The Great Tomato Taste Off at Quail Hill Farm 2026
September 1, 2026
Our thanks from the farm crew to Jane Weissman and her team of volunteers for making the 19th Great Tomato Taste Off a tremendous success.
Jane's dedication to the farm and to this wonderful showcase of the farm's tomatoes is truly remarkable --- from coordinating every little detail and pulling together a great team to make this even so special — and we are forever grateful!
The following written by Jane goes into detail of the day!
Saturday, August 29th dawned bright, dry and clear with a gentle breeze wafting across Quail Hill fields — a perfect day for the 19th GREAT TOMATO TASTE-OFF. It was a busy morning — approximately 175 people wandered from table to table, tasting and rating the cherries, sauce/pastes, and slicers in all their glorious colors: red, pink, yellow, orange, purple and green.Many families and friends collaborated on their ratings, and 106 sheets were turned in and tabulated — easily accomplished thanks to a new computer system created for us by Huw Richards.
Here are the top-rated tomatoes:
Sungold is # 1 — followed closely by Yellow Brandywine, Matt’s Wild Cherry, Sungreen, and Black Cherry. Hot on their heels are Green Zebra, Aunt Ruby’s German Green, Amish Paste, Super Sweet 100, and Berkeley Pink Tie-Dye.
While the usual suspects continue to delight our taste buds, there were two significant surprises. Making the top ten list were two write-ins: the cherry Sungreen and the sauce Amish Paste.That so many people chose to taste/rate/write them in is pretty amazing.In fact, number of people who did so is nearly equal to the numbers for categories on the official rating sheet.
By category, the top-rated tomatoes were Sungold (cherry), Amish Paste (sauce), Big Beef (red), Berkeley Pink Tie-Dye (pink), Yellow Brandywine (yellow), Paul Robeson (purple) and Green Zebra (green).
A bushel of thanks goes first and always to….
Madi and her terrific team — Chesa, Bryn, Summer, Mads, Tom, Dov, Layla, and Sal — Quail HiIl farmers who cultivated such a tasty and varied selection of tomatoes.There were 45 varieties in total.This hardworking team harvested Town Lane tomatoes to augment those grown on Birch Hill and shouldered such pesky tasks as transporting tables/chairs, filling/transporting water buckets, setting up the event space (thanks Bryn and Sal!) and cleaning up.
Many bushels of thanks go to Quail Hill volunteers and friends whose unstinting help made the Great Tomato Taste-Off a great success:
Ellen Fries, Melanie Woods, Andrew Minkow, Steve Frankel, Pam Lotenberg, India Northrop, Valerie King, Elizabeth and Eleanor Jackson, Michele Finder, Karen Newirth and Kevin Coffey — Friday’s cheerful, efficient team of tomato harvesters who worked hard on a very humid morning.
Sue and Joe Petersen and Jack Hassid who washed all the buckets and bins early Friday morning.
Gordian Raacke, Rand Stoll, Yvette Debow, Lois Vecchio, Rosie Smith, Becky Goldberg, Ellen, Susan Cole and Charlotte Sasso who reported Saturday morning at 7:30 for set-up, arranging the tasting and info tables so beautifully.They were helped by early reporting tomato and welcome/sales/bread table volunteers.
Sue P, Susan, Melanie Woods, Kathy Masters, Eileen O’Reilly, Nancy Nagle, Gabi Raacke, and Fran Bermanzohn (and Landon)— with helpful assists from Charlotte — who staffed the tomato tables, keeping tasters constantly supplied with bite-sized nibbles, no small feat considering the greater than usual number of attendees.
Becky, Charlotte, Valerie, Madelaine Haberman, Sarabelle Prince, Julianna Crombie, and Peconic Land Trusts’ Liliana who welcomed the tasters, managed the sales table, and kept everyone plied with bread and water to clear tasters’ palates.
Carissa's Bakery, whose generous donation of baguettes, not only cleansed our palates, but gained lots of new fans.
Peconic Land Trust’s Yvette Debow, Erin Plitt and Bridget Martinez who provided valuable support by printing fact & rating sheets and harvesting/tasting labels as well as providing/ordering/delivering tables and various supplies. Thanks, too, to Becky, Charlotte, Rand and Sue who shared their pix with us.
THANK YOU, ALL!
- Jane Weissman