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Historic Lewes Farmers Market holds Tomato Festival

August 11, 2010

The Historic Lewes Farmers Market will host its annual Tomato Festival from 8 a.m. to noon, Saturday, Aug. 14, in Shipcarpenter Square.

Tomato tastings for different varieties of ripe, juicy Delmarva tomatoes, including many heirlooms, will begin at 9 a.m.

Visitors can learn the history and lore of this most-American fruit and find out how the tomato is related to belladonna, mandrake and tobacco.

Why did the Supreme Court in May 1883 rule that the tomato was not in fact a fruit but should be classified as a vegetable? The answer can be found at the festival.

A contest that promises to be amusing is a guess at the amount of cherry tomatoes in a jar. The winner will receive a Tomato Festival T-shirt.

One of the highlights of the Tomato Festival is the Great Tomato Recipe Contest, which will get under way at 10 a.m. Local judges will choose the best tomato recipe.

There will be three grand prizes and ribbons in four categories.

The first-place prize is a $100 gift certificate to the Historic Lewes Farmers Market.

The second-place prize is a Metro insulated-collapsible market basket filled with produce, and the third-place winner will receive a Historic Lewes Farmers Market bag filled with cookbooks.

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