“Unfortunately,” said Tyler Rohrer, “you have to accept the fact that these tomatoes are softer at maturity than the ones you may be used to. However, there is absolutely nothing like the sweetness and taste of a Jet Star. Nothing compares to it.”
Tyler owns and runs the Tomato Barn on Penn Street in Washington Boro with his wife, Jen, and is one of the last farms growing Jet Stars.
Jen’s dad, Steve Funk, who likes to say, “Most people today do not know what a good tomato should taste like,” got it all started in the 1970s, with the farm and Tomato Barn. He had a large wholesale business of vine-ripened, tasty tomatoes until the mid-1980s. Then, wholesalers stopped buying just about any variety that was soft at maturity, cracked or not firm to the touch.
Funk literally prayed for help before he went out of business. He started a small roadside stand to sell directly to the public and got a big boost when WGAL, TV’s weather director Joe Calhoun broadcast a segment on the Washington Boro Tomato Festival from the site. Suddenly, the Tomato Barn was discovered by locals and tourists who were looking for a tasty tomato.
