MU Tomato Festival: A Taste Delight

Story by: Guest Contributor

First posted on 08-22-2007

It should be a tomato lovers’ delight.

The third annual Tomato Festival Sept.6 at the University of Missouri Bradford Research and Extension Center will have 55 tomato varieties for visitors to taste, along with 32 pepper varieties, all grown on the farm’s 400 plants.

For the aficionados, more than half of the tomato varieties will be the open-pollinated heirloom varieties dating back 50 to 100 years, said Tim Reinbott, farm superintendent.

Some of the older varieties have unusual names such as Mortgage Lifter and Ugly, he said.

“They will be different colors, shapes and sizes,” Reinbott said. “These won’t be as smooth and nice-looking as modern ones, but they taste a lot different. We’ll have everything from reds, yellows, purples and blacks. Last year some of the black tomatoes, such as Carbon or Black Prince, were the favorites.”

The festival starts at 4 p.m. with a series of 20-minute informational talks every hour explaining staking methods, breeding, tomato culture and the plant’s diseases.

Salsa samples will be available from local vendors, and Master Gardeners will answer questions related to growing tomato and pepper plants.

The event is free and open to the public. To reach the Bradford Center, take U.S. Highway 63 to the AC Exit. Travel east on New Haven Road about five miles, then south on Rangeline Road for about one mile.

For more information, contact Reinbott or Thresa Chism at 573-884-7945.

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