Farmers’ Market Hosts Free Tomato Tasting Saturday

The Bloomington Community Farmers’ Market holds the annual Heirloom Tomato Tasting Aug. 6 from 9 until 11:30 a.m. at Showers Plaza, 401 N. Morton St. Tomato tasting is free while supplies last.

Local farmers provide a variety of colorful heirloom varieties for tasting, including Brandywine, Cherokee Purple, Black from Tula, Pineapple, German Johnson, Green Zebra, Mortgage Lifter, Blue Beauty and more. Most of the tomato varieties will be available for sale at the Market as well.

According to Farmers’ Market coordinator Marcia Veldman, heirloom tomatoes are varieties that were once widely cultivated but fell out of favor with producers because they neither shipped nor stored well, but were cherished by gardeners for their superb colors, textures, and flavors. Heirloom tomatoes are open pollinated and are grown from seed saved from earlier crops. Some maintain that to really qualify as an “heirloom,” seed must be passed from generation to generation like a precious family quilt.

Free parking is available at the Farmers’ Market north of City Hall in IU ‘C’ Permit spaces (in the lot located on the east side of Morton Street, at the corner of Ninth and Morton) and in City  Hall Red Permit spaces. Metered parking is available on the streets surrounding the Farmers’ Market for $1 an hour, or in the parking garage at Seventh and Morton Streets for 50 cents per hour. Parking regulations are enforced on Saturdays.

For more information about the Heirloom Tomato Tasting, and to see a complete listing of varieties available for tasting, visit bloomington.in.gov/farmersmarket. To volunteer to help with the Tomato Tasting by slicing tomatos and dishing out samples, sign up at bloomington.in.gov/parksvol.