Today I wanted to share about one of my favorite days of summer 2017: Tomato Day at my favorite local plant nursery. Every year, this nursery hosts a major tomato tasting. They gather almost a hundred varieties of tomatoes and invite people to the farm to sample them, as well as shop at the numerous booths selling handmade goods. (We bought a delicious local honey made from pollen from orange blossoms!!) This was my first year attending Tomato Day, but I'm planning to make it a new yearly tradition!
I've loved every minute of gardening this past summer, and am currently working on my fall garden. (I'll show pics on the blog soon!) Given my recent enthusiasm for gardening, this was my dream day! I wrote down a couple of my favorite tomato varieties so that I can plant them next year. When else do you get the opportunity to sample dozens of tomato varieties before deciding which ones to plant?
Everyone who tasted the tomatoes also got to vote for their favorites! The results aren't up yet for this year, but last year the winners were Sungold, Pork Chop, Moskvish, Carbon, and Ananas Noire. Also, I discovered that I very much preferred cherry tomatoes to larger varieties. They are just so much sweeter! So I think that next year I'll plant three cherry varieties and only one larger variety.
The farm also had chickens and donkeys!
I am always happy to support a local business. Shopping local is more environmentally friendly (less transportation), customer service is often ten times better, and local small businesses contribute to the unique character of your town (versus having only chains or big corporations).
Plus, the owners of this nursery were super knowledgeable and were able to give me so much helpful advice. Also, local nurseries like this one are region-specific, which is very helpful when gardening. The owners know exactly which plants do well in the area, when the best time to plant them is, and what pests to watch out for. Such a valuable resource!
I'm so excited to share more about my fall garden! I get so much inspiration from events like Tomato Day. Getting to meet all the other gardeners that live in the area was so much fun. They're all such kindred spirits (even if they are all at least thirty years older than me!!).
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