GARDENING The great 2013 Tomato Trial – results

King of the tomatoes


Hans Wieland shares the results of his 2013 Tomato Trial

Growing
Hans Wieland

It’s that time of year, when thoughts turn to salads after all the rich food of Christmas. Tomatoes are salad staple, but which ones are best to grow? As my readers know, they are one of my obsessions, and in my quest to find the best-tasting variety of the 7,500 that exist, I grew – with help from students and staff at The Organic Centre – 60-plus different kinds last summer. I know it’s a very small percentage of all varieties, but I’m quite proud of the 60.
Why bother? Well, as garden writer Jane Powers says: “The most immediate reason to grow them is flavour. Supermarket tomatoes are getting better all the time, but they still cannot compete with the sun-warmed explosion of squelchy deliciousness that is the just-picked tomato.”
Having sown the seeds in March and nurtured the plants over many months, we finally invited the public for a taste trial at the end of the summer. Fifty varieties were on show, and around 60 tomato enthusiasts scored the produce either excellent (5), very good (4), good (3), okay (2) or don’t bother (1). And here are the top ten (drum roll):
1, Sweet Aperitif; 2, Sungold; 3, Golden Cherry; 4, Torojina; 5, Annamoy; 6, Maskotka and Orange Strawberry; 7, Balcony Red and Yellow; 8, Yellow Submarine; 9, Sugargrape/Zuckertraube; 10, Rosada.
So the famous Sungold got knocked of the number one spot by Sweet Aperitif – a wonderful small cherry-type tomato with a lovely combination of sweet and acidic flavours.
Let me tell you a little sub-plot here: For years I disregarded any advice on growing tomatoes from side shoots (because I probably failed at the first attempt years back), even going public by telling people ‘that’s a silly idea’. However, I reconsidered my remarks (getting older I’ve become more mellow with my opinions) and grew Sweet Aperitif, Blue OSU and Volkov from the first sideshoots appearing in April and removed at about 10cm in length and replanted.
In late November, I was still eating all three varieties of tomato grown in big pots in my conservatory (accompanied by home grown basil and homemade cheese). I was also eating my words.
I was disappointed that some of my own favourites, like Yellow Submarine and Sugargrape didn’t score higher in the taste trial. Another favourite, Golden Queen came 17th, while  Tigerella – the best yellow tomato in my opinion, came 20th. But there you go.
Earlier this year I wrote about the much-hyped Blue OSU. Researchers at Oregon State University (OSU) crossed domestic tomatoes with wild varieties to produce blue tomatoes that have high levels of anthocyanin, a compound that also appears in blueberries and produces the healthy pigments in red wine. The Blue OSU was heralded as ‘a healthier tomato’.
The Blue OSU trialled at The Organic Centre (and at home at Neantóg farm in Cliffony) was the first tomato to set fruit and the last one to ripen. Taste-wise, they got better the longer they were left to soak up the sun, but they still had a slightly disappointing in flavour when eaten on their own.
So what will I grow next year? Much less varieties, but I haven’t given up on trials, and my 2014 tomato project is to let the following varieties compete: Koralik from The Organic Centre, Mexican Midget from the Irish Seed Savers Association and Shady Lady from Thompson and Morgan. Watch this space!

Hans Wieland is training manager at The Organic Centre, Rossinver, Co Leitrim, which offers courses, training and information on organic growing and cooking, and runs an Eco Shop and an online gardening store.
For more information, visit www.theorganiccentre.ie.
Gardening questions or comments? Contact Hans at living@mayonews.ie.