Events Calendar > Spring Garden Fair
You're invited to join our public tomato trial and be a citizen scientist! Help gather information by growing trial tomatoes in your garden and reporting the results. By growing the same varieties in home gardens all over the county, we will learn how they perform under a broad range of growing conditions. This valuable data can help gardeners make informed choices about what varieties to plant and identify new varieties to offer at future Spring Garden Fairs.
2026 Trial Varieties
These 2026 trial tomatoes ranked high in our taste tests last summer. The plants were healthy and productive.
KARMA Peach
Beautiful saladette size bi-color tomatoes are peachy gold with a rosy blush. Flavor is excellent, sweet and tangy. The plants are potato-leaved, meaning the leaves have rounder lobes. Named after collaborators Karen Olivier (KAR) and Marsha Eisenberg (MA), part of their KARMA tomato breeding project.
Indeterminate. OP. 70 to 75 days.
Purple Zebra
Deep red 3 to 4-ounce tomatoes with dark green streaks are colorful and fun, with a deliciously rich and balanced flavor. The plants are resistant to many diseases, including tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV), tomato mosaic virus (ToMV), and verticillium wilt (V). AAS winner.
Indeterminate. F1 hybrid. 70 days.
Red Torch
These large grape tomatoes are bright red with golden-yellow stripes, borne in heavy clusters. Early and productive, with great sweet flavor and crack resistance. AAS winner.
Indeterminate. F1 hybrid 65 days.
How it works
- Buy trial tomatoes and sign up at our Spring Garden Fair
- Grow them in a garden this summer
- Report results using SeedLinked.com or their smartphone app
(After the fair, we will email participants the necessary SeedLinked info.)
Examples of data we will be asking for:
- Date you plant the seedlings
- Date of first ripe tomato
- Flavor of tomato
- Health and vigor of plant
- Productivity (according to your opinion; you won't need to count or weigh the harvest)
How to participate
Growing Requirements
Make sure you have the appropriate conditions to successfully grow tomatoes this summer. The growing space should:
- have reliable access to water
- receive at least 8 hours of sun per day
- provide adequate growing space. Tomatoes need about 2 square feet per plant or a container at least 18 to 24 inches wide and deep per plant.
Purchase seedlings and sign up to learn more
- Look for our Tomato Trial booth.
- About 75 of each of the trial tomato varieties will be available on a first-come basis, at the same price as the other tomato seedlings.
- Ideally participants will grow all three trial tomatoes. If you only have room for one or two of them, you are still welcome to join the trial.
- Sign up for the Tomato Trial email list. We will contact participants to explain how the trial works, how to log results, answer question, let you know about special events, and more.
Plant the seedlings
- Review Growing Great Tomatoes before planting your seedlings.
- Harden off your seedlings
- Hardening off means gradually acclimating plants to outdoor conditions for 4 to 7 days before transplanting.
- Start by placing the plants in a sheltered location like a covered patio. Then expose the young plants to an increasing number of hours of outdoor sunlight until they tolerate at least 6 hours of outdoor conditions.
- When you plant your tomatoes, be sure they are clearly labeled. Tip: Punch a hole in the plant tag and hang it on the tomato cage at eye level for easy reference.
2025 Trial Results
Thank you to participants in our 2025 Tomato Trial. Tomato Green Doctors was well ranked across the board for flavor, vigor, and productivity. This beautiful green-gold cherry tomato is now part of our Spring Garden Fair tomato line up.
Contact us
Have questions or comments? Email us