SF Bay Area Tomato Tasting Event
 

Hello all

I'm organizing an organic, heirloom tomato tasting event, called Tomato Bash, on Saturday, the 26th of September, between 1 and 4pm at the Picchetti Winery in Cupertino, CA (more information available at [url]http://www.tomatobash.org)[/url].

We will have over 30 heirloom tomato varieties for tasting from select, local farms. Here are some of the varieties that will be present:

[FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial]Marvel Stripe
Cherokee Purple
Striped German
Ox Heart
Brandywine
[/FONT]Yellow Brandywine
[FONT=Verdana, Helvetica, Arial]Omar
Evergreen
German Green
Great White
Persimmon
Vintage Wine
Green Zebra
Black Plum
Marvel Streaked
[/FONT]Crimson Sprinter
Hess
Purple Calabash
Stupice

Yellow pear
Sungold

We will also have some of the new Heirloom varieties developed by the Wild Boar Fams ([url]http://www.wildboarfarms.com/)[/url]. Finger food will be provided to clean the palate and drinks and wine will be available for purchase from the winery.


I'm inviting any home growers to showcase their tomatoes as well. I think it will be interesting to see the difference in flavor, if any, between the same varieties grown by farmers and gardeners. If anybody knows that they will have at least 3lb of a given variety available around the 26th and would like to participate, please contact me asap (3lb would be more or less equal to 3 large, slicing tomatoes). I would love to have home gardeners represented at the event (I'll be showcasing my own tomatoes for sure :D).

Admission is $23 for an adult and $10 for kids (7 - 14) with online registration ($27 and $12 at the door). Younger children come free. There is also a discount for those bringing tomatoes for tasting: $11 adult admission with 1 - 3 varieties, free admission with 4 or more varieties (again, at least 3lb each).

This is a not for profit event organized by gardening and tomato enthusiasts to fund a gardening, organic foodie and permaculture education and support 403c nonprofit foundation. We are still looking for volunteers to help with the event as well, please contact me if interested.

Hope to see you there and please spread the word!

Thank you.
Lidia Marchioni

hmmmm, that right down the street for me, thinking about it. I grew some interesting and new varieties this year but my crop has really petered out as of late.

Damon

I have but a sliver of soil between concrete patio and a fence where I grow some tomatoes. They are coming very slowly this year. Some of my friends and family were kind enough to let me plant tomatoes at their homes. Thus I harvest in San Mateo, through Mountain View to Sunnyvale. My friends have tomatoes, I get tomatoes, works for everyone!

I only have a few varieties though (Striped German, Cherokee Purple and Green Zebra)... always curious what other people like and why. What varieties do you grow?

Lidia

Lidia,

I grow quite a few heart shaped varieites. Anna Russian, Kosovo, Ukrainian Heart etc. I grow hearts because they are very meaty with fewer seeds and just incredible rich tastes. Green Doctors was a geat tomato this year, cherry sized green when ripe, just fantastic.

Damon

I only have Ox Heart that would compare... Haven't even heard about your varieties. Care to bring some of them to the event? Judging by my plants, I will have Ox Heart available for tasting next Saturday!

Lidia

Just fyi, the event was great - we had so many varieties of tomatoes that we didn't even manage to cut up all of them, with 2 - 3 people working on it for 2 hours! We also had Marianne, a Master Gardener, showcase 4 varieties she grows herself, and her tomatoes were people's favourite overall. There was a tomato/watermelon/mint flavoured ice cream as well as caramel balsamic, and rosemary ice creams, and blackberry cabernet sorbet (YUM!). We had a surprise guest, Ethan, who played a mellow guitar music for the whole 3 hours, Steve with his heirloom ketchups and everything set under ancient oaks - all in all it was a very enjoyable event.

Hope more tomatovillans can join us next year!
Lidia

Hope someone took some photos - would love to see some. ;)

We were too busy cutting and slicing - we had so many tomato varieties, two or three boxes didn't make it to the tables... Sadly, no time for photos. I'll check around with others. Next year, we will certainly need more volunteers.

Lidia