Heirloom tomato tasting

Vicki’s Veggies lays out a tomato taste treat

Eighty-four different varieties of heirloom tomatoes were available for tasting during the return of Vicki’s Veggies Tomato Tasting Festival last Sunday. Vicki Emlaw has been offering the opportunity to taste the tomato harvest for most of the years since 2000, and was thrilled to offer it again this year after two years of Covid. “I love seeing all the tomatoes next to each other, just harvested. Being able to taste them one next to the other is such a treat for me, and I’m also excited to be able to have it this year after not being able to have it the last two years,” she said. It was very much spontaneous decision to go ahead with this year’s event. She was not sure if she would have enough tomatoes to hold a tasting, and then two weekends ago the tomato plants were yielding more than she knew what to do with. So she made the decision to go ahead with it this past weekend. However, this past week the yields started tailing off, perhaps due to a dry spell or lower nighttime temperatures. But the die was cast, and there was still enough of a harvest to go ahead. On Sunday, a steady stream of people showed up to sample varieties such as Dancing with Smurfs, Black Strawberry, Sunrise Bumblebee and Indigo Rose. Sizes ranged from cherry to beefsteak, in practically a rainbow of colours—red, orange, yellow, green, violet, although nothing in blue— with tastes from sweet to tart. Many people jotted down their favourite varieties so they could order seeds or seedlings next spring.

Emlaw said that this year’s tomato harvest was quite good overall, despite the lack of rain early in the season. In addition to tomatoes, she grows several other types of vegetables, such as beets, green beans, kale and salad greens, as well as fruits such as melons and cantaloupes, all of which are available for sale in her tiny roadside store. Last year she began to offer locally made burrata, which is essentially a pouch of mozzarella filled with fresh cream. It has proven to be a popular item, and Emlaw may be her own best customer. Earlier this year she started selling frozen meat, in particular beef from Lynn Leavitt’s farm. “It all is supplied from this side of the County, we don’t have to go very far to get it, and people love it,” she said. Also added this year were premium imported olive oil and locally raised chicken, the latter of which often quickly sells out.

For Emlaw, the tasting event is a bit of educational outreach. “The reason I wanted to have the tomato tasting is not only so that people could try the tomatoes, but it’s also the educational factor behind the varieties and what heirlooms are,” she said. “And this year, Christopher, who works with me, was really interested in giving a garden tour. So it’s great that he can take people on the tour while I stay here. What I am working towards in my garden here is more teaching people about the different aspects of gardening.”