Tomato Berries: Heart-Shaped Tomatoes Are Here!
By Michelle Fabio
I would bet that many of us tomato lovers have looked at certain cherry tomatoes and thought they resembled hearts.
Maybe at the time we thought it was just our pure adoration of tomatoes talking, but now when you look at a mini-tomato, you just may be seeing the symbol of love in our favorite fruit.
The award-winning “Tomato Berries” by Tokita Seed Company are, indeed, heart-shaped and are being featured in restaurants throughout Japan.
And they may soon be found in a market or eating establishment as the little love tomatoes made a great impression at an international fruit fair in Berlin, Germany earlier this year; they were named the world’s third most revolutionary product.
Tokita Seed’s president, Iwao Tokita, came up with the new tomato about four years ago, but he was unhappy with the shape. He considered it a complete failure and even “rotten.”
But then his daughter saw them and convinced him that they were actually quite cute, and the inventor took his new tomato on the road—and was greeted with nothing but love in Germany.
Are you hearting the new Tomato Berries?
Source: Saitama seed company puts some heart into ‘rotten’ tomatoes
June 5th, 2008 at 8:36 am
What a great way to dress up a salad plate!
June 5th, 2008 at 12:33 pm
I hope it’s not long before we can get a chance to try these out. I’m so glad you told us about them.
June 5th, 2008 at 10:27 pm
I want, I want.
June 6th, 2008 at 4:19 am
I hope they come over soon too! Too cute to miss
August 5th, 2008 at 8:54 pm
I think these are the tomatoes I tested for a Garden Club magazine. Only 2 out of 10 seeds germinated but we got hundreds and hundreds of tomatoes from each plant and each plant grew over 5 feet high. They were called cherry-berry tomatoes and were from Japan. We saved some seeds so we could grow them this year cause we thought they were the best cherry tomatoes we ever had. I wanted only two plants, but 39 seeds germinated so now every one we know that has a garden also has cherry-berry tomatoes.
August 6th, 2008 at 1:34 am
Oh how great Kathy! Thanks so much for sharing this info…and congratulations on finding yourself a fabulous cherry tomato
October 9th, 2009 at 3:14 pm
amazing Kathy ! seeds from F1 material … you are the first, as far as I know ..
April 28th, 2010 at 7:20 pm
This is the third year we are growing these tomatoes from seeds we saved. We only wanted a few but about 60 sprouted.So again everyone that we know that has a garden will get some and maybe I’ll sell some at my daughter-in-laws rummage. We really like these cause they don’t split like other cherry tomatoes and seem to last alot longer in bowls without rotting. and they taste good too.
May 22nd, 2010 at 2:12 am
Kathy A.: So happy to finally get some firsthand info on these little guys. I fell in love with a picture of them and found a source for some plants. I’ve put them in Topsy-Turvy planters; but have them in the greenhouse, because our nights still drop into the 30-40’s. Do you have any “helpful” hints for raising them? And, are their skins tough? Would appreciate any growing tips you can give.
Thank you for any help you might provide.
Happy gardening!!!
Linda
May 22nd, 2010 at 3:25 am
PS: Me again; Are these tomatoes determinate or indeterminate?
Thanks again.