Tomatoes Are Tasty

Rutgers' Research Farm is only a few miles from where we live, and last week we went to their annual Open House and Tomato Tasting. I've been to the farm before, but I hadn't attended the tomato tasting, so I didn't fully appreciate what a wonderful place it is. (There was a lot to see so this is a picture-heavy post.)

We walked through several fields of sunflowers to find more than 50 varieties of tomatoes ready for our tasting pleasure. 

There were tents with small, medium, large, and cherry tomatoes. Some were more acidic than others, and a few bordered on bitterness. To be honest, after tasting more than 50 varieties, all I could really say was they tasted like tomatoes. There weren't any that really stood out for me that I thought we had to grow next year, but it was incredibly interesting that there are so many varieties with such great names. 

But it wasn't all tomatoes; the farm also grows fruit trees. There were peaches, apples, and even beach plums to taste. 

Pristine is a wonderful apple that tastes almost like a cross between an apple and a pear. I would plant a few of these trees if I could find them. 

There was a monarch lady there that we talked to for quite a while. She had caterpillars busily munching away on their milkweed leaves and also chrysalises. She was very enthusiastic and offered some hope for the future of monarch butterflies. 

It was 97 degrees and everyone was sweating profusely, so it was a bit of relief to hop in a wagon and go for a tractor ride around the 390 acres. I had a better idea of all the volunteers, employees, and students that it takes to manage the farm. 

There were pollinator gardens and I also learned that what I had thought was some sort of sedum was actually Joe Pye weed. 

Joe Pye weed , not sedum

And in case all this wasn't enough, there was also basil tasting. Rutgers has developed a regular basil variety that is downy mildew resistant (DMR), and they are working on breeding lemon and Thai basils that are also resistant. They had prepared giant pans of orzo with three lemon varieties and three Thai varieties. They asked all of the attendees to evaluate the taste and aroma of the six different test varieties so they could better evaluate the plants and their commercial viability. It doesn't do much good to have a basil that is resistant to downy mildew if it doesn't also taste good! We each got to bring home a regular Prospera DMR basil plant that is already available commercially.

I'll think of the great time I had at the tomato tasting when I'm using my basil in spaghetti sauce this winter!