What’s the dish about cherries? Well we’re not talking about cherries the deep red tart fruit…. I am talking about cherry tomatoes. This crop is the highest demanded product that our farm supplies. They come in all shapes, sizes and flavors. Most of the varieties are comparable to little candies bursting with flavor.
The chefs love this product because it is delicious and also easy to prepare. Most of the cherry tomatoes we produce are small enough that they can be washed and put directly on the salad bar without any further preparation.
The most popular variety of cherry tomato that we grow are called Sun Golds. These tomatoes are the size of a whopper, bright orange and filled with sweet sweet deliciousness. They say that this is the tomato for people who don’t like tomatoes.
Going into 2017 I knew the demand was high for this particular item and the supply was relatively low. I have been hesitant in the past to over plant cherry tomatoes because we have had so many disease problems and also because they are incredibly tedious to harvest. I researched several different varieties and read reviews on flavor profiles. We ended up planting doubl e the amount of cherry tomatoes we have had in previous years but the varieties are slightly larger, therefore cutting down on time consuming labor without cutting out the great flavor. I am happy to report it worked like a charm. When I told the chefs we had cherry tomatoes available they said bring them as many as I had and there was no maximum weight. After telling the chefs I had 70 quarts they quickly gave me their max weight. It was a good day knowing we can finally get a little closer to meeting the demand in a way that doesn’t slow down progress for the farm.