There’s nothing like a ripe, juicy locally grown tomato — especially of the heirloom variety — to enhance your summer spread. Tomatoes add the zing to garden salads and brightness atop a burger. Perhaps you use them for a pico de gallo or a classic Italian sauce? With so many locally grown varieties, there are hundreds of ways to prepare tomatoes now that they’ve come back into season. (more…)
Farmer Walter Hodun Jr. said picking a bushel (50 pounds) goes fast because the fruit is clustered together and plants are two feet apart. (Credit: Barbaraellen Koch)
I talked to farmer Eddie Hodun Jr. at his 10-acre U-pick farm in Calverton this week and he pointed out that this is “the kick-off week” for tomatoes, especially for the variety of tomatoes many people want to make fresh sauce. He explained that the weather has been just hot enough “it brings out the sugar in the fruit.” (more…)
Heirloom tomatoes at Garden of Eve Organic Farm & Market. (Credit: Vera Chinese)
Get ready to sample 30 different juicy varieties of locally grown tomatoes at the second annual tomato tasting at Hallockville Museum Farm in Northville. (more…)
Tomato tasters Kyle, 5, and KC, 7, Angelone of Smithtown sample some heirloom varieties. (Credit: Vera Chinese Photos)
What’s your favorite red August fruit? Do you prefer a large, sweet, dripping slice of watermelon on a hot day or a cool, flavorful heirloom tomato salad? (more…)
Plum tomatoes slow-roasted with garlic and onions and garnished with anchovies and fresh basil. (Credit: John Ross)
The tomato, in its many sizes, colors and variations is ubiquitous and available year-round — fresh, on the vine, sun-dried and canned. But in August, the fresh local tomato takes on an added dimension of flavor and aroma. (more…)
North Fork tomatoes. (Credit: Cyndi Murray)
Refresh yourself with a big, juicy slice of fresh-picked watermelon or a ripe red tomato on the North Fork this weekend. (more…)
A “gold medal” heirloom tomato from Long Season Farms in Aquebogue. (Credit: Vera Chinese)
These giant tomatoes might look like mutants, but their genomes are likely less modified than many of the widely available crops. (more…)