I forgot to mention that black cherry has a shelf life of I dunno how much. I picked some a few weeks ago for seeds, and the things are still sitting there, just fine.

We're now down in the 30's at night. Which, from a tomato p.o.v., is like being in the fridge.

David, I love black cherry, but it is very unpredictable as to when they will ripen with any consistency. I have had a handful this year and I just love the things. The plants are loaded but they aren't ripening. The galinas and yellow submarines have just been going nuts with production.

Well, it seems the Black Cherry is notoriusly slow to ripen. Mine is loaded with green ones too! I've eaten maybe half a dozen so far.

Sungold I grew, because I thought they were supposed to be sweet, but I have not found that to be the case. They seem pretty acidic/sour to me, but maybe I'm doing something wrong. It was the very first ripe tomato, and it is prolific, but I'm not sure I'll grow it again.

The other cherry tomato I'm growing is Supersweet 100's. I've only had a couple ripe ones, but there are a few more ready to pick, so I need to eat some more before I declare them the taste winner.

Jali, I received seeds for Galina's Yellow Cherry in a trade last year, and it is on the list for '09. Can you believe I've already started next year's list?

Bonnie (who just ate some of her very first batch of homemade salsa, and is still licking her lips)

Bonnie, Sungold has a singular habit of dramatically changing flavor as it ripens. The best indication is color - the ones with a tad of green still on them are sour. Light yellow is still pretty tangy. mid-yellow is, as far as I'm concerned, about perfect, and as they move towards orange, they get really sweet. One thats almost red is like eating a sugar cube.

They also ripen up very well once picked. Sort of 18 - 24 hours later, they move to the next stage of sweetness.

And, if you have a dehydrator, cut in half and dried they're like candy.

I can see how the Black Cherry could be difficult for market. Mine have been producing for a month or so down here in Boulder, but it's been sporadic - from two plants, on one day I got 40 (a very good day indeed!) but for the most part it's more like a half dozen one day, then none, then maybe eight or ten more. But my goodness, they are good. Definitely will go in again next year.

Ian

I don't know what I can contribute to the Sungold/Black Cherry conversation - don't grow either. I started with SunSugar and since it was so good, stayed with it now for about 6 or 7 years.

I have a friend who grows Sungold. When we are sampling his, we admit that it's the best! Then we sample SunSugar and are just as convinced that none could be better. I once thought that they were just variations on a single cultivar. Not so sure about that now that I've learned they come from 2 different companies. Both Japanese, I believe.

Sweet Chelsea has been in my garden for about 4 years. I like it real well. If it was as productive, I'd replace the Large Red Cherries with Sweet Chelsea. It's a much tastier tomato and the same size.

Dad had a volunteer a couple of years ago. As he would, he carefully nurtured it thru the season and it managed to nearly ripen 3 tomatoes with a couple more to take indoors when frost hit. It was obviously a Sweet Chelsea. I was pleased that that 1 plant and fruit were so similar to the parent. SC is a hybrid. Dad seemed kind of disappointed that they were so similar . . . different perspectives on the same thing.

digitS'
Oh, and I harvested 8 (3 gallon) buckets of tomatoes over the last week and one-half.

Thank God they werenÂt all cherries!!!

I was out in the patch yesterday afternoon sampling the Ildi's.

These little yellow guys are described variously in the seed catalogs as "grape" and "pear-shaped." The fruit seems to go both ways on the same plant. They are nice, sweet and tender! I don't see the great production claimed but you know the seed catalogs . . .

One thing they've got over Yellow Pear - I didn't find one that was cracked! Not one . . .

d'S'

I wonder what Yellow Pear has got against you Digit? I have that and the Chocolate Cherry. Not a single crack on the Pears, but I've had several of the Cherries crack. Funny, isn't it?

Alice

Good Heavens!! I'd better not risk trying to grow Chocolate Cherries . . .

what an appealing name . . .

Oh, I just remembered that I got a packet of 'Brown Berry' seeds as a freebie with my order from Diane's Flower Seeds. Has anyone tried that one?

Here's what she has to say about it:

Here is a link that might be useful: Brown Berry tomato

Bonnie, I've never tried Brown Berry, but Trudi's raved about it in the chat room. Then again, Trudi likes Persimmon and I simply couldn't stand it. :)