Gardeners near Decorah have three tomato varieties to investigate after visitors to Seed Savers Exchange’s Heritage Farm sampled and ranked 22 entries during a free tasting on Aug. 22, 2026. Rather than choosing one overall winner, participants selected a favorite for each of three common kitchen uses: fresh slicing, cooking and snacking.
The category-based results offer a practical starting point for home growers planning a future crop. Someone hoping to make sauce may want a different tomato than a gardener looking for fruit to eat immediately from the garden, and the tasting connected each winning variety with that intended use.
The three crowd favorites
- For slicing: Bookie
- For cooking: Rizzi Softball Plum
- For snacking: Chocolate Cherry
Bookie received the most support from participants seeking a tomato for fresh slices. Rizzi Softball Plum led the cooking category, making it a variety to research for sauces and other cooked dishes. Chocolate Cherry was the favorite among visitors who preferred eating tomatoes directly from the garden.
The results do not identify one tomato as the best choice for every Decorah-area garden. Growing conditions, recipes and personal preferences can affect which variety performs or tastes best for an individual gardener. The tasting instead introduced visitors to varieties they may not have encountered and produced a focused list for those beginning their research.
Where local gardeners can learn more
Seed Savers Exchange offers additional information for growers interested in the selected varieties. Bookie and Rizzi Softball Plum were directed there for further research, while Chocolate Cherry seeds were listed for purchase through Seed Savers Exchange.
The free event was open to tomato lovers of all ages and formed part of Seed Savers Exchange’s broader seed-preservation work at Heritage Farm near Decorah. The organization’s preservation mission provided the broader context for an event built around sampling, comparing and voting on tomato varieties.
Decorah Bank & Trust Co., Mountain Rose Herbs and Streamworks supported the tasting. Seed Savers Exchange thanked the participants who sampled the tomatoes, shared their opinions and voted.
For gardeners planning a future planting, the locally selected shortlist is straightforward: Bookie for slicing, Rizzi Softball Plum for cooking and Chocolate Cherry for snacking. Those results can help narrow the choices, but the source material does not guarantee that any variety will be the right fit for every garden.