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.