Buy Local Food In Kitsap

In This Issue
Judging the Taste Off
Official Results
Winning tomato and grower

From the Prez,

WELCOME FALL!

Wet Day At The Market

It’s officially fall, which means we only have 3 more market days this season.  Then, we’ll all have to go into withdrawal, pining for the market until next April.

I love FALL, the air is crisp and clear, and smells so clean, and warm fall leaf colors are showing up all over the shrubs and trees.  As a gardener and farmer, I’m really busy harvesting, canning, and doing battle with giant zucchinis and such.  Leaves and apples and pears are starting to fall to the ground (I guess I better finish harvesting those too) and I just picked the last of my blueberries and eggplants.

But, while some crops are done, others are still going strong; fall raspberries, tomatoes, beans, cucumbers, greens, potatoes to name just a few.

Unlike other areas, here in Puget Sound, fall is peak harvest time for many crops, usually better than spring.  Veggies were late arriving this spring because of the cool wet weather, but all signs point to an excellent harvest until quite late this fall.  In fact, this is a really great time to get a wide variety of food at the market.  I know I saw some gorgeous chanterelle mushrooms this last week at market, pears and apples are in now too.

So this is your reminder that there is still plenty of produce coming in to the market.  Yeah, we know fall is here, the kids are back in school and everyone is watching football, but we all still have to eat….so come down & see us during this nice crisp fall weather and you’ll find a fresh fall treasure for your dinner table.

We hope to see you at the market this Saturday.  It’s going to be a beautiful day!

Laura Pittman-Hewitt, President
Port Orchard Farmers Market

Upcoming Events

October 10 — Last day of the market!  Come guess the weight of the BIG pumpkin, if you’re the winner you get to take it home.

Tomato Taste Off Judging

The First Annual Great Tomato Taste Off was held at the Port Orchard Farmers’ Market last Saturday.  In the downpour of rain.

But the deluge didn’t stop our entrants, all 58 of them, nor did it deter the concentration and deliberations of our three judges -  Dee Coppola, Chris Smith, and Jane Bedinger.

Dee Coppola, Chris Smith, and Jane Bedinger.

We had 16 entries in the cherry tomato category, 3 in the plum/paste, and a whopping 39 entries in the slicing category.  The slicers included several very interesting varieties – German Green, Black Brandywine, Momotaro (a prized Japanese variety), Eva’s Purple Ball, Amazon Chocolate Ukrainian, Black Krim, Crimson Sprinter, Pruden’s Purple, Belgium Giant, Cobra, Tigerella, Moscovich, Ananas Noire, New Hampshire Surecrop, I think you get the picture.

The taste off is a blind tasting – the entries presented to the judges come from bags marked only with the entry number.  The judges know neither the grower nor the variety.

Dee, Jane and Chris got right to work at 11 AM, deciding to tackle the slicers first since it was the biggest category.  They concentrated on their work, nibbling bits of bread to clear their palate between entrants.  The entry they selected as the category winner was head and shoulders above the rest in texture, a fine balance of sweet and acid, with a very true and deep tomato flavor.  The winner: Brandywine, grown by Laura Pittman-Hewitt.

After a brief walk around the market to settle their tummies, the judges started in again, this time on Category 2, plum/paste.  There were just three entries, so they could compare them side by side.  The winner: Principe Borghese, grown by Laura Pittman-Hewitt.

The last category, cherry tomatoes, was next.  16 entries, fairly evenly split between yellow/gold cherries and red cherry tomatoes.  Interestingly enough, selecting the winner of this category stumped the judges the most.  While they had all given two gold entries (Sun Sugar and Sun Gold) high marks, after some discussion they decided to award the winning prize to a more traditionally flavored entry, Sweet 100, grown by Marilyn Davis.

Best of Show?  Brandywine of course.  Nothing can beat that flavor.

Official results from the First Annual Great Tomato Taste Off

Marilyn Davis selling vegetables

Category 1, cherry tomato
16 entries
Winner – Sweet 100, grown by Marilyn Davis
Runner up – Sun Sugar, grown by Sharon Howard

Category 2, plum/paste tomato
3 entries
Winner – Principe Borghese, grown by Laura Pittman-Hewitt
Runner up – Black Plum, grown by Laura Pittman-Hewitt

Category 3, slicing/salad/beefsteak tomato
39 entries
Winner – Brandywine, grown by Laura Pittman-Hewitt
Runner up -Amazon Chocolate Ukrainian, grown by Sharon Howard

Overall “Best of Show” – Brandywine, grown by Laura Pittman-Hewitt

The Best of Show tomato at the market this year was a Brandywine grown by Laura Pittman-Hewitt.

Laura Pittman-Hewitt, Champion Tomato Grower

An Amish heirloom, Brandywine is considered by most tomato connoisseurs to be the standard by which other tomatoes are measured.  Brandywines are somewhat finicky to grow in the Puget Sound region because they love hot weather, but some strains do well here, especially if we have a warm and dry summer.

And speaking of “strains”, there are several in the Brandywine tomato variety.  Laura reports that she grows Sudduth’s Strain, which is probably the original Brandywine type.  Laura also grows all her tomatoes under cover in a high tunnel.  The cover helps moderate the chilly nights we sometimes get in the summer, and also keeps rain off the foliage.  Water is provided with a drip irrigation system.

Brandywines can be shy producers, sometimes bearing only 5 to 8 fruits per plant each year.  But oh boy those tomatoes – they can be huge, as big as 2 ½ pounds each, and they have a stunning flavor.

So you may have noticed that Laura won TWO of the tomato categories as well as Best of Show.  Attention tomato growers of Port Orchard!  Are we going to take this lying down?  Are we going to let her cruise to victory again next year?  Heck no!!  Get those seed catalogs out this winter and find the tastiest tomato you can.  Let’s swamp the Second Annual Tomato Taste Off with fabulous entries and crown a new Best of Show winner.

Port Orchard Farmers’ Market
9AM to 3PM
On the waterfront in Port Orchard, behind Peninsula Feed
Every Saturday until October 10
P.O Box 8247
Port Orchard, Washington 98366