What crop is the Orange Honey Fragrance cherry tomato? Taiwan tomato seed planting methods

Information provided by / Zhong Yalun

"Orange Honey Fragrance" is a new variety of cherry tomato. Its name seems to hold both a warm color and sweetness and fragrance within it. It is the signature crop of Meinong's "winter intercropping."

First, let me explain what "winter intercropping" is. After Meinong's well-known tobacco industry declined, farmers turned one after another to developing rich and diverse winter intercrops, including snap beans, radishes, red beans, chilies, tomatoes, and so on. The season that was originally the second rice crop also, because of frequent typhoons and rain and abundant pests and diseases, was mostly chosen by farmers as a fallow period to let the fields rest, and so over the past decade, agricultural management in the Meinong area has gradually shifted to one rice crop plus one winter intercrop. Starting in early autumn, the fields of Meinong gradually begin to bustle.

In recent years, among Meinong's winter intercrop agricultural operations, "White Jade radish" and "Orange Honey Fragrance cherry tomato" have been the most outstanding. Meinong farmers began planting Orange Honey Fragrance cherry tomatoes eight years ago, and through their own efforts, accumulated experience, and mutual exchange of cultivation and management techniques, it has gradually become a representative high-quality fruit. Because of its unique taste, while the prices of other agricultural products rise and fall, Orange Honey Fragrance cherry tomatoes have been able to remain stable, driving Meinong's agricultural economy.

However, growing good Orange Honey Fragrance cherry tomatoes is truly labor-intensive, because one must wait for the right timing, the right place, and the right people. According to the introduction in the sixth issue of Meinong's representative publication "Yeh Shang Yeh Hsia," the Orange Honey Fragrance cherry tomato fields require great effort from the preparatory work before sowing:

"The field soil must be loose, and for the soil to be broken up loose it must be dry enough. Sometimes just when the waiting is almost done, it suddenly rains, making the farmers' hearts, which were about to relax, become tangled again as they wait. After finally breaking up the field and making the beds, next the soil must be flooded with water for a week. After the water has been mostly absorbed by the soil, then begins building the frames and covering with waterproof cloth. Only after all the preparatory work is done can the tomato seedlings be properly planted." Then, "cherry tomatoes like cool weather, so tomatoes planted in autumn and winter taste better than those planted in spring and summer, but they also very much like to bask in the sun, so in Meinong, where the sun is strong during the day and the temperature drops sharply starting in the evening, it is just right for cherry tomatoes to grow and store sweetness!"

In addition, many farmers diligently develop cultivation secrets, such as feeding the cherry tomatoes fermented milk, because yogurt is rich in protein, has small molecules that are easy to absorb, and can enhance the flavor and sweetness of Orange Honey Fragrance cherry tomatoes. Their sweetness can reach above 10 degrees Brix, with a solid texture and appealing color, and so they are increasingly loved by everyone.

The Orange Honey Fragrance cherry tomatoes that began being harvested in mid-December this year, because of the abnormal rainfall since early autumn, saw output reduced by fifty percent compared with previous years, and quality and sweetness were also affected to some extent. Because the differences in quality between good and poor are so great, in order to let consumers taste truly delicious and tasty Orange Honey Fragrance cherry tomatoes, the Meinong Farmers' Association this year specially implemented a certification mechanism for "high-quality Orange Honey Fragrance tomatoes," recommending excellent farms and high-quality fruit to consumers.

Meinong Farmers' Association Director-General Zhong Qinghui said: "I hope the strings of Orange Honey Fragrance cherry tomatoes, like the color of the winter sun, bring people warmth." Its production season lasts until March next year. This year the Meinong Farmers' Association specially recommends two farms, Meinong Riverbank Tomato Garden and Jieshanyuan, which open their tomato gardens to provide fruit-picking experiences. Find a warm winter day, and take the whole family out to pick fruit together!

[Fruit-Picking Experience]
Meinong Riverbank Tomato Garden: Located beside the Meinong riverbank, where picking tomatoes also lets you enjoy the mountain and river scenery of Meinong.
Jieshanyuan: Growing tomatoes is not only a business, but also a promise and responsibility; being able to know one another is itself a kind of destiny.

Meinong Farmers' Association Director-General Zhong Qinghui (first from left) says that in recent years the farmers engaged in winter intercrops such as "Orange Honey Fragrance cherry tomatoes" in Meinong are mainly young and middle-aged farmers, who need to possess a high degree of market sensitivity and also professional knowledge of the crops they cultivate.