KC Tomato Times Blog

We had the best weather we could ever hope for on the first Saturday of August in Kansas City!  Thanks to some awesome publicity in the Kansas City Star, we had a record turnout of over 200 tasters!  We had 58 varieties of tomatoes to taste and some wonderful dishes that people brought as well as delicious charcuterie and BLT’s from Local Pig and Pigwich.  We’re looking to make next year’s 9th annual tasting on August 5th, 2017 even bigger and better than the previous 8 combined…stay tuned for news!

I took a few pictures, but there are more on Facebook and on Tomatotown.org

We also did our totally unscientific, totally unofficial tomato tasting voting.  Keep in mind that there were limited quantities of many types and several varieties came in late after lots of people voted.  Despite all of that, Sungold rose to the top of the ranks as it is almost always in the top two or three of the lists!  Absinthe and Kiss the Sky were right on the heels of the champ though!

The tomato varieties are the star of the show, but the awesome meats The Local Pig breaks out and the scrumptious dishes everyone bring to share are reason alone to spend your Saturday morning in the east bottoms with us!

Please review the F.A.Q.’s below to help make your trip to the 6th KCTTTT a memorable success for all of us!

• Where and when is the KCTTTT?  The tasting is from 9 a.m. to noon on Saturday, August 6th at the Local Pig (2618 Guinotte Ave, Kansas City, MO 64120)  Please click the link to get directions as it can be a bit difficult to find if you’re never been there before.
• How much does it cost?  The KCTTTT has been and always will be a free event.
• What should I bring?  Please bring labeled varieties of tomatoes if you can for people to enjoy.  We love tomato variety and want to have as many types of tomatoes to taste as possible!  Put your tomatoes in a brown paper lunch sack with the variety labeled on the sack.  Check them in with Jen at the registration table to get your tickets for the prize drawings.  Each variety you bring gets you one ticket for the drawing…bring as many varieties as you can for the best chances to win!

The big hit of every tomato tasting is the creative dishes people bring for others to sample.  Break out your favorite tomato dish  recipes and we look forward to devouring them!

Also,you might want to bring a lawn chair to sit in as seating will be very limited with the large crowd we are expecting.

• I don’t have any tomatoes to bring this year, what else can I bring?  It’s ok if you don’t have tomatoes to bring, but we would appreciate it if you would bring along something to accompany the spread of food.  Fresh breads, cheeses, sweets, or anything else that you think people would enjoy will definitely be appreciated.
• What else is there to do at the tomato tasting besides eat and eat and eat?  You will have the opportunity to vote for your 5 favorite tomato varieties, so be sure to bring a pen to write on your voting tickets.  If you’re a gardener, you might also want to bring a pad and paper to write down your favorite varieties so you can grow them in your garden in the future.  You will also be surrounded by like minded foodies and gardeners who are the friendliest people on the planet…I’m sure you’ll have plenty to talk about!  Also, make sure you make a trip inside The Local Pig to buy some of their fantastic sausages, bacon, steaks, and other amazing products!
• How can I help with this event?  We are always looking for help setting up and taking down the event.  I will arrive around 7:30 in the morning to put down table cloths and start organizing the tables and tomatoes.  Jen will need one person to help with the registration.  Around 8:00 we’ll need a couple of people to help with slicing and labeling tomatoes to put on the tables.  If you would like to help out, please arrive early and we’ll put you to work!