CHERRY

The 2024 Tomato Line Up

LISTED by CHERRY / PASTE / SLICER & COLOR

It’s hard to work without popping 5 or 500 into my mouth while I work! I’ve been curating this list for 8 years now. Some varieties come and go, but there are a handful that it’s just not summer without those characters in my kitchen!

Red

Black Cherry - Rich Flavor, tastes like an heirloom slicer.

Amy's Sugar Gem - Sweet flavor and the tiny light gold sparkles in the red skin. It produces indeterminate, regular-leaf, tall, sprawling, vigorous tomato plants that yield HUGE crops of 2 oz., 1 1/2" golf ball sized, red, meaty, juicy tomatoes that have a small core and delicious sweet, well-balanced flavors. A perfect choice as a snacking tomato, salad tomato or for tomato sauces. Sweet! "Candy-on-the-vine," not to be missed!

Fruit Punch - A WINNER all the way around for beauty and taste. Super fruity-sweet. Crack resistant, even in heavy rains.

Midnight Select - Intense color sometimes flecked with green which turns to gold on the ripe tomato. It is not as dependent on direct sunlight for the color. The flavor is full with a dense and satisfying texture. The plants are indeterminate but only reach about four feet. The fruit is borne in trusses of six and the variety is quite productive. The fruit should be picked when the tops turn to black from purple and just before the flesh begins to soften. The blue coloration is the result of anthocyanin in the skin which is a powerful antioxidant.

Red Fig - 1 1/2", pear-shaped, cherry tomatoes with exciting, delicious, flavors.

Yellow/Orange

Aunt Ruby's Yellow Cherry - Copious amounts of 3/4", round, yellow cherry tomatoes that are loaded with delicious, fruity-sweet flavors.

Citrine - Like the Sungold but different, I love it!

Gold Rush Currant - My kids favorite! Wispy foliage that yield excellent, heavy sets of 1/4-inch tomatoes borne in trusses of 10-12. Excellent sweet tomato flavor. A perfect snacking tomato or to adorn salads and culinary creations.

Sungold - You know it and you love it. All around favorite of the cherry tomatoes by farmers, chefs, big kids, little kids.

Yellow Pear - Produce huge, bushy plants that yield very large quantities of 1 oz., 1 1/2-inch, bright yellow, pear-shaped cherry tomatoes that will give you fruit until frost. The tomatoes of this yellow pear tomato variety are zesty sweet and delicious. A great tomato choice for a patio or planter garden. A good producer even in cooler coastal regions. A beautiful salad or snacking tomato.

Striped

Pink Bumblebee - Bright sweet flavor with the super power of being crack resisitant! Color is pinky red with orange stripes. This is a real workhorse cherry tomato.

Sunrise Bumblebee - Sweet and tangy. The color is yellow and red marbled, so it really stands out with paired with other cherry tomatoes.

ROMA

Here we have the sauce tomatoes. Grown for their flavor, their meatiness, and beauty.

Amish Paste - 12 oz, deep-red, oxheart-shaped, meaty fruit. Lots of sweet, delicious tomatoey flavors from this coreless meaty fruit. The Amish Paste produces the LARGEST tomatoes of this tomato variety. A great slicing tomato, canning tomato and sauce tomato. Lots of sweet, tomatoey flavors from this coreless meaty fruit. A great slicing and sauce tomato.

Jersey Giant Paste - An excellent and famed paste tomato. Sprawling, indeterminate, regular leaf plants produce copious amounts of 4"- 6", bright red, pointed tomatoes that are meaty with few seeds and lots of great sweet flavor. Looks similar to the Jersey Devil. A very good sauce tomato.

San Marzano - From Italy. A preferred standard with Italian farmers. Compact and prolific producer of bright-red, slim, 2-3 inch, plum-type, fruit over a long season. A paste tomato with pointy end, heavy walls and little juice, so it's great for  a delicious tomato sauce. Crack resistant. Many find this variety better tasting than Roma.

SLICERS

Give me alllll the tomato sandwiches and caprice salads.

Red/Pink

African Queen - Large indeterminate, potato leaf plants produce heavy crops of 1-2 lb., 3-5", jade-pink, lightly fluted, beefsteak tomatoes with red flesh and rich delicious flavors.

Anna Russua - An excellent, gorgeous tomato. Early maturing for a heart-shaped tomato, the large, visually beautiful, pink-red fruit normally weighs about 14-16 oz. Superb rich old-fashioned, tomato flavors with lots of juice.

Boxcar Willie - Good all-season tomato. Produces well until frost. Preferred canning tomato. Good resistance to disease and cracking.

German Red Strawberry - This German heirloom produces large, red, oxheart-shaped tomatoes that are shaped like a much larger strawberry. Plants yield an abundance of meaty, 3-inch wide by 3 1/2-inch long fruit that can grow to 1 pound. Shape of tomatoes can be inconsistent. Copious amount of delicious, robust, "old-tomato" flavors with a lingering sweetness. A perfect tomato for slicing into sandwiches.

Neves Azorean Red - HUGE, 1-3 lb., red tomato with terrific, bold, flavors. Could be the ultimate sandwich tomato.

Pantano Romanesco - Italian heirloom. 12 oz., meaty, tomato bursting with wonderful, complex, tomato flavors. Perfect for a classic sauce.

Riviera - From Italy. Big crop of 3", red, tomatoes with lots of old-fashioned, complex, sweet/acid flavors. All-purpose tomato.

Sainte Lucie - Original seed from Norbert Parreira, from France. Not known well in the U.S. Produces very leafy, indeterminate, regular-leaf, tomato plants with generous yields of 1 to 2 1/2-pound, slightly-flattened, bright-red beefsteak tomatoes that are some of the best-tasting red, tomatoes. Lots of delicious sweet flavors with the perfect 'tang' of acidity. Solid, meaty interiors make it a good slicing tomato for sandwiches or tomato sauce or tomato salads.

Black/Purple/Chocolate

Black Krim - Rich and a favorite black tomato.

Cherokee Chocolate - Yield 3-4-inch, 10-14 oz., mahogany-colored beefsteak tomatoes. Cherokee Chocolate has developed a great following among celebrity chefs because of its exceptionally rich, complex, tomato flavors and wonderful chocolaty appearance.

Japanese Black Trifle - rich flavor, complex flavors, mahogany-colored Bartlett pear with greenish shoulders. The Black Trifele is one of the blackest varieties available and is resistant to cracking.

Yellow/Gold

Amana Orange - Huge beefsteak. My favorite yellow slicer. Fluted tomatoes can grow over 2 lbs. Flavor is sweet and almost tropical.

Dr. Wyche's Yellow - Undoubtedly one of the best tasting yellow tomatoes to be found. An indeterminate heirloom that produces slightly flattened, smooth, 10-16 0z., blemish-free, golden-yellow fruit with a meaty interior and few seeds. It's rich, sweet flavor and larger size sets this variety apart from other yellow heirlooms.

Garden Peach - Hint of blush pink when ripe. 2-4oz fruits have mild fruity flavor. It’s almost fuzzy like a peach!

Gary Isben's Gold - Potato leaf plant produces lots of very juicy, 14 oz. , brilliant orange-gold globes with tropical fruit flavors with enough acid balance to guarantee a burst of tomato delight.

Golden Buddha - This delightful tomato produces an exceptional crop of large, orange tomatoes with rich, complex, sweet flavors.

Kellogg's Breakfast - 15-32 oz., pale to deep orange beefsteak tomatoes that are thin-skinned, meaty, have few seeds and a fantastic sweet, tangy flavor. Juice and inside flesh have the same bright orange color as orange juice. 

Wapsipinicon Peach - 1 1/2 to 2", delicate, fuzzy-like-a-peach skin, pale-yellow, juicy, tomatoes with wonderful, fruity-sweet flavors. 

Striped

Chocolate Stripes - Plentiful crop of 3-4 inch, mahogany colored with dark, olive green-striping.  Fruits have delicious, complex, rich, sweet, earthy tomato flavors. Chocolate Stripe, another desirable 'black tomato,"  is an excellent tomato and a fine choice for your tomato garden. Produces well into the autumn. A great sandwich tomato and salad tomato.

Vintage Wine - Potato leaf plant produces abundant crops of pink with gold-striped, pastel-hued, 8-10 oz., slightly flattened tomatoes with pronounced, elegant sweet delicious flavor. Very popular with growers for the marketplace, home gardeners and chefs. Excellent salad tomato.