Carl Linnaeus, a Swedish botanist, is known as the Father of Modern Taxonomy, which is the science of identifying, naming and classifying organisms.  He is known for formalizing binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming organisms. Ken Williams tried to drill this info into our heads as students in his horticultural classes at SCC. What I can remember is Linnaeus and his naming of plants with tongue-twister Latin phonetics. I thought of him today as I walked through the racks of newly delivered tomato starts. The clever names are so enticing with their jolly photo tags promising perfect results. For a change this year I started my research early in my quest for the perfect tomato to plant in my garden. My past results have been hit and miss.  

 

I started asking other Master Gardeners who also live in Vallejo what tomatoes they grow. I ended up choosing the heirloom 'Abraham Lincoln' as my main choice this year. I special ordered 6 starts which are now nestled in the raised bed happily doubling in size in less than 2 weeks. They were recommended by one of our seasoned fellows as doing well in Vallejo. We probably have the coolest weather of all the towns in Solano County. We do get a lot of heat but also cooler days and evenings that can give our gardens a mixed message.  

 

So I did succumb to a pretty little newcomer based solely on its name 'Chocolate Sprinkle' as my experiment this year.  It is a cherry type which compares in taste to the larger 'Cherokee Purple'. It is a disease resistant indeterminate hybrid cherry tomato which will develop a dark red bronze skin with green stripes.  I don't know how the description relates to its name but I do like a little variety. It needs 6 hours of sun and 36” of space to spread out. It should mature in 50-55 days, we'll see.