Important message for MAGTAG folks, especially newbies
 

Some of you might think you need to have a LOT of tomatoes to enter the MAGTAG tasting contest. This is not the case. Last year, my garden had petered out by the time the festival came around, and all I had to offer were a couple Lemon Boys, a few Stupices, and a handful of Sungolds. Really, only two or three medium tomatoes are all you need, and you can even get away with just one of the large varieties! We can chop the pieces up small so everybody gets to try it.

I personally only grow 12 or 13 plants each year, and each is a different variety.

And although many of us grow unusal heirlooms, standad varieties are welcome! Even if you just have one Better Boy or Lemon Boy or Celebrity plant from Home Depot or Wal-Mart, bring the fruit along. Note that Sungold is a modern hybrid, and always places in the tope ten at MAGTAG.

From one year to the next, the same variety can taste completely different, depending on where it's grown, weather conditions, and fertilization. So everybody has a chance. The tasting isn't really about winning anyway - it's about trying something new that you might want to grow next year.

OK, I'll get off my soapbox now. :)