Patrons braved Saturday’s wind, intermittent rain and occasional whiffs of garlic breath for the Heirloom Tomato and Garlic Festival at Northwest Organic Farms, where they could browse farm-grown fare and have their gardening questions answered by Washington State University Extension master gardeners.
The gardeners sliced up samples, worked the till and helped people with their tomato and garlic plants.
One of the harder questions they get is, “What’s the best tomato?” said Nancy Funk, one of the master gardeners.
“Each person has their own idea of what a tomato tastes like,” she said.
Guests had plenty to choose from.
Twenty-two varieties of tomato were on offer — ranging in color from bright yellow to flecked with purple, with names like Vintage Wine, Zapotec Platter and Dagma’s Perfection — all grown on site at the farm near Ridgefield.
The farm also had pineapple tomatillos, which, after removing the loose, paper-like casing around them, taste almost as sweet as grapes.
Most of the people getting samples had never heard of them before, said master gardener trainee Barbara Wenger.
“They’re like, ‘Ooh!’ ” she said, her eyes wide. “It’s like this wonderful surprise in your mouth.”
There were eight varieties of garlic available as well, ranging from mild to sinus-clearing pungent.
As for gardening questions, how to deal with blossom-end rot on tomatoes was a common concern, Funk said. Others came by asking why their tomatoes are growing in such strange shapes.
“Sometimes it’s the variety, sometimes it’s the hot and cold temperatures we’ve had this year,” she said.
Repeatedly moving from this summer’s unusual daytime heat to cooler nighttime temperatures has been hard on many fruits and vegetables in the region, Funk said.
Many others were looking for general garlic-growing tips, Wegner said.
“Everyone has a different opinion of when to plant it, and so we just go by our climate and what works best for us,” she said, which is October.
One can plant a lot of garlic in a small place, Funk said, and depending on the weather, growers should dig it up in June or July.
A lot of people have watering questions, too, Wegner said.
If the plants don’t get their water cut off about two to three weeks before they’re dug up, they may rot or sprout in storage.
Joyce Haines, who owns the farm with her husband, Greg Valdivia, said the festival’s been going for more than 10 years.
The farm also goes out to farmers markets, and is part of CSA, or Community Supported Agriculture, arrangements, beyond organizing the festival.
Haines said that when they started, she had Funk out helping with parking.
Haines said Funk told her it was a great time, but that the master gardeners could offer more help as part of their volunteering requirements, and with Haines’ plants.
“She said, ‘We know tomatoes,’ ” Haines said. “I have never done a thing other than what she tells me since then, and that’s been 10 years.”
When she first visited the festival, Funk said, Haines offered sample tomato slices, but put them all in the same bowl.
“Oh, boy,” Funk recalled thinking.
“See why I’m not in charge?” Haines joked.
