety for shape

6. Riesentraube - tried, seedy but thought nice variety for maze - for interest and taste

7. Sweet Baby Girl - not tried

8. Isis Candy - tried, not crazy about (not real bi color in my garden)

9. Black Cherry/Chocolate Cherry/Brown Berry - tried black cherry, not crazy about. what's others experience with Chocolate Cherry and or Brown Berry??

Green Grape - really like, BUT haven't been successful with in recent years.
Dr. Carolyn - grown and like.

Suggestions? Comments?

Anyone with Ildi experience?? Any comments and or suggestions are appreciated.

Thanks!

Featured Answer

tom8olvr
Original Author

13 years ago

I THOUGHT it was 'Zebra Cherry' - it was at the farm's maze last year that I tried it (not impressed with taste), and I don't recall it being green. I think they tried to stay away from GWR in fear of people not knowing they're ripe. It's PYO. I was adding it for it's color - but GREEN Zebra Cherry sounds appealing! And it's good tasting? Huh. Interesting.

I really like GWR tomatoes - I think I have Green Doctors (and I've not tried it!) so I will add that instead of Green Grape (Green Grape isn't as tall either). Of course, I'm trying to interest children, so may be I should go light on the GWR's... Naaaah!

Black Cherry - I WANNA like it - really I do, but it always seems like they aren't as prolific for me... they're a bigger cherry and the taste to me doesn't seem to live up to the hype.

Okay then, can anyone help me with locating the following?:
Green Zebra Cherry
Kazachka
Medovaya Kaplya
Mirabelle Blanche

I will search for cherries... Does anyone else have an suggestions?

Comments (16)

carolyn137
13 years ago
That's Green Zebra Cherry that you're talking about and I love it. There's no known connection with the larger GZ that's known and it was probably named b'c the striping is the same, but at least for me and several others the taste is just wonderful, unlike GZ for me. Found in a box of mixed chaerries in Germany and the fruits known to have come from the NEtherlands.

Every year I try to grow Black Cherry and Sungold F1 or one of the newer OP selections of the F1 such as Big Sungold Select. Unlike you I love Black Cherry. ( smile)

Isis Candy never became a fave for me. Bred by Joe Bratka.

As for green when ripe cherries I strongly recommend Green Doctors or the clear epidermis mutant of it called Green Doctors Frosted. For me and many others much better than Green Grape.

I've seen reports back on Brownberry, which was bred by Sahin Seeds in the NEtherlands, and also Chocolate Cherry, which was bred by Aaron Whaley, formerly of SSE and the reports are really mixed on taste.

Another black cherry I like is Kazachka. SOme plants will give typical cherries and other plants will give mini-beefsteaks with a belly button, not just cute but darn good taste.

Other cherries that I like are Chadwick's Cherry, aka Camp Joy, red ones and Gardner's Delight, aka Sugar Lump, also red. Both of these have been around for a long time but if something is good, it's good IMO.

I'd also suggest you try Medovaya Kaplya, which is a new one for me and got great reports back when I offered the seeds elsewhere this past Spring. Wee bags of yellow, turning gold and they look like small purses tied at the top. Excellent yields and taste, again, IMO.

I haven't grown Ildi but have heard good things about it and I've heard even more positive comments about the Rose Quartz Multiflora one. Riesentraube is also a multiflora and I've always liked it b'c I think the taste is darn near a good large red beefsteak.

And yes, I even like the variety Dr. Carolyn, obviously no bias on my part, LOL, but the variety Snow White, bred by Joe Bratka is another one to try as well as Mirabelle Blanche. The variety Dr. Carolyn has some of the genes of Galina's Yellow, another cherry that I love, PL with deep gold cherries, and some of those taste genes came thru with Dr. Carolyn, from which it is derived/

Enough for now, there are cherries galore and not only are there umpteen threads here already about cherries, so I kept my comments pretty much to the varieties you mentioned above with some added suggestions.

Carolyn
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carolyn137
13 years ago
I'm not sure what you ate that you called Zebra cherry, for this one that I love called Green Zebra Cherry is terrific and that's eomething for me since as I said above I don't like the larger Green Zebra at all.

Green Zebra Cherry
Kazachka
Medovaya Kaplya
Mirabelle Blanche

I offered all of the above in my seed offer elsewhere this past Jan and I thought you were a member there but I just looked and you aren't using the same user name you are here.

To Glenn at Sandhill I sent:

GZ Cherry
Green Doctors Frosted
Kazachka
Medovaya Kaplya

... and others

To Marianne Jones at mariseeds I sent:

GD Frosted
GZ Cherry
Medovaya Kaplya

.... and others

To Adam Gleckler at GlecklerSeedmen I sent:

Green Doctors
GZ Cherry
Medovaya Kaplya

... and many other new ones

And I'm pretty sure I sent some of the above to Mike at Victory Seeds but I can't find that list right now.

Normally I send to Linda Sapp at TGS but she's so far behind on her trials I didn't send any this past year and she doesn't do her own seed production so it takes 2-3 years before a new one will appear.

All of the above except Linda produce most of their own seed so they can turn around a variety in one summer if the weather cooperates. So when the above ones have updated their websites for 2011 take a look and see what you find.

I'llprobably be offering the first three again in my upcoming seed offer but one is not allowed to mention other message sites here, last I knew, without being banned.

Off hand I can't remember seed sources for Mirabelle Blanche,not to be confused with the variety Mirabelle, I go to Tania's Tomato data base to check, which I just did and linked to the Mirabelle Blanche page below and was shocked to find that I was the one who first introduced it in 1994 after a huge trade with a Frenchman in 1992. How the mind does go when we age. LOL

Tania has a hard time keeping up with seed availability for the several thousand varieties she describes and often shows. So I see that no commercial place in 2010 was offering it so did a Google Search on it:

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&source=hp&q=mirabelle+blanche&aq=f&aqi=g-v1&aql=&oq=&gs_rfai=C169E9ZQGTe33F4bgzgSqn4y0DgAAAKoEBU_QyaDB

........and didn't see any obvious sources but then I didn't read all the links.

If you don't have Tania's website in your faves, you should, everyone should. From the page shown in thelink below go to the top left and click on Home Page.

Your life is not going to be severely diminished if you don't find seeds for this variety but here's a link to LOTS of cherries from Tania's data base and if you want to you can check out some of those:

http://tatianastomatobase.com/w/index.php?title=Category:Cherry_Tomatoes&until=Pearly+Pink+Orange

Hope that helps.

Carolyn

Here is a link that might be useful: Mirabelle Blanche
tom8olvr
Original Author
13 years ago
:) Thanks Carolyn.

I wrote down Zebra Cherry. TT has ZC in their catalog. May be that's where they got it...?

I can't imagine I would have used another member name. I WAS a member (??) at one point but felt like it was one other place to visit and am feeling now like I'd be a lurker looking for a free-be. I'll check Sandhill. I've ordered from them before and like what they do and stand for. Too bad about Linda at TGS - I always try and order something from her - if not toms I'll order peppers.

I have Tatiana's site on my favorites... and have ordered from her in the past - I checked yesterday and her site has gotten all fancy-dancy! She's taken on quite a little project there. Last I 'ordered' from her I had to e mail with her directly, etc. she looks like she's got quite a little set up going now. Good for her, I'm happy for her.

My life won't be severely diminished! Says you! ha ha ha! You crack me up. I don't know what it is about having a tomato knock your sox off and the quest to have that happen again... Now I want the little people in my life to have their sox knocked off and get interested in gardening...

Thanks Carolyn.

If anyone else has suggestions I'm looking forward to hearing them.
blameitontherain
13 years ago
What a wonderful idea! You have obviously taken a great deal of time to put together such an intriguing mix of mini maters.

Of your list, I might keep Sweet Baby Girl for the name alone. Wasn't terribly excited by its taste -- quite average and single note. Tried Chocolate Cherry last year -- one of the absolute worst years for tomato growing in my area EVER. The taste was quite muted, most likely due to the weather conditions. Again, I think I'd grow it just for the name. What kid wouldn't want to at least taste a "chocolate" cherry tomato? Am growing Ceylon for the first time this year. The shape is darling, like a mini beefsteak.

You might think about Honey Grape, Snow White and Sugar Snack. They are all quite sweet and the kids would probably like both the taste and the names.

Good luck, have fun and post some pictures of the mater maze -- sounds amazing!

Rain
helenh
13 years ago
Yellow submarine is a cute pear shaped cherry sized tomato. I think kids might have trouble knowing when the green ones are ripe. What about currant tomatoes; I have never tried them myself.
tom8olvr
Original Author
13 years ago
This was the start of the maze - you can see what they had for varieties. It was sooo sweet!

I don't want to get into currants. I do from time to time save a seed here or there and I dont want to worry about currants.
danincv
13 years ago
Two that haven't been mentioned that are extremely prolific are Large Red Cherry (should come with a warning label about taking over a corner of your garden) and Riesentraube (that makes just beautiful clusters of tomatoes).

And let me give a hearty second to Dr Carolyn. More than one person I gave some to held them in their palms in the sun and said "those look like jewels". It is one of the prettiest tomatoes I have ever grown.
blameitontherain
13 years ago
Just love that you are doing this, Tom8olvr. Thanks for the pic.

The kids would probably get a kick out of different groupings within the maze, whether by attribute, shape, color, etc. You could plant zebra cherries next to green tigers for a wild animal garden, for instance.

Can't wait to hear what you have decided upon!

Rain
tom8olvr
Original Author
13 years ago
I found more pictures of the farm that had the maze:

They could not keep up with the picking:
remy_gw
13 years ago
I love the pics. What a neat idea!
From your list, I can say that I much prefer Red Star to Ceylon. Of course I really like Black Cherry, and you don't care for it so who knows.
I prefer Gajo De Melon to Isis Candy.
Snow White is not on your list as I see others have mentioned, and another idea is a currant type. I think little kids like those since they are so small.
What ever you decide, it will be great : )
Remy
jwr6404
13 years ago
Of those you've listed I have grown sungold which was tasty but a mediocer producer. The Black Cherry grew well for me and the taste was OK. My favorite Cherry and the only Yellow tomato I like is the Galinas. It's a PL and a huge producer.
patty_b
13 years ago
I do like the looks of the middle picture of yellow cherries. Wondering what they might be. Does it look like the Solid Gold, one that I have not tried, but would?? Patty
habitat_gardener
13 years ago
Patty, from the shape and the varieties listed on the sign, I'd guess Jellybean Yellow.

I've grown and liked
reds-- Fox cherry, Tommy Toe
yellows -- SunSugar F1, Galina's, Medovaya Kaplya, Gold Nugget (container plant)
blacks -- Black Cherry, Brown Berry, Chocolate Cherry (black cherry was by far the best, but some year it doesn't do well for me, so if you've only tried it once, give it another chance), Black Plum
whites -- Super Snow White
greens -- ARGG Cherry (more fragile than most cherries)

I've also grown Kazachka, but it was a minibeef, not a cherry, so it was more of a 2-3 bite fruit. I wouldn't include it in a cherry maze unless you were adding other saladette types.

Knapp's has a lot of cherries/grapes in different colors-- also look at the New for 2011 list.
http://knapps-fresh-vegies.netfirms.com/tomato-seeds.html
sherilou_2010
12 years ago
tom8olvr... I was hoping you could give us an update on your "cherry tomato maze". Do you have a new favorite variety? :)
tom8olvr
Original Author
12 years ago
I ended up with a cherry fort - not a maze. The signif other decided to downsize the whole deal... so I ended up with a 10 X 10 area. We were starting with lawn... So I planted a tomato every 6-8 inches. I know inches... I put in:

Gajo De Melon
Suncherry
red star
sungold
green doctors
zebra cherry
black cherry
snow white
Riesentraube
OSU Blue

Oh heavens, I'll have to go home and check again... there were others... I got a lot of people who wanted to donate seed, so I took them up on them and added them to the 'fort'.

I have to take recent pictures, but this is what it looked like early on.

I haven't been gung-ho on documenting this because I didn't want to document a complete failure if it happened... :)

Then I went back to the original farm (without my camera) this weekend and they have extended their tomato maze - lots more varieties and much bigger this year... I will bring the camera next time I go. Again they told the kids "come back with your basket and belly full." SO cute and SO gets them excited about gardening. I want that!!!

I'll take pictures tonight and post them tonight or tomorrow.