We invite you to join our public tomato trial and be a citizen scientist! Help us gather information by growing trial tomatoes in your garden and reporting the results. By having participants grow the same varieties in home gardens all over the county, we will learn how they perform under a broad range of growing conditions. This valuable data can help identify new varieties to offer at future Spring Garden Fairs and help gardeners make informed choices about what varieties to plant.
How it works
Participants will
- buy designated trial tomatoes at our Spring Garden Fair
- grow them in their gardens this summer
- report their results SeedLinked online or using the smartphone app
Examples of data we will be asking for:
- Date you plant the seedlings
- Date of first ripe tomato
- Flavor of tomato
- Health and vigor of plant
- Productivity (according to your opinion; we won't expect you to count or weigh your harvest)
Getting started with the trial
Growing Requirements
Make sure you have the appropriate conditions to successfully grow tomatoes this summer. Your growing space should:
- have reliable access to water
- receive at least 8 hours of sun per day
- have adequate growing space. Tomatoes need about 2 square feet per plant or a container at least 18" to 24" wide and deep per plant.
2025 Trial Varieties
Our 2025 trial tomatoes were top vote getters in our internal tastings, as well as being healthy and productive. All three are open-pollinated (OP), meaning that saved seed will produce true.
Green Doctors
These green cherry tomatoes have a fabulous, sweet, balanced flavor. They soften and turn slightly golden when ripe. They originated as a chance green variation of the white Dr. Carolyn cherry tomato, found growing in the garden of Dr. Amy Goldman. The name refers to the two doctors, Dr. Goldman and the late Dr. Carolyn Male, two renowned tomato enthusiasts.
Indeterminate. OP. 75 days.
Queen of the Night
These stunningly colored small tomatoes (3–3½ oz) start off with green and purple-black skins, then become streaked with red/orange/yellow as they ripen. The interior is bright red and the flavor is deliciously rich and sweet. A German heirloom from the Rhine region of Germany.
Semi-determinate (5–5½ ft). OP 80 days.
Sart Roloise
This gorgeous beefsteak tomato is golden yellow with purple shoulders and a pale gold interior. The flavor is fruity and complex, low-acid and mellow. It's a cross between White Wonder and Baby Blue tomatoes, bred by Roland Boulanger, Sart Eustache, Belgium. (Pronounced sar-roh-lwaz)
Indeterminate. OP 85–90 days.
How to participate
Purchase seedlings at our Spring Garden Fair
- Look for our Tomato Trial booth.
- We will have about 150 of each of trial tomatoes available on a first-come basis.
- The trial tomatoes are the same price as the other tomato seedlings.
Sign up with SeedLinked
- We are using the platform SeedLinked to gather the data.
- We will collect your name and email at the Tomato Trial booth, then send you an invitation to sign up with SeedLinked and join our trial. (Feel free to sign up with SeedLinked in advance, before the sale.)
- We will schedule a webinar to demonstrate how to use SeedLinked and answer questions.
Follow along and report your results
- You can log into your SeedLinked account and report your results at any time, using either the smartphone app or the Seedlinked website.
- We will send out reminders and updates as the season progresses.
2024 Trial Results
Bronze Torch, one of our 2024 trial tomatoes, was highly ranked across the board for flavor, vigor, and productivity. We are pleased to add this beautiful and tasty tomato to our Spring Garden Fair tomato line up.