Tomatopalooza[tm] IV
Since so many are passing through, I thought I'd go ahead and make the announcement for this year's event.
Plan your vacations to come to the beaches of NC and stop by Raleigh for this event! Announcing the fourth annual Tomatopalooza[tm] heirloom tomato tasting! Date: Saturday July 29 Time: 1:00-4:00 PM Location: Umstead Park, Route 70, Raleigh NC (near the Angus Barn restaurant) - The shelter we'll have reserved is the large one on the Route 70 side of Umstead. Turn into the park from Route 70 and go to the end of the road into the large parking area. (About 2 miles) The large shelter is on the east/left side of the parking lot as you come into the area. (On the Pott's Branch Trail on the map) It's ~1500ft from the parking area. Check the link below for park directions, and look for the tomato signs pointing the way. Hosts: Lee Newman and Craig LeHoullier About the tasting: all are encouraged to bring samples of tomatoes to taste from their gardens. We hope to get as many as 200 or more different varieties of tomatoes to taste. The supply of varieties will, of course, be dependent upon what’s ripe on that date! We will supply drinking water, cutting implements, labels, and plates. Any additional contributions (good things to eat, such as Salsas) and other good ideas for activities are welcome! At last year's event we had over 160 different varieties for all to try. About 110 people from NC, SC, GA, VA, KY, OH, and FL came to sample and talk tomatoes with other tomatophiles. Lee |
Hi, Lee! And thanks to Mischka for his nearly immediate service - I suggested this topic, and - voila! - there it is. I am hoping to grow out a number of the weird colored striped varieties that Brad (feraltomato at GW) sent around...Red Boar, Berkeley Tie Dye, etc - I have nearly 20 of them but won't get to all this year (and Reinhard Kraft indicates many are not stable, so they are going to be very unpredictable).
Got most of my hot peppers seeded today (and I now have hot palms and fingertips - those Hab type seeds carry danger!) |
Hi Lee!
I have decided: come h*ll or high water I WILL make it to tomatopalooza this year! For the last two years something came up and prevented my going. Here is the confirmed (tiny!:)) list for 2006: German Head German Johnson Galina's Matt's Wild Cherry Box Car Willie Stupice Aunt Gertie's Gold Aunt Ruby's German Green See you in July!!! Jennifer |
I'll be there for sure. Don't know if the CabbagePatchKid will tag along or not. He's getting to the age he has other thinks on his mind besides Grandpa and tomatoes! Too soon to know what will be available in July.
See you there, Jim |
Great to hear you'll be coming Jim.
I'm starting to get really stoked about it! Just wish I had more room to grow the varieties I would like to try! Lee |
It may be a shorter drive this year!
Thanks Lee for setting up Tomatopalooza[tm] IV. I'm INKING it on the calendar right now.
If everything works out as planned, it should be a much shorter drive for me to attend this year, 15 to 30 MINUTES tops. [i]IF [/i]all the boxes are unpacked in the kitchen by then, and [i]IF [/i]I can locate all the pieces to the Kitchen Aid strainer, I'd be happy to make a bunch of salsa again although there is one even bigger drawback than not having all the parts to the mixer, I most likely will not have ANY plants in the ground this season. Perhaps I can swipe, er, I mean get, a few pounds from you and Craig a few days prior to the event. :wink: |
We are planning on attending this yr from Central Florida.
My oldest son is moving to Apex, NC in the next two weeks, soooo now we have a couple of reasons (excuses) to attend. I will see what I can have ready by that timeframe. I just lost a lot of plants to the recent freeze that were already planted out in the garden for approx 1 month, it hurts, but I do have backups. Looking forward to meeting all you mato heavies. Tony |
Martha,
If I have enough OH's this year, I'll definitely get them to you for some of that awesome salsa! Tony, That's great to hear! We look forward to meeting you as well. Lee |
Here's my current list of sewn varieties that I hope to have at this year's event.
Alpha Pink Andes Horn Ak Traveler Livingston's Beauty Blondokee Cherokee Green Cherokee Purple Cuostralee Divine Maltese Dwarf Stone Earl's Faux Ernesto Grandfather Ashlock Green Giant Hugh's Lime Green Salad Livingston's Marvelous Matchless Nepal Orange Heirloom Stone Globe Red Barn Costoluto Genovese Turkey Chomp Livingston's Gold Ball Golden Queen Sungold (If I can sneak some away from the 4 year old) Santorini Granny Cantrell's German Red Depp's Pink Firefly BWxPolish F3 Kristina Bulgarian #1 Berkeley Tye-Dye Large Barred Boar and New Big Dwarf x Green Giant F1 -> Sneezy |
Add Green Zebra to my list....A friend requested that I grow out some seeds of it so I'll keep a plant or two.
What else are people planning to grow and bring? My mouth is watering already thinking ahead to July :) Jennifer 8) |
Questions
How many tomatoes do you bring of each variety? How many plants of each variety to you plant to get such crop? Thank you for your time... I am on the fence but it looks like I will be there! |
For me, I usually bring whatever I have. 1~10 of a variety.
I mainly only have room for one plant of each variety. That's one way we all get to taste so many different ones. Of course it gets really interesting when you get to taste a variety grown in 3 different places. Amazing how much impact soil has on the taste of a variety. Check out the pictures in the two posts from the 04 and 05 events. That will also show you what to expect. Lee |
If all goes well, here is a small list of what I hope I can bring.
Marianna's Peace * Coustralee* Brandy Boy White Currant (which don't seem right,flowers areHUGE) Qtr Century Goose Creek* Kimberly BK-Big BK-Grape (Santa's Sweets) Better Boy Romanesca * = on grafted rootstock in hopes of larger yields I will do my best to have these available on July 29th, but it IS a long ways off, anything can happen! My fingers are crossed. |
Looks like a nice list Tony. Of course I'll be looking forward to a cusotralee on root stock. Should be interesting to try!
Here's 12 more I hope to find foster homes for, so they'll be at TP IV also. Djenna Lee's Golden Girl Granny Bradley Mayo's Delight Potato Leaf Yellow Pruden's Purple Stick (Checking to see how pure my saved seed is.) Yellow White - Suprisingly flavorfull from TP III Porkchop Beatuy King Yellow Boar Fuzzy Cherokee (Possible Black Heart from Black Krim) Lee |
Lee,
I have a few Hawaiin variety also that are known for their disease tolerances..... Kewalo and Healani. My son just moved to Apex and can possibly foster home a few for you if you like. IF you are looking for a hand growing them, I will hook you guys up. Tony PS... BK-Big and BK-grape are saved seeds from brrrgrrr king. The Grapes are awesome, hoping for same results from the BK-bigs. |
Hi, Lee
I have these varieties started, so hopefully I'll have some of them to bring to Tomatopalooza this year. Looking forward to another delightful day in the park!!! Denise Amish Paste Ananas Noire Andrew Rahart's Jumbo Red Anunt Ruby's German Green Arkansas Traveler Banana Legs Beefmaster (hybrid) Berkeley Tie-Dye BHN-444 Big Zac Black Sea Man Brandywine Sudduth's Brilliant (fromF1) Brown Berry Buck's County (hybrid) Campbell's 1327 Copia Delicious Dombito (hybrid) Dr. Carolyn Earl's Faux Early Harvest Ernesto Fireball Galina's German Johnson Giant Valentine Glacier Gogosha Grandfather Ashlock Great White Green Grape Green Sausage Hawaiian Pineapple Hawaiian Red Cherry Heatwave II (hybrid) Hillbilly Isis Candy Lucky Cross Marvel Stripe Novogogoshary Nyagous Opalka Orange Banana Pineapple Pink Stuffer Ponderosa Pork Chop Red Dwarf (unknown variety) Red Robin Red Zebra Rinaldo Rose Quartz Siletz Silvery Fir Tree Speckled Roman Stupice Sub-Arctic Plenty Summer cider Super Beefsteak(hybrid) Super Bush (hybrid) Super Marmande Super Sioux Vintage Wine Wapsipinicon Peach WinsAll Wisconsin 55 Yellow Brandywine Yellow Stuffer |
So, the other night I was talking to the LOML and just casually said “Ya know, we should think about doing that trip to Williamsburg and Tomatopalooza like we planned last year. It was rally a shame you didn’t get to go and meet all the tomato heads. Err.. I mean you didn’t get to go to Williamsburg.”
She said “Yah, we should think about that. When is it?” I immediately said “July 29th – 1 to 4 pm. at Umstead Park.” And again she said “Yah, we should think about that.” It looks like I may get to make the trip down to Raleigh again this year. :D :D :D |
That would be so cool....fingers crossed! Just think - the chance to taste the Nine Dwarves....some of Brad's unique striped varieties...etc...
Also, imagine another steaming hot Raleigh summer day with the rumble of thunder in the distance. To tell the truth, I can't wait! It is the last event my wife and I will attend before our August adventure to Madagascar to visit our daughter, Sara, who is teaching English for the Peace Corps. |
We're set.
Made the reservation for the shelter today. (Can't be too early!) Jerry, it would be great if you could come down again! Interestingly enough, my DW said to me this morning... "If you want, we could drive to Ohio again this year...." And I got to wondering, could a NC tomato bring home the tasting first prize again! ;) Maybe we'll see.... Lee |
Lee, just a comment or two. It looks like you and Craig are putting together another greet meet! I wish y'all much success. I sure would like to be there! Well, I will in spirit. Maybe I could send some by UPS? Don't hold me to it, but remind me. :-)
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Should be there
I should be there too this year. It seems it keeps getting bigger and bigger!
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Can't Wait
For the past couple of years I've read about the event and wanted to go, but didn't want to drive all that way by myself (5 hours or so). My DH isn't that much into tomatoes. A friend of mine has converted to heirlooms, and caught my tomato-mania. Looks like I've talked her into going with me. So hopefully I will be able to attend this year. Can't wait!
I was a little worried that I may not have any ripe tomatoes by then, but yesterday I noticed small blooms forming on some of my earlier varieties, as well as a few later varieties. So I may even have some tomatoes to contribute. |
Just wondering if Tomatopalooza will be kid friendly? Are there slides, swings etc.. near the pavillion?
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Umstead Park is a state park with lakes, shelters, camp
ground areas, and nature trails. They have guided tours and a visitor's center for learning more about the park and native NC "nature stuff". From that perspective... it's kid friendly, however there is no play ground area.... We welcome everyone of all ages to come, though. Of course, if you drove up from GA on Friday night, you could take the family to the Natural History Museum in downtown Raleigh Saturday morning. My 3.5 and 1.5 year old boys love going there and seeing all the exhibits. (And it's free!) Lee |
I keep watching the airfare. $300~325 from Houston to Raleigh, NC for that weekend.
Is it appropro to show up with ziplock bags and markers to save seeds? :) |
Feldon,
Only if done before they are eaten :arrow: |
Yes, feel free to show up for seed saving! That's half the
fun. Lee |
Dont forget to bring seeds along too.
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I'd love to show up with some really rare and desireable seeds like the two C-Tex varieties.
Either way, I'd bring something. I could make a couple of lemon pound cakes. |
Tomatopalooza t-shirts
Hey, Lee
Will t-shirts be available this year? Denise |
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