This tomato growing season has been a challenge. It started with weather that was too cold, then turned too hot; it was too dry, then too wet. Then when tomatoes were starting to take shape, there were back-to-back hailstorms.

So I wasn’t sure if the tomatoes on the Midnight Snack plant had a problem or not. They looked bruised, but I left them on the vine just to see what would happen. With a little bit of time, I could tell those dark black-purple spots on the stem end of the fruit weren’t bruises but part of this tomato’s distinct personality.

All-America Selections (AAS) selected Midnight Snack as a national vegetable winner last season. This year I finally had a chance to try the packet of seeds the organization sent. I started the seeds indoors in March and transplanted the starts into the container garden at the beginning of June. They took all of their 70 days to grow to ripe-red with that beautiful black-purple overlay.

It’s easy to see and taste why this tomato was voted a winner by the independent panel of AAS judges. These snack-sized indeterminate tomatoes grow on 5-6 tall vines that definitely needed staking to keep them upright. 

But there was an added surprise. When I removed the green, petal-like part of the flower (the sepal), the tomato revealed a pattern in the shape of a star.

This hybrid cherry tomato is a star in another way, too. The indigo coloring comes from the accumulation of anthocyanin pigment that shows off its healthy antioxidants. Blueberries have this healthy feature and so do other tomatoes, like Indigo Rose. Midnight Snack has a nice balance of sweet-savory flavor that makes them easy to eat fresh off the vine.

Midnight Snack was bred by Jim Irvine for the PanAmerican Seed Company. He says he worked on these tomatoes because he “wanted an indigo tomato he wanted to eat.”

Thanks to Jim, PanAmerican Seed and AAS, a (tomato) star is born.

Fine Gardening Recommended Products

Gardener's Log Book from NYBG

Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs.

This weatherproof five-year log book includes the following features: · Sturdy waterproof cover to protect pages from rain and muddy soil · Lined pages and gridded paper for plotting beds · Five years of 12-month bloom and harvest grids for recording what you planted and when · Authoritative appendices on composting, pruning, pest and disease control, and container gardening · Useful reminders by season on fertilizing, mulching, and transplanting · Space for listing your favorite sources and suppliers.

Buy at Amazon

A.M. Leonard Deluxe Soil Knife & Leather Sheath Combo

Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs.

MULTITASKING DUAL EDGES: a deep serrated edge and a tapered slicing edge ideal for tough or delicate cuts. DURABLE 6-inch stainless steel blade withstands 300 lbs of pressure. TWINE CUTTING NOTCH, DEPTH GAUGE MARKINGS & spear point - no need to switch tools when using this garden knife. LEATHER SHEATH: heavy duty, protective, clip on sheath to keep your knife convenient and secure. LIFETIME WARRANTY.

Buy at Amazon

Berry & Bird Rabbiting Spade, Trenching Shovel

Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs.

Ideal Tool for All Gardeners Use: Our heavy duty trenching shovel is designed by a professional gardening tool designer. Lifetime Durability: This heavy duty drain spade is made of high-quality stainless steel, it is very strong and durable, even if it is used for high-strength work, it will not bend. Ergonomic Wood Handle: The handle of this planting spade is made of ash hardwood harvested from FSC-certified forests and has an ergonomically streamlined design, making it very suitable for everyone's hands. Multi-Use: This digging shovel is generally used for digging trenches, digging holes, transplanting, edging, moving compost, cutting thick turf and furrowing. The sharp blade allows you to cut, scoop, dig, lift and dice in hard soil.

Buy at Amazon