By Michelle Fabio

As reported by Jennifer Amato in the North-South Brunswick Sentinel, one corner of New Jersey is being attacked by 4-pound heirloom tomatoes.

OK, maybe they are more like welcome guests in Jim and Lynn Nicoletti’s backyard, which holds three 8-foot tomato plants.

Two of the largest tomatoes have weighed 4 pounds and three and a half pounds.

Jim Nicoletti has a few secrets for growing such large heirlooms. One is about watering: “I realized if I stopped watering the plants and started watering the roots, they grow better.”

Another thing that helps his tomatoes is Read the rest of this entry »

By Michelle Fabio

New Jersey has long been known for its fabulous tomatoes—we don’t call it the Garden State for nothing you know.

But now thanks to Violet Packing of Williamstown, consumers will be able to get Jersey Fresh tomatoes in the winter as well.

In cans, that is.

Six South Jersey farmers (Chip Katona, Joseph Leone, Ian Baitinger, Randy Dickinson, Michael Brooks and Edward Brynes) out of Burlington, Gloucester, Salem and Cumberland counties, will provide the tomatoes and Violet Packing, New Jersey’s only remaining tomato packer, will do Read the rest of this entry »

By Michelle Fabio

OK, let’s put aside that we all know that the tomato is technically a fruit.

As the supporter of a bill that would make the tomato the New Jersey state vegetable, Assemblyman Michael Doherty (R-Warren) says, “Most people consider the tomato to be a vegetable. I don’t think it’s a deal-buster at the end of the day.”

The bill was originally introduced in 2005 after the tomato lost out as the state’s fruit to the blueberry the year before, but died in the State Senate. Assemblyman Doherty is hopeful this time around, and indeed, Bill A353 is full of reasons why the tomato should hold a place of official honor in New Jersey, including the fact that the Garden State is among the top 10 producers of tomatoes in the country and is home to the famous Jersey and Rutgers tomatoes.

But there’s also mention of a little-known connection that New Jersey holds with the tomato— Read the rest of this entry »

By Michelle Fabio

New Jersey is known for its tasty tomatoes, and the Ramapo, named after a New Jersey Indian tribe and developed at Rutgers University in 1968, is reportedly one of the best.

And now it’s back after a 20-year absence thanks to eight years of research, including countless taste tests by willing subjects.

Back in Israel that is.

This is thanks to the “Jersey Tomato Working Group,” which is comprised of tomato enthusiasts from a variety of disciplines from economy to horticulture. The group chose a seed company in Israel to help develop the Ramapo at a reasonable price, and earlier this month nearly 600,000 of the seeds Read the rest of this entry »

By Michelle Fabio

Soon the New York Giants will be playing the Green Bay Packers in the NFC championship game and there’s more than a spot in the Super Bowl at stake.

There’s also a little matter of tomatoes.

New Jersey Governor Jon Corzine has pledged to send Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle a case of Jersey fresh tomatoes should his Giants fall to the Pack. New York Governor Eliot Spitzer has pledged New York pastrami if the East Coast team loses. Read the rest of this entry »