Thinking of starting a tomato tasting event in Kansas City

huntoften · May 6, 2009

I'm thinking of setting up a local tomato tasting event here in Kansas City in late August. Any of you out there that have started up one of these have any advice? I was thinking of using a local park shelter, providing iced tea and maybe lemonade for folks that attend.

Should we have a voting process of sorts to decide which are favorites and which are "spitters"?

Any tips and suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

feldon30 · May 7, 2009

You can check out the SETTFest forum to see how we started out. Also the CHOPTAG and other forums all have insight here and there on how to stage a tomato tasting.

There had been talk for a couple of years about doing a S.E. Texas event but it never came to fruition. I admit I did not look back at what had been discussed (especially on Dave's Garden). I just picked a date on the calendar that seemed logical to me, talked to Suze a lot about it, we reserved a park pavilion, and then just started broadcasting it. We showed up having no idea who would be there and it was a decent success.

The first year, we had a lot of folks who brought food items, salads, stuff to drink, etc. I did go nuts the first year bringing pulled pork, cooking up bacon, and made a pasta salad with fresh tomatoes. I ended up being too busy to really enjoy the event and really didn't taste many varieties.

The main problem with that location was the restrooms were in horrific condition. Also the tables were marked up with graffiti and rude language so someone ran out and bought tablecloths.

So here's my planning checklist:

Choose a good weekend that makes sense harvest-wise and does not overlap any major events
I'd probably go with Saturday to not conflict with church
Do a through site visit of your location as far as parking, especially bathroom facilities, and accessibility (some folks do not like to drive on highways anywhere near a city)
Talk to the park service or whoever owns the property at least 2-3 months in advance and get a permit. I would describe it as a "picnic with friends" rather than making it out to be a "public tomato tasting". We had some miscommunication the first year with the park people thinking it was going to be this big money-making production.

Shopping checklist:

bread
mayo
TP
paper towels
tablecloths (plastic, paper, or the real deal up to you)
weights or strips of wood to hold down the tablecloth (tape doesn't work real well)
pitcher/jug of iced tea
sodas regular and diet in an ice chest
salt, pepper
plastic forks/knives
real knives for slicing tomatoes
coated paper plates or plastic plates
blank stickers for labeling plates (if they are not white)
sharpie marker to label varieties

If you are an early bird, you could get up early that morning and cook up some pasta (spirals or penne), rinse it with cold water to chill it, and then put it in ziplock bags to bring with you to the event along with kalamata black olives, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and cucumbers and then you get the fixins for Morgan's classic pasta salad.

You could also optionally fry up a bunch of bacon, let it cool, and bring it in ziplocks to the event. You might want to bring something for the kids to snack on such as PF goldfish.

The first year we tried to do the whole judging thing and it is just too much. First, nobody is going to taste 150 varieties in one sitting. Later on, Suze and I did a grueling tasting of 47 varieties and I don't think I ate a tomato for 2 days after that.

Keeping track of scoring for a lot of people is just not workable.

One idea I had which we have not implemented is to make up a poster board and say everyone can write up 2 varieties on the board that they really like. Each person puts their initials or little symbol next to the variety. If their variety is already up on the board, they just initial after it. That way you get the best 2-3 varieties of the event.

I'm sure I'm forgetting something.

huntoften · May 7, 2009

Wow...that's a great starting plan! Now to come up with a catchy name for the event....hmmmm!

Kansas City Love Apple Luncheon?
Tomatoes Gone Wild?
Tomato Tasting Time in the Land of Toto?
Tornado Tomatoes?

feldon30 · May 7, 2009

Be careful not to use TömätöFëst or Tömätö Fëst in the name. Tomato Festival is fine.

May 6, 2009	#1
huntoften Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Kansas CIty Posts: 560	Thinking of starting a tomato tasting event in Kansas City I'm thinking of setting up a local tomato tasting event here in Kansas City in late August. Any of you out there that have started up one of these have any advice? I was thinking of using a local park shelter, providing iced tea and maybe lemonade for folks that attend. Should we have a voting process of sorts to decide which are favorites and which are "spitters"? Any tips and suggestions would be greatly appreciated! __________________ Kansas City, Missouri Zone 5b/6a

May 7, 2009	#2
feldon30 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2006 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 5,346	You can check out the SETTFest forum to see how we started out. Also the CHOPTAG and other forums all have insight here and there on how to stage a tomato tasting. There had been talk for a couple of years about doing a S.E. Texas event but it never came to fruition. I admit I did not look back at what had been discussed (especially on Dave's Garden). I just picked a date on the calendar that seemed logical to me, talked to Suze a lot about it, we reserved a park pavilion, and then just started broadcasting it. We showed up having no idea who would be there and it was a decent success. The first year, we had a lot of folks who brought food items, salads, stuff to drink, etc. I did go nuts the first year bringing pulled pork, cooking up bacon, and made a pasta salad with fresh tomatoes. I ended up being too busy to really enjoy the event and really didn't taste many varieties. The main problem with that location was the restrooms were in horrific condition. Also the tables were marked up with graffiti and rude language so someone ran out and bought tablecloths. So here's my planning checklist: Choose a good weekend that makes sense harvest-wise and does not overlap any major events I'd probably go with Saturday to not conflict with church Do a through site visit of your location as far as parking, especially bathroom facilities, and accessibility (some folks do not like to drive on highways anywhere near a city) Talk to the park service or whoever owns the property at least 2-3 months in advance and get a permit. I would describe it as a "picnic with friends" rather than making it out to be a "public tomato tasting". We had some miscommunication the first year with the park people thinking it was going to be this big money-making production. Shopping checklist: bread mayo TP paper towels tablecloths (plastic, paper, or the real deal up to you) weights or strips of wood to hold down the tablecloth (tape doesn't work real well) pitcher/jug of iced tea sodas regular and diet in an ice chest salt, pepper plastic forks/knives real knives for slicing tomatoes coated paper plates or plastic plates blank stickers for labeling plates (if they are not white) sharpie marker to label varieties If you are an early bird, you could get up early that morning and cook up some pasta (spirals or penne), rinse it with cold water to chill it, and then put it in ziplock bags to bring with you to the event along with kalamata black olives, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and cucumbers and then you get the fixins for Morgan's classic pasta salad. You could also optionally fry up a bunch of bacon, let it cool, and bring it in ziplocks to the event. You might want to bring something for the kids to snack on such as PF goldfish. The first year we tried to do the whole judging thing and it is just too much. First, nobody is going to taste 150 varieties in one sitting. Later on, Suze and I did a grueling tasting of 47 varieties and I don't think I ate a tomato for 2 days after that. Keeping track of scoring for a lot of people is just not workable. One idea I had which we have not implemented is to make up a poster board and say everyone can write up 2 varieties on the board that they really like. Each person puts their initials or little symbol next to the variety. If their variety is already up on the board, they just initial after it. That way you get the best 2-3 varieties of the event. I'm sure I'm forgetting something. __________________ [SIZE="3"]I've relaunched my gardening website -- [B]TheUnconventionalTomato.com[/B][/SIZE] * [I][SIZE="1"]*I'm not allowed to post weblinks so you'll have to copy-paste it manually.[/SIZE][/I]

May 7, 2009	#3
huntoften Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Kansas CIty Posts: 560	Wow...that's a great starting plan! Now to come up with a catchy name for the event....hmmmm! Kansas City Love Apple Luncheon? Tomatoes Gone Wild? Tomato Tasting Time in the Land of Toto? Tornado Tomatoes? __________________ Kansas City, Missouri Zone 5b/6a

May 7, 2009	#4
feldon30 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: May 2006 Location: Rock Hill, SC Posts: 5,346	Be careful not to use TömätöFëst or Tömätö Fëst in the name. Tomato Festival is fine. __________________ [SIZE="3"]I've relaunched my gardening website -- [B]TheUnconventionalTomato.com[/B][/SIZE] * [I][SIZE="1"]*I'm not allowed to post weblinks so you'll have to copy-paste it manually.[/SIZE][/I]