Event Expands to Feature Varieties of Peppers, Eggplant, Pumpkins and Watermelon
Cherokee Purple, Crimson Cushion, Super Sioux and nearly 100 other varieties of tomatoes competed for attention with King Arthur, Lemon Drop, Lipstick and numerous other types of peppers Aug. 15 at the sixth annual Tomadah Paradah at the College Farm.
(LEFT) Tasting tomatoes at the Tomadah Paradah are, from the left, Sonia Thompson of Wilmington and her parents, Gloria and Bob Chestnut of Hillsboro.
Co-sponsored by Wilmington College’ Agriculture Dept. and Swindler and Sons Florists, the event has become mid-August ritual as lovers of summer’s favorite fruit flocked to view, taste, touch and smell a hundred varieties with names like Ponderosa Pink, Brandywine, Carol Chykos, Granny Cantrells and Goliath.
This year tomatoes shared the spotlight with varieties of peppers — Kung Pao, Jimmy Nardello and Indian Hot Finger, to name a few — pumpkins, watermelon and eggplant, the latter of which could be found in colors other than the familiar eggplant purple and with names like Fairy Tale, Millionaire and Ghostbusters.
The rainy summer adversely affected the number of tomato varieties but enthusiasm for the event never waned as visitors lined the tables featuring the colorful fruit and vegetables, and ventured into the adjacent field to view the plants.
Several competitions added to the spectacle.
In Swindler’s contest for heaviest tomato, Clayton Cole submitted the champion, a 2.32-pound German Strawberry, which garnered a $100 prize. Brent Achtermann’s German Strawberry won the $50 prize for best-tasting and Adalynn Achtermann’s cherry tomatoes won a quilt made by Pat Swindler.
Carter Nichols won the top prize for males in the Tomato 5K race, followed by Mark Rembert and Ty Snarr, while Savannah Rhodes was the fastest female with Greta Smith and Dylanne Petros coming in second and third, respectively.