What’s sweet and strong and good performer?
Taste isn’t the only factor when critiquing tomatoes
It’s the cheery little Sugar Rush
I am freshly back from a perfect tomato safari.
It wasn’t to Italy to debate the perfect San Marzano tomato, but to exotic St. Catharines.
At the Stokes Seeds Trial Farm in nearby Thorold, the sales manager for Stokes Seeds in Canada (www.stokeseeds.com) herded a group of garden writers through row after row of tomatoes, big beefy beefsteaks, heirloom types, cherry tomatoes and tomatoes the size of grapes and currants. We grabbed handfuls and we gobbled.
Stokes wanted our opinion on new types that just might be good enough to land in the President’s Choice Gigantico vegetable program.
That sales manager, Jim Inksetter, is a familiar name here. The family has farmed for more than 200 years in Ancaster, and planted the trees that started Carluke Orchards (www.carlukeorchards.ca) in 1965.
Inksetter is affable, enthusiastic and blessed with an easygoing sense of humour. All those qualities are important in the farming, seed, and horticulture business.
“We were so challenged this season,” Inksetter is saying as he stands in a sandy row between tomatoes and peppers. “The spring was terrible with the rain and cold, and summer has not been hot.”
As soon as the weather woe summary finished, we were invited to chow down on a Sugar Rush grape tomato. Oh my, it was the best tomato I’ve tasted this year.
“It’s sweet and strong and a good performer,” Inksetter said of the cheery little Sugar Rush.
Taste is important but growers need to consider many other factors when critiquing tomatoes. Disease resistance, growth habit, strength, and how long it takes to ripen. If the Sugar Rush tomato is to be sold through the President’s Choice program, for instance, Inksetter says they don’t want the consumer to be disappointed by a hard to grow plant.
“We don’t want to discourage people from growing vegetables, we want them to be successful,” he says.
That’s why the whole issue of heirloom varieties gets a once-over on our tomato tour. Some have superior taste, Inksetter says, but can be a challenge to grow. Stokes does not specialize in heirloom or heritage seed, even though the company’s own history as a seed supplier since dates back to 1881.
We taste more tomatoes. A lot of love goes out for a grape variety called Chocolate Sprinkles. It’s tasty, but in my opinion not as full flavoured as Sugar Rush. A lot of people like the name because they think they can trick their kids into eating it, and Inksetter dubbed it a “user friendly” tomato.
A striking tomato called Midnight Snack seems intriguing. It starts life jet black, then turns green with black bits, and finally red with black splotches. In my opinion, it looks a bit better than it tastes.
We also taste a mini bell pepper that looks just like its name — a Mad Hatter, and a Habanero called Primero Red that ripens early and with less heat.
“People don’t want to wait,” Inksetter says of the impatient gardeners among us.
And many now want vegetables they can grow in pots on the condo balcony, another challenge for breeders and growers. Customers want delicious taste, good looks and easy care.
I don’t grow tomatoes. Too many varmints in the neighbourhood.
Just last night I saw a skunk as big as a backpack meandering from garden to garden and crossing the street unfazed by cars.
If I had tomatoes, the skunk would get them before me. So I’ll be looking for someone close by to be growing Sugar Rush tomatoes next year.