By Kira Hamman

From the Silver Lining department:

The Associated Press reports that, in the wake of the recent salmonella scare, consumers are turning to local farmers for their produce.

Consumers have become concerned about the safety of tomatoes and other vegetables grown far away and shipped thousands of miles and are opting instead for food grown locally. As one woman who began shopping at a local farmers’ market during the scare said, “you Read the rest of this entry »

By Kira Hamman

Four large ripe tomatoes, ideally in different colors:

• ½ cup pitted kalamata olives, halved
• ¼ pound feta cheese
• 2 tbsp. fruity olive oil
• 2 tbsp. red wine vinegar
• Fresh ground black pepper to taste

Chop the tomatoes into bite-sized pieces. Skip the whole peeling and seeding nonsense – it’s all tomato! Place the chopped tomatoes in a bowl.
Add the olives Read the rest of this entry »

By Kira Hamman

If you live in New York, I hope you are visiting the New York Botanical Garden frequently.

What a place!

In addition to all the amazing gardens they grow and all the fascinating classes they offer, they have a number of galleries featuring garden-oriented art. How cool is that?

But best of all, beginning on August 30 one of these galleries will host “Portraits of Historic Tomato Varieties from the Gardens of Amy Goldman,” an exhibition of photographs by Victor Schranger.

For those who don’t already know, Read the rest of this entry »

By Kira Hamman

We recently provided a guide to some of the bugs commonly found destroying tomato crops, so now it’s time to tell you how to control them.

And control them you can, without resorting to poisons, but remember that organic pest control is about just that – control, not total eradication.

Gardens have bugs, period.

We’re trying to keep them from eating everything in sight, not trying to eliminate them from the planet. Enough said.

Larger bugs, like Read the rest of this entry »

By Michelle Fabio

Although many of you aren’t too concerned about the salmonella scare since you’re careful about your tomato sources, for those who would like even more guidance on where to find safe tomatoes, a website called MarketMaker can help.

At MarketMaker, you’ll find a map that highlights participating states.

From there, you can click on a state and search for businesses and markets of agricultural products, including tomatoes, that have been verified as safe sources.

“The local tomato farmers listed on that site are source-verified, so consumers know where the tomatoes came from and how they were grown,” said Dar Knipe, University of Illinois Extension marketing specialist.

MarketMaker describes Read the rest of this entry »

By Michelle Fabio

Normally when I find something interesting and tomato-related on the Internet, I try my best to sum it up for you and then give you a link for more information.

Well this time, I’m going to keep the summary short because you really need to get over to House of Annie and read the post entitled FREE Northern California Tasting Event.

The tomato love truly flows over in the words describing the Berkeley Tie Dye, Beauty King, Pork Chop, and Furry Red Boar varieties of tomatoes developed and grown by Brad, the owner of Wild Boar Farms in Suisun Valley.

According to its website, Wild Boar Farms uses Read the rest of this entry »