Harrowsmith Jr – Emma’s Tomato Patch – A Real Wild One

This tomato is truly a wild one. The plant, the production, and the flavour of Matt’s Wild Cherry Tomato is out of control! In my previous post I talked about how productive Yellow Currant Tomato is, and this one is a huge producer too. But it’s different. Found Growing Wild Teresa Arellanos de Mena, an agricultural specialist at Maine School of Agriculture, found this wonder growing wild on her property northeast of Mexico City. She gave some seeds to her colleague, Matt Liebman, who grew them with great success. He passed some seeds on to Johnny’s Selected Seeds, which decided to start selling them after more trialling. They named the tomato after him. Wild and Productive Growth The strong vines of this beauty are wild down to the roots. They sprawl all over the place, being quick to take over. I definitely recommend training this variety. It doesn’t matter—caging or trellising—just watch it closely. Though difficult to tame, the fruit from this monster of a plant are phenomenal. They are small, but mighty in quantity and flavour. In as little as 60 days, and up until the first frost, the plants pump out an abundance of thumbnail sized fruit. The […]

By Emma Biggs

This tomato is truly a wild one. The plant, the production, and the flavour of Matt’s Wild Cherry Tomato is out of control!

In my previous post I talked about how productive Yellow Currant Tomato is, and this one is a huge producer too. But it’s different.

Found Growing Wild

Teresa Arellanos de Mena, an agricultural specialist at Maine School of Agriculture, found this wonder growing wild on her property northeast of Mexico City. She gave some seeds to her colleague, Matt Liebman, who grew them with great success. He passed some seeds on to Johnny’s Selected Seeds, which decided to start selling them after more trialling. They named the tomato after him.

Wild and Productive Growth

The strong vines of this beauty are wild down to the roots. They sprawl all over the place, being quick to take over. I definitely recommend training this variety. It doesn’t matter—caging or trellising—just watch it closely.

Though difficult to tame, the fruit from this monster of a plant are phenomenal. They are small, but mighty in quantity and flavour. In as little as 60 days, and up until the first frost, the plants pump out an abundance of thumbnail sized fruit. The fruit are small in size, but huge in flavour. They’re soft, with a very sweet, full, and intense flavour, high sugar content, and a smooth texture.

Not a Traveller

This tomato is not a traveller – it’s not the best option for school lunches – because it has a thin skin that might crack if they get shaken. It’s best for fresh eating and in salads, or right off the vine. So I recommend eating them soon after picking.

There’s nothing like a fresh tomato, warmed by the sun, eaten straight from the vine, especially if it has a flavour like Matt’s Wild Cherry.

This is such a fantastic variety, one of my favourites!

Grow Your Own

While you don’t often see Matt’s Wild Cherry plants for sale, it’s easy to grow from seed and the seed is widely available. Visit Urban Harvest Seeds or Hawthorn Farm Organic Seeds.

Emma Biggs

Emma Biggs is a gardener and garden communicator who has raised over 130 tomato varieties. Her Toronto garden is the source of many of her stories and the produce that she sells in her neighbourhood. She hosts kids gardening videos and her latest book, Gardening with Emma, helps kids and adults find the fun in growing.

www.emmabiggs.ca