Heritage Harvest Festival, Charlottesville, VA, Sept 2015

[Ken B]

Coming up next week! Tomatoes + peppers (+ some okras and herbs) will be out for tasting on Sat, 9/21.


I'll be giving my usual talk on fall/winter gardening on Fri 9/20 at 3:30 PM. Rodger's hosting the seed swap on Saturday starting at 10 AM.


There aren't any tomato themed talks this year, but I'm hoping to get to go to John Coykendall's talk on Saturday at 1 PM.


I'll be at the SESE booth on Saturday for most of the day if anyone wants to say hi!

[roper2008]

If I lived closer I would go again. I went 2014 or 2015.

[Ken B]

Hope it works out for you to go again sometime!

(And, hoping it'll work out sometime for us to get out there and say hi to some of you Virginia Beach folks!)

[Ken B]

Weather's looking good for Saturday, 86 and sunny!

We're getting our first cool almost-fall weather -- 50 F tonight, 45 F tomorrow night -- so to keep tomato flavors from getting affected by the colder nights, we're going ahead and harvesting all the tomatoes for the festival tasting today, and getting them inside.

[Ken B]

Really nice festival this year! The weather was great, nice turnout, and folks seemed to have a good time. I was busy enough talking with folks at the SESE booth that I didn't get out and about -- wasn't able to get to any of the talks.

Will try to post a list in the next few days of favorite tomato tasting varieties that folks liked (away visiting family right now, don't have notes with me!)

[KarenO]

Sounds great Ken. Interested in hearing which tomatoes were most popular for flavour
KarenO

[Ken B]

Tasting favorites = Black Cherry, Cherokee Purple, Coyote, Everglades, Garden Peach, Green Zebra, Matt's Wild Cherry, Mr. Fumarole, Mrs. Houseworth, Yellow Bell

[MrsJustice]

I missed the Heritage Harvest Festival again in Charlottesville Virginia. I am just working too hard, especially with the grandkids not wanting to put on their Hulu or Native clothing to dance with me around the Beautiful Native Fruits and Vegetables.

Maybe next year, Amen!!

Please Pray that I can just be free to farm and dance in 2020.


I miss you-all.

[MrsJustice]

I forgot to tell you "Tomatoes and Rutabagas' make great soups and stress with Cheese on top, Amenly Good!

[MrsJustice]

Originally Posted by fonseca

I thoroughly enjoyed the festival! This was my first time going since I moved to Raleigh. Great job on the tasting. I found several varieties new to me that I look forward to growing next year.

I spent a lot of time waiting to look for seeds, and it was difficult to tell which varieties didn't have seeds available, or if a careless peruser had put a packet in the wrong place and covered them up.

My favorite by far was the Pisa Date. Fantastic little tomato with lots of sweetness and full tomato flavor. Bought several packs. My brother does not like raw tomatoes, so even he was surprised that he liked this one.

Runners up:

-Chocolate cherry: very similar to black cherry in flavor and appearance, which I grew this year and it will return for sure. I would have purchased seeds if they were available.

-Tropic: acceptable (above average) flavor, advertized as highly disease-resistant so I want to find seeds. Did not see them on the rack.

-Mountain Magic: Good flavor and size for salads. Was told seeds were available but did not see any.

-Bisigano #2: Excellent flavor and texture. If this is a paste tomato, it's the first good one I've ever had. Did not see seeds. It wants to be my pizza sauce.

-Dr. Carolyn: I grew this one years ago and enjoyed it, but didn't save seeds. Did not see seeds on the rack.

-Cherokee Green: I have grown Cherokee Purple for 9 years in a row. I had no idea how different the green cultivar was in flavor. Has a lot of bite, very acidic taste but delicious. I think it would make a great salsa. Bought seeds!

Matt's Wild Cherry: I thought this one would taste like Mexico Midget, but Matt's has a sweeter, more subtle flavor. Bought seeds.

There were a lot of other fantastic tomatoes, but these were the ones that were new to me that I really liked.

Finally, the Doe Hill pepper was so delicious I had to go back and try it again. Did not see seeds, but I will grow this next year for sure. It was sweet with a very complex flavor. This will replace Paradicsom Alaku Sarga Szentes Pepper in my garden if it yields better. It is that good.

It is good to find Pictures of Heirloom Tomatoes and Cherry Tomatoes displayed in Bushel Baskets. They Look Good.

It is good to still learn from them, Amen!