Our nickname for this tomato is ‘STAR’ (taking the first letters of Stakeless and the ‘r’ of Red), because ‘Stakeless x Red Currant F3’ is a mouthful. And also because this tomato is going to be a star, one day, in the right hands. We think it would be good breeding material. Right now it is more of a starlet; with vigorous and healthy growth and huge, early fruit production that goes on and on all season. No need to stake this low-growing variety. It felt like we were picking berries, rather than tomatoes.
But taste-wise STAR is on the mild side. It’s not sweet like you are expecting from a cherry tomato. Our original seedstock for STAR comes from the Donald Branscomb collection at the Seed Savers Exchange (USA). We are thinking Donald Branscomb (a major collector of tomatoes and a tomato breeder) made the selection to the F3 stage and then donated it to the SSE.
If you don’t want to breed a new tomato, but do want an early, hardy, high-yielding, mild cherry tomato, our little STAR might be for you.
How to Plant: Start seeds indoors 6 weeks before the last frost. Plant seed 5mm (¼ inch) deep. Transplant after the danger of frost has passed/later spring.
