• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Organic Seed Alliance

Advancing ethical seed solutions to meet food and farming needs in a changing world

  • News
  • Programs
    • Research
    • Education
    • Advocacy
  • Publications
    • All Publications
    • How-to Guides
    • Reports
    • Webinars
    • Worksheets & Record-keeping
    • Conference Proceedings
  • Resources
    • State of Organic Seed
    • Organic Seed Producers & Intern Host Farm Directory
    • Variety Trial Tool
    • Seed Patent Watch
    • Seed Internship Program & Organic Seed Production Online Course
    • Seed Economics Toolkit
  • Events
    • Upcoming Events
    • Organic Seed Growers Conference
    • COVID-19 Protocols
  • Media
  • About
    • Staff Directory
    • Board & Advisors
    • Our Story
    • Our Values
    • Our Alliance
    • Commitment to Racial Equity
    • Business Partners
    • Annual Report
    • Contact Us
    • FAQ
  • Give

Events · September 8, 2017

3rd Annual Tomato Taste-Off!

OSA's 3rd annual tomato taste-off event occurred at the Jefferson County Farmers Market on Sept. 2, 2017.

The August heat delivered an exceptional tomato season this year in Jefferson County, Washington, home of our research farm. Last weekend visitors at the Jefferson County Farmers Market in Port Townsend got a mouth-full of flavor participating in the third annual organic tomato taste-off.

OSA entered three of our favorite varieties from the Northern Organic Vegetable Improvement Collaborative (NOVIC) trials, which include: ‘Matina’, ‘Fireworks’, and ‘Siletz’. Local farmers also submitted their favorite varieties and 132 market visitors voted with their mouths and colorful stickers to indicate their favorites by category. Varieties were ranked for sweetness, “tomatoeyness,” texture and “real looker” categories.

As for the results, ‘Matina’ took first for flavor, followed by ‘Esterina’, submitted by Finnriver Farm. ‘Matina’ and ‘Fireworks’ took first and second, respectively, for tomatoeyness, followed by ‘Blush’ from Serendipity Farm. ‘Esterina’ ranked first for texture, followed by ‘Matina’. And ‘Indigo Drop Cherry’ from Nash’s Organic Produce, and ‘Damsel’ from Midori Farm, placed first and second, respectively, for the “real looker” category.

‘Indigo Drop’ is a high anthocyanin variety bred by Dr. Jim Myers of Oregon State University, the lead researcher of NOVIC. Anthocyanins are in a class of flavonoids that provide potential antioxidant benefits. OSA’s entries are all available for purchase from Northwest organic seed companies – ‘Matina’ from Uprising Seeds and ‘Fireworks’ and ‘Siletz’ from Adaptive Seeds. ‘Matina’ is a deep red, truly flavorful saladette (paste) type. ‘Fireworks’ is a nice sized slicer with great shape and smooth shoulders. ‘Siletz’ is a classic smaller slicer also bred by Oregon State University. All three were early producers in this mild maritime climate.

Share

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Email

Crops: Tomatoes

Regions: Pacific Northwest

Categories: Events

Tags: Northern Organic Vegetable Improvement Collaborative (NOVIC)

Micaela Colley

Micaela Colley is the author of several publications on organic seed and leads OSA’s research and education programs focused on organic seed production and organic plant breeding.

Latest Tweets

Let's co-create a #FarmBill that supports your farming communities! How can the next Farm Bill help support resilient and climate-friendly agricultural systems? We hope you'll join the conversation @ the Farm Bill Virtual Listening Session on Aug. 17. seedalliance.org/eve…

About 10 hours ago · reply · retweet · favorite

Thanks to @chelliepingree for joining NSAC’s summer mtg this afternoon & for identifying farmer-driven policy solutions to our climate crisis 🌎 @sustainableag pic.twitter.com/nTxr…

About a week ago · reply · retweet · favorite

Interested in organic policy work? The Coalition for #Organic & Regenerative Agriculture (CORA) has a position open to help advance their WA-based policy goals. More details below. twitter.com/tilthall…

About 3 weeks ago · reply · retweet · favorite

"It’s not too late to change course...The administration would be wise to choose that path." – OSA's Kiki Hubbard on @USDAgov's inquiry on competition concerns in the seed industry as related to Intellectual Property Rights #IPR. @thehill thehill.com/opinion/…

About 2 months ago · reply · retweet · favorite

🌟 Thanks for joining last week's Showcase, @plantgoodseed!! twitter.com/plantgoo…

About 2 months ago · reply · retweet · favorite

Follow @Seed_Alliance

Footer

Advancing ethical seed solutions to meet food and farming needs in a changing world

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Copyright © 2022 Organic Seed Alliance · All Rights Reserved · Website by Tomatillo Design