Sunday, August 16, 2009

Hillbilly is the one, I do reckon

In our very small scale taste test of the tomatoes grown in the Greenish Thumb potager, we found Hillbilly to be the winner in ALL the following categories: appearance, taste, harvest, and size. This was a blind taste test. Here are the tomatoes we tested in rank order:

Best: heirloom Hillbilly!!! To be noted: this is the second year that Hillbilly has been voted best tomato in a blind taste test.


2nd place: store bought vine-ripened tomatoes...the judge thought for sure this tomato was from the GT potager.


3rd place: heirloom beefsteak...the judges, or at least the judge who could speak eloquently about the tomato's intricacies, found the beefsteak tomato gross and almost mealy. The 4 year old simply ate her tomato obediently with no comment.


4rd place: heirloom Cherokee purple...disqualified due to extremely deep and ugly catfacing rendering it inedible - to be noted: this is the second year in a row for disqualification. Interestingly, three years ago, this tomato won first place.


Here is the precious Hillbilly below (I'm referring to the tomato, not the man). The photo does not do the beautiful yellow orange color of the Hillbilly justice. Notice the generous size of the tomato. Upon tasting the tomatoes, both judges (the adult and the 4 year old) still blind, instantly exclaimed at how delicious it was. The Hillbilly tomato plant has been producing almost as many tomatoes as the beefsteak, and every tomato has been perfect in shape, color, and size thus far. The tomato has just the right amount of juice and we find it to be slightly sweet as well, with smooth, cool flesh. Of course, being an heirloom, the tomato has a classic tomato flavor, unlike most store bought tomatoes. If you haven't tried the Hillbilly, it's a must for your garden next year!

13 comments:

  1. I will look for that kind of plant next spring. One can't deny the blind taste test. Thanks for the info and a fun post.

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  2. It is too bad you couldn't put it against Cherokee Purple. I keep thinking I should grow that next year. Maybe. I tend to grow early tomatoes since our season is short.

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  3. That's one good looking hillbilly! Tomato I mean. So, did you eat any tomatoes?

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  4. This is a fun post. My favorite is Better Boy. My plants got huge this year but not many tomatoes. It was the cooler temps.

    My mom was from Rockville--she tells me grand stories of ice skating on the Chesapeake. Her and my dad owned a little house and dad worked for Bethlehem Steel. That was way back long time ago in the 1940's. I do still remember how much she loved the area. It's so pretty.

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  5. I'm always looking for new heirloom tomatoes to try. I'll write Hillbilly and Cherokee Purple both on my list for consideration for next year.

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  6. What a fun way to present your tomatoes! I've heard so much about Hillbilly tomatoes, I definitely have to try them next year. Except that I've never started from seed before.... guess that's one more project to add to the list. Thanks for the inspiration!

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  7. Frankly speaking, to me a tomato is just a tomato. But everyone seems to be talking about tomatoes this season. There are so many different names, I am getting dizzy.

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  8. Autumn Belle - I'm not a major tomato connoiseur, but once you get a few different tomatoes together, you start to nice the differences - just like if you do an apple taste test, you'll notice there are mealy ones, sweet ones, juicy ones, dry ones, tart ones, different shapes, sizes, colors, etc. At least that's what I'm told. Plus, the super cool thing about heirlooms is that most seeds are "true" seeds and also carry a history with them!

    Julie - starting from seed is so easy and so fun - and totally up your alley!!! There's a lot that kids can do during the process as well. You'll also be amazed that you can start like 200 tomato plants (if you wanted to) for $2, when you've paid several dollars for one plant!

    I really don't know what's been happening with the Cherokee Purples. Weird. They are definitely a fave of many people!!

    I'm glad you liked this post! Check out Daphne's taste test on her blog - the colors and varieties are so beautiful!

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  9. I am having fun reading your posts and am impressed with how many people you are connecting with in the gardening community! I will have to taste your hillbilly tomato, if you still have any left. FYI - I am happy to be a participant in one of your taste tests and I too can eat obediently!

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  10. Hillbilly, hmmm...I just read about that one last night while looking up info about Virginia Sweets. I think they're similar. Maybe next year I'll do a side by side comparison. Virginia Sweets is my biggest tomato this year - just picked one that weighed over 2 lbs.

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  11. 2 lbs! OMG! Do you water your plants with gamma rays, lol?

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  12. Thanks for the taste test results! I love stuff like this. Thanks for visiting my blog, as well. See you around!

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  13. Samantha, you're welcome to our next taste test. Not sure you'd eat obediently - and I know any waiter we've ever had would agree! lol :)

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