End of Summer Seed Exchange!

Thank you all for coming to our semi annual Seed Exchange.  We had ample tomatoes to taste, with some varieties repeated from different growers – interesting to see how location makes a difference.  It’s all in your soil!  (And I need to work on improving mine. 😉  Here are a few of the tomato varieties we sampled:

And more varieties:

The Indigo Apple had actually an interesting flavour.  I would not choose it if I had a limited space, but it’s certainly interesting enough to grow as a display and curiosity item.  You can see hints of blueberry blue on its skin in the photo above.

While most of us carefully save seeds in separate containers, label them and let them ferment a little, others like to be surprised with what they grow.  It makes for an interesting art piece.  😉

We swapped some seeds and I’ll be curious to try new variety of carrots.  If you like what you see, come and join us next time around – in February 2017!

Come to End of Summer Seed Exchange!

It may be a little late for starting your Winter garden at the end of August but the climate here is so forgiving, we should be still all right.  We are going to have our semi annual Seed Exchange on the 27th of August, from 2 till 4pm at the usual Cannery Park in Sunnyvale.  Please come along and share your seeds or starts, or edible weeds, as may be!  I’m eating a lot of Purslane this year, as it is popping everywhere in my backyard.  Let’s see what other people grew this Summer and what they are planting for winter; let’s learn from each other.

This year has proven to be pretty good for tomatoes so far and hopefully it will hold true till the end of August.  We should have a nice heirloom tomato sampling at the exchange, so please bring a few of your favourite varieties for tasting or anything that did well in your garden.  Sharing is the theme!  I will have the usual lemonade and simple munchies.

TomatoBash 2012

Savoring the taste of Summer!

Best Tasting Tomato Contest:

Varieties voted the tastiest by our guests:

First Place:

Sweet Beverly
(Wild Boar Farms)
Tequilla Red
(Willow Glen Farm)

Second Place:

Porkchop
(Wild Boar Farms)

Third Place:

Little Green Salad
(Full Circle Farm)

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Our Sponsors:

• Girasole Vineyards
• Maple Creek Winery
• Whole Foods

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What you sampled at the event:

Heirloom Tomatoes from:

Full Circle Farms

Wild Boar Farms

Happy Boy Farm

Yummy Tummy Farms

Willow Glen Farm
Tasty Bits from:

Frantoio Olive Oil

Heirloom Ketchup

JoAnne and Jimmy (Tomato Sushi)

Sonomic
Other Yummies:

Fiorello’s Ice Cream

Hare Hollow’s Olive Oils and Vinegars

Olivas del Oro Olive Oils and Olives

Olives from Good Faith Farm
Music:

Jack Cutter

This Event:

TomatoBash!
September 22nd 2012
noon – 5pm
Memorial Park
Cupertino

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Special thanks go to:

Chefs: Hannah Scherzer, JoAnne and Jimmy;

Vendors: Frantoio Olive Oil, Heirloom Ketchup, Yummy Tummy Farms and Sonomic;

Master Gardener: Jamie Chen;

Our Volunteers: Sawako Yoshimura, Susana Craig, Ron Miller, Rose Quaihoi, Carol, Emma, Alyssa Jacobson, Rebecca Manchester plus Rini, Irene, Patric and Joey from Lynbrook High School ;

Logistics: Rob Orlovic.

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TomatoBash 2011

Savoring the last taste of Summer!

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Best Tomato Contest

Varieties voted the tastiest by our guests:

Farms Category:

Black from Tula

Gardeners Category:

Lollipop

Other runner up varieties:

Japanese Black Truffle  Berkeley Tie-Dye
Sunglold (yes, a hybrid!)

* We would like to note, that all the Isis Candy disappeared early on, so we are not sure about the honesty of our voters… 😉

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Mystery Tomatoes

The two varieties displayed were:

• small, red: Spoon
• yellow, fuzzy: Wapsipinicon Peach

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Chef Recipes:

Tomato Chutney

Tomato Jam

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What you sampled at the event:

Heirloom Tomatoes from:

Full Circle Farms

Wild Boar Farms

Lindencroft Farm

Happy Boy Farm

Yummy Tummy Farms
Other Yummies:

Heirloom Ketchup

Fiorello’s Ice Cream

Hare Hollow’s Olive Oils and Vinegars

Olivas del Oro Olive Oils and Olives

Oils of Paicines

Olives from Good Faith Farm
Music:

Chris Hanlin

 

This Event:

TomatoBash!
September 24th 2011
1 – 4pm
Picchetti Winery
Cupertino

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Special thanks go to:

Chefs: Hannah Scherzer, Nick Tovik and Amy Sutor for teasing and pleasing our palate;

Vendors: Heirloom Ketchup and Yummy Tummy Farms for enterntaining our guests at the event;

Our Volunteers: Sawako Yoshimura, Susana Craig, Ken and Carol, David Braunstein, Colette Torr, Elena Ponce, Camille Campbell, Ron Miller and Lian Lu for their tremendous help before, during and after the festival;

Logistics: and lastly to Rob Orlovic for helping with the overall organization of the event.

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TomatoBash

TomatoBash 2010

The time was early afternoon on a hot, Indian Summer day.   The oaks provided much needed shade and the chefs – gourmet dishes.

Recipes, by the Chefs:

• Heirloom Tomato and Polenta Tart
• Tomato Jam

 

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What you sampled at the event:

Heirloom Tomatoes from:

One seed to many

Full Circle Farms

Wild Boar Farms

Other Yummies:

Heirloom Ketchup

Fiorello’s Ice Cream

Hare Hollow’s Olive Oils and Vinegars

Olivas del Oro Olive Oils and Olives

Music:

Chris Hanlin

 

Chef Jef Piazzon and Gary Stockdale. Recipes: Heirloom Tomato and Polenta Tart Tomato Jam

Special thanks go to:

Patricia MacCracken, for providing the bulk of the tomatoes (from One Seed to Many) and enormous help at the event;

Chefs: Jefrey Piazzon, Barry Medford, Cameron Hamilton for their spectacular creations and professionalism;

Amy Sutor, Stephanie Adams, Gary Stockdale, Debra Eskinazi, Sawako Yoshimura, Jan Ducha for their help before, during and after the festival;

Farms: One Seed to Many, Full Circle Farms and Wild Boar Farms for providing their delicious tomatoes;

and lastly to Rob Orlovic for helping with the overall organization and logistics of the event.

Tomato closeup photos curtesy of Dish by Trish

Our first Tomato Bash was a blast!

TomatoBash, an organic, heirloom tomato tasting event, took place on the 26th of September 2009.

We had over 40 varieties of Heirloom Tomatoes, different heirloom ketchups (and their maker on site), gourmet vinegars and oils from Hare Hollow, home made heirloom tomato sauce, and some exotic and delicious flavoured ice creams that were an instant hit with the crowd in that last, hot weekend of 2009 (e.g. tomato/watermelon/mint flavor). To acompany tasting efforts, our guest Ethan was playing mellow, acoustic guitar music. Master Gardener, Marianne, won everybody’s praise for her delicious tomatoes and abundant gardening tips. Everyone seemed to have a really good, relaxed time sampling tomatoes and sipping wine under the ancient oak trees. It was so nice, I’ll be looking forward to organizing the event again next year!

Heirloom tomatoes for tasting were provided by the following farms:

• Bountifull Garden Foundation
• Full Belly Farm
• Full Circle Farm
• Wild Boar Farms

Heirloom tomatoes are “everything supermarket tomatoes wish they could be—juicy, intense, and full of flavor” according to Eric Rupert from Fine Cooking.  The variety in their color indicates the variety in their taste, from citrus undertones to hints of smoky flavors.  Heirlooms are also open pollinated, meaning seeds of the parent plants will produce new generations of the same plants.  Read more on why we are tasting Tomatoes.