Tuesday, August 19, 2008

20 Pounds of Local Organic Tomatoes for $12

Twenty-lb. boxes of local, certified organic summer tomatoes are going for $12/box through this Saturday while supplies last. Freeze and can!

From an email from local tailgate market coordinator Harry Hamil, some info about helping a Fairview farm and getting some cheap organic tomatoes in the process:
Cane Creek Valley Farm in Fairview is a family owned, certified organic farm which grew out of a family's long time dairy in the Cane Creek Community. In only its second year, owner/farmers Amanda and Jeremy Sizemore have come face to face with the reality of selling on a large wholesale basis. In an attempt to better package their product, they added a divider to the 20# tomato boxes. Unfortunately, the divider was a shade off in size and flattened the shoulders of most of the tomatoes in each box. As a result, about 13,000 pounds of large red tomatoes became unsellable through Cane Creek Valley's usual markets.

The "bruises" where so insignificant that I didn't see them the first time Kathryn tried to show them to me. I had to turn the tomato in the light to be able to see it. Before I agreed to help, I gave the tomato the taste test I knew it would pass... And it did with flying colors. It's a good WNC tomato!
What: Twenty-pound boxes of certified organic WNC tomatoes for $12. One-box minimum.

Varieties: Mountain Fresh (developed at the Mountain Horticultural Crops Research Station) and Crista (a new disease-resistant tomato). Tomatoes vary from 7 - 18 ounces with a mix in every box.

Participating Markets through Saturday, August 23rd only:
Black Mountain Farmer's Market 664-0060
French Broad Food Co-op 255-7650 (ask for produce)
Haywood Road Market 225-4445
Hendersonville Community Co-op 693-0505
Pisgah View Community Peace Garden 989-0893 (ask for Bob White)

Please call first to check availability.

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi! Kelly here from FBFC. I got my box yesterday and can vouch for the deliciousness of the tomatoes. Also, they look just fine to me.
I'll be making salsas and sauce all this week to store for winter!

Jim Jenkins said...

Thank you Jennifer for passing this along. I showed your post to my husband who got downright orgasmic, what with our losing so many tomatoes to the blight and the crows.

Wednesday update: The French Broad Food Co-op has sold out and is expecting a new shipment by 1 or 2 this afternoon. We've reserved two boxes so it looks like I'll be busy for a few days! Thanks again.

Jennifer Saylor said...

:0)

Shad Marsh said...

anyone know what varieties are available?

Jennifer Saylor said...

According to Harry, it's Mountain Fresh (developed at the Mountain Horticultural Crops Research Station) and Crista (a new disease-resistant tomato).