Hi all you tomato-lovers out there!

This past Saturday we hosted our Annual Tomato Tasting at our West Broad Street Location!

Our tomato-enthusiasts (both guests and team members alike!) had fun sampling almost 30 heirloom varieties of tomatoes that we’ve been growing organically here at our garden center this summer!

In addition to enjoying the samples, we asked our enthusiasts to help us choose Richmond’s Favorite Tomato for 2013. The results have been tabulated, and we’re excited to share the winners!

This beauty is praised for it’s taste and relatively crack-resistant nature. It’s related to the Brandywine variety, but produces fruit more quickly than Brandywine. It’s fruit typically weighs about 1 pound and has a pretty, pinkish-purple skin. If you’re looking for a plump tomato to grow (or eat!) this is a great choice!

Brandywine is touted as the darling of heirloom tomatoes. Dating back to the mid-1880’s this long-time favorite is a sweet, beefsteak-shaped tomato. It is late to ripen but, in our opinion, is worth the wait!

And now, the results you’ve been waiting for…

This prized tomato is unique in its appearance and generous in its flavor! About the size of a ping pong ball, this ivory-colored tomato is both sweet to look at and to taste! It’s easy to grow and produces fruit fairly quickly. Great for topping salads and decorating dishes, Super Snow White is a great heirloom variety to grow!

There were several other favorite varieties that just missed the official winner’s circle status! We’ll call them 

Kentucky Beefsteak

Speckled Roma

Kellogg’s Breakfast

Super Steak

Black Cherry

Beefsteak Rocky Top

Cherokee Purple

A big ‘Thank You’ to all of you who lent your discerning palate this weekend to Richmond’s Annual Tomato Tasting! We’re thrilled with the results and we highly encourage all Richmonders to try growing one of these tasty tomatoes next spring! We’ll be ordering seeds of all of the heirloom varieties that you preferred so that you can try growing your own next year!