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 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.
