The Perfect Tomato

Sherry Matney getting a taste of “The Perfect Tomato”. Sherry’s Shots One of the joys of living in a small community is to be able to participate in activities that are seldom heard of in the big cities. Such is the Perfect Tomato Contest. Last week, tomato guru Novalene Thurston contacted me and asked if I would judge the contest which would be part of the Leon County Home and Garden Fair to be held at the First United Methodist Church on Saturday, July 4.

Novalene assured me the task would not be difficult and that there would be no hard feelings held against me by the participants who did not take home a ribbon. Feeling somewhat apprehensive, I agreed to assume the role of judge.

The premise was to give gardeners the same type of tomato plant at the same time and the tomato entered in the contest must come from that plant. The type of tomato was “Early Girl” and many plants were given away. However, at the time of judging only three brave souls had submitted an entry, and all of those were Master Gardeners.

Carole Huebner, Jeff Miller and Novalene Thurston were the three eager contestants. The suspense grew in the Fellowship Hall of FUMC as Novalene brought out the score sheet, knife and plate. And then the judging began.

The first element to judge was size, next color and flaws, then inside appearance, and finally taste. Although all three tomatoes were pretty, one was obviously larger than the others. The inside was surprisingly different and there was a distinct difference in taste.

Bottom line, Carole Huebner came in first with Jeff Miller and Novalene Thurston tying for second place. As far as I could tell, no friendships were lost by the experience.