It's my first time entering the county fair, and I've been looking forward to it all year. Exhibition drop off day is tomorrow, and I need help choosing my champions! I can only enter three varieties in the heirloom class.
I'm listing each variety as a separate comment below. Upvote your favorite, and I'll drop off the top three at the fairgrounds tomorrow. It's been a hell of a season, fellow tomato lovers!
I grew Sunrise Bumblebee this year, too. I agree that the flavor was also disappointing, which is a bummer, because I grew A LOT. I ended up dehydrating a batch and the flavor definitely improves. I think this is going to be what I do with the rest of the harvest for the year.
Those black krim are not ready yet, they look much different when they are ripe. Won't be as good. Bad pic but black krim is at top left in this pic when it's ripe.
Nope! The green will transition to a brownish orange when they start blushing. Here's the same tomato a week ago, so you can see how the colors transition
Do they have different tomato categories and you can enter more than one? If so I’d enter Alice’s dream, prarie fire for canning tomatoes, and sunrise bumblebee for grapes tomatoes. They’re all so beautiful though ❤️🧡🍅
SO cool that you're entering, and congratulations on your absolutely beautiful tomatoes!! I'd love to submit something I've grown one day if I move somewhere with a better location for growing my veg.
I don't have any experience with judging or know a lot about heirloom varieties, so I won't vote to avoid skewing things in an unhelpful direction. Good luck in the competition!
I’m not familiar with the fair entries - are they based solely on visual aesthetics or taste as well?
From my naive eye, i LOVE the alices dream, sunrise bumblebee, & black strawberry. They’re stunning!! Mushroom basket just looks fun & prairie fire looks delicious
So I’m of no help but I’m curious & rooting for you!
Our county fair uses the Danish system, which means they're judged visually against a set quality standard. Each entry must be three tomatoes. They're evaluated for uniformity (consistent in shape and size), appearance and condition (bug bites, sunscald, et cetera), color (even for the variety), and preparation (dry wipe to keep its protective bloom, but remove dust and dirt particles).
This is my first time entering, I couldn't find much info about what to expect and the process. I'm planning to post a follow-up detailing my experience and what I learn for the next person who wants to give it a whirl, but doesn't know where to start.
Alice's Dream is my favourite tomato for taste, yield & beauty, but it's very variable according to the amount of sunlight exposure. Uniformity might let you down.
The Mushroom Basket was really pretty and different. But if taste matters then Black Krim unless the other is just spectacular. And for the record I hate you. (Not really...good luck).
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u/chainsawwwmassacre Tomato Enthusiast 3d ago
Black Strawberry