Get Growing, St. Louis!

In the past, the Missouri Botanical Garden hosted an annual tomato contest awarding cash prizes for those who grow "the best tomatoes." Sadly, 2008 was the last year they hosted this contest, right after we began growing our own tomatoes at YellowTree Farm. Thankfully this year, Justin took the initiative to form a group of people to help organize The Good, The Big and The Ugly Tomato Festival! It's taking place this Saturday from 12-4 at Sappington Farmers Market on Watson Road. There are various fun categories tomatoes will be judged on - and at $1 per entry, anyone from experienced pros to newbies are welcome to enter. In addition, there will be live music, seed saving demonstrations, and a tomato mixed drink contest featuring area mixologists and local tomato growers. Click here for more information.

There's Someone You Should Meet...

...and we hope his singing gets stuck in your head.

Can it, already

Only a week left until Justin's canning class at Kitchen Conservatory. Join Justin for a hands-on tutorial on canning as a way of preserving summer's bounty all year round. He'll teach how to make a decadent-yet-healthy tomato sauce, how to pickle fresh corn, and how to preserve cipollini onions in balsamic vinegar and French walnut oil. Everyone taking the class gets to go home with a jar of canned goodness. The class is next Sunday, July 25, from 12:30-3:30. Find out more and register here.