What says, “Summertime” more than vine ripened tomatoes?
Westbury Community Garden celebrated the tomato at its 5th Annual Tomato Tasting on June 2. The event was our most heavily attended to date with approximately 80 gardeners, friends and neighbors participating.
We had some old time favorites and some new varieties this year, as we do every year. Tasters got to sample 11 different slicer tomatoes, 3 saladettes, 1 plum/paste tomato and 8 cherries.
The tomato voted favorite slicer was Black Krim. Second place in the slicer category was Cherokee Purple. The black/purple tomatoes have such an interesting and complex flavor.
The favorite salad tomato was Juliet, a prolific variety with great flavor this year. The paste tomato was San Marzano, the classic Italian variety.
In the cherry category, a new red cherry called Braveheart took top honors. In second place was Sun Gold, which is a WCG favorite that always places at or near the top. Sugary and Sweet Chelsea were tied for third in the cherry category.
The garden had many raffle prizes donated for this fund-raiser. Thanks to all who purchased raffle tickets to support the garden and many thanks to the companies and individuals who donated items to the raffle. Please support the following businesses that participated and thank them for their generous gifts: 
- Urban Harvest www.urbanharvest.org
- MicroLife Fertilizer www.microlifefertilizer.com
- Farm Dirt Compost www.farmdirtcompost.com
- Window Garden (microgreens) www.windowgarden.us
- Tejano Salsa and Tamales A Mano www.tejanosalsa.com
- Thirty One Gifts (Emily Shaffer) www.mythirtyone.com/eshaffer
We also thank Ray Sher, Gary Edmondson, Virginia Livingston, Amelia Goldberg, Kat Elder and Debbie Gordon for items they donated to the raffle.