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Tomatoes of all varieties are star of the show

Historic Lewes Farmers Market hosts annual festival to highlight summer harvest
It’s hard to say no when smiling Historic Lewes Farmers Market volunteer Mark O’Donnell tries to sell you a Tomato Festival T-shirt during the annual event Aug. 3. RON MACARTHUR PHOTOS
Ron MacArthur
August 8, 2024

One of the most anticipated fruits of the summer is the tomato. That’s why the Historic Lewes Farmers Market hosts a Tomato Festival each August to celebrate the summer harvest season.

The Aug. 4 festival featured a cooking demonstration by Kindle chef Ian Crandall, a heaviest tomato contest and a guessing game to pick the number of tomatoes in a jar. The market’s vendors had plenty of tomatoes for sale.

Crandall, with the assistance of Daniel Rede and Megan Ernakovich, prepared tomato carpaccio with arugula and caper dressing, a tomato mocktail and no-cook tomato sauce with chevre cheese flatbread.

Heaviest tomato winners were: 1. Hattie Allen of Hattie’s Garden, pineapple bicolor heirloom, 1 pound, 11 ounces; 2. Kathleen Mass, Cherokee, 1 pound, 8 ounces; 3. Tom Greenwood, Cherokee purple, 1 pound, 7 ounces; 4. Craig Brady of Stag Run Farms, heirloom, 1 pound, 4 ounces.

The Historic Lewes Farmers Market is open every Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon through Sept. 28 at George H.P. Smith Park. The fall market takes place from Oct. 5 to Nov. 23 at the Lewes Elementary School parking lot. A Wednesday market from 8 to 11:30 a.m. takes place through Sept. 4 at Crooked Hammock Brewery along Kings Highway.

For more information, go to historiclewesfarmersmarket.org.

 

Believe it or not, there are more than 10,000 varieties of tomatoes in the United States. Across the country, the most popular home garden tomato is Better Boy.
Kindle chef Ian Crandall slices tomatoes really thin as he makes tomato carpaccio with arugula and caper dressing during a cooking demonstration at the market.
Kindle’s Daniel Rede assists chef Ian Crandall in making a tomato dish to serve to market-goers.
Kindle’s Megan Ernakovich makes flat bread for one of two tomato dishes make during the market demonstration. The crew from Kindle also made a tomato mocktail.
Guessing the number of cherry tomatoes in a large jar is an annual contest during the market’s Tomato Festival. The four winning heaviest tomatoes are on display in the foreground.
Hatttie Allen of Hattie’s Garden took top honors in the heaviest tomato contest with a pineapple bi-color heirloom weighing 1 pound, 11 ounces.
Kindle chef Ian Crandall talks about one of the questions he gets the most: Can you refrigerate tomatoes? He said in some cases you can, such as when they have reached their peak.
Farmers market volunteer Eli Prushansky serves a tray of fresh tomato carpaccio.
Tomatoes come in all types of shapes and colors, and are coveted during their summer growing season.
Chef Ian Crandall puts flat bread in a portable oven as he starts to make no-cook tomato sauce with chevre on flatbread.

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