Tomato Taste 2015 Results: A Stunning Upset!

We had almost 300 people come to yesterday's Washington Gardener Magazine 8th Annual Tomato Taste at the FreshFarm Silver Spring Market yesterday. Here are the results of the more than 200 ballots submitted.

1. Black Cherry from The Farm at Our House
2. Sun Gold from Chicano Sol
   
3. Sun Sugar from Spiral Path Farm tied with
   and  Red Currant from our own Washington Gardener Magazine garden plot
4.  Pineapple from Three Springs Fruit Farm
5.  Garden Peach from The Farm at Our House 
6. Juan Flamme from Three Springs Fruit Farm
7. Valencia from Country Pleasures
8. Orange Banana Paste from The Farm at Our House 
9. Sunny Boy from Three Springs Fruit Farm
10. Green Zebra from The Farm at Our House 

It is amazing that 'Black Cherry' upset both perennial favorites 'Sun Gold' and 'Sun Sugar.' This may indicate a new trend in tomato taste towards more flavorful, less sweet kinds, or it just may be that the youths at The Farm at Our House have a special grower touch that lent their 'Black Cherry' an extra winning zing.

If we had excluded the cherry varieties from our contest, then the 'Pineapple' would have won as it was the top vote-getter of the slicing tomatoes.

Do take a minute to click on the photo link above to view the Flickr album of photos from the event. I think you will agree that the market tomatoes are absolutely gorgeous and very photogenic.

Daphne McCambridge of Silver Spring, MD, won the prize drawing of a market bag full of gardening goodies and $25 worth of market tokens!


Most of the taste attendees were local, though we also had many who came quite a distance. About half live in Silver Spring. Another third live close by in Washington, DC or the towns of Takoma Park, Chevy Chase, Kensington, Hyattsville, Rockville, Gaithersburg, and  in MD. From across the river in Virginia, attendees came from Crystal City. From out of the area, we had attendees from West Bath, ME, Stamford, CT, and Haddon Heights, NJ. And we even had one taster this year from Durham. England!

Thank you to all who came and participated. Thanks to the farmers for growing great tomatoes and to FreshFarm Markets staff for hosting us. Special thanks also to Doree and Martha for helping with all the tomato sample cutting and helping greet all the tasters in the short two-hour event. See you next August!