Take a bite

What: Fourth annual Woodland Tomato Festival, featuring a restaurant salsa competition, Top Tomato Chef contest, public tomato tasting, live entertainment, children’s activities and a farmers market

When: 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday

Where: Freeman Park, Sixth and Main streets in downtown Woodland

WOODLAND — On a recent sunny summer morning, a handful of Yolo County Master Gardeners gathered for their weekly gardening workday at their demonstration plot at Woodland Community College. They carefully checked each of the 35 varieties of tomatoes, searching for a gleaming red or yellow fruit among the green foliage.

“It’s always a thrill to find and bite into the first ripe tomatoes of each variety,” says Robert Dragoon, Master Gardener and serious tomato lover. “I love the different colors, textures and tastes of our heirlooms, and each year find some new tomato to get excited about.”

Tomato lovers across the country are celebrating 2011 as the “Year of the Tomato.” Each year, the National Garden Bureau selects the vegetable of the year, and this year it’s the tomato. Yolo County already recognizes the importance of the tomato and will celebrate it at the fourth annual Woodland Tomato Festival on Saturday.

The free event runs from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Freeman Park on the corner of Main and Sixth streets  in downtown Woodland. Highlights are a restaurant salsa competition, the Top Tomato Chef competition, a public tomato tasting, live entertainment, children’s activities and farmers selling their fresh-picked produce. Food vendors also will sell tasty specialties.

Local restaurants will submit their favorite in-house tomato salsas for attendees to taste and select this year’s best. Yolo County Master Gardeners will present some 30 varieties of heirloom and hybrid tomatoes and invite people to vote on the best-tasting Yolo County grown tomatoes. Both tastings are free.

In the Top Tomato Chef competition, five chefs will prepare tomato-based entrees for a panel of judges, who will select the winner.

Entertainers include the Rolling Fork Blues Revue, a children’s group performing Rondillo music, a martial arts demonstration, and trick roping. Activities for children include the Great Tomato Toss, face painting and a free bounce house along with special appearances by Tommy Tomato throughout the day.

Some people would argue that every year should be the year of the tomato. The fruit is easy to grow, is packed with nutrition, tastes great and is so versatile that it often shows up at all three meals — cold tomato juice for breakfast, sliced heirlooms in a luncheon salad, chips and salsa cruda with dinner.

Because of their popularity, it’s hard to find a local backyard garden that does not include numerous tomato plants, and Yolo County farmers grow more than 40,000 acres of tomatoes, making it the county’s No. 1 agricultural product.

“It’s been a late start for tomatoes this year with the weather not cooperating,” says Sonia Mora, market manager for the Woodland Farmers Market and a festival organizer. “But we’re finally starting to see them appear at the market and they’ll be beautiful at the festival.”

Now in its fourth year, the Woodland Tomato Festival is a joint project of a selection of Yolo County nonprofit organizations and businesses. The festival was first inspired by the work of the Yolo County Master Gardeners.

For a schedule of activities and more information, visit www.WoodlandTomatoFestival.com.

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Children can get into the fun by tossing overripe tomatoes at a target at the Woodland Tomato Festival. Courtesy photo

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Tomato tastings are part of the fun at the fourth annual Woodland Tomato Festival on Saturday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Freeman Park. Courtesy photo

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An attendee at last year’s Woodland Tomato Festival gets into the spirit of the event. Courtesy photo

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