Tomato Day is this weekend

The master-gardeners’ annual celebration of everything tomato will be July 25 at 21st and Ridge Road. The free event, from 7 a.m. to noon, will include seminars, tomato and salsa tasting, cooking demonstrations, plant-problem diagnosis, activities for kids and an iris sale. The Flying Stove and Let’m Eat Brats food trucks and the farmers market, with tomatoes for sale, will be in the parking lot. There will be no contests this year.

The seminar schedule: 8 a.m., composting demo; 8:45 a.m., tour of tomatoes in the demo garden; 9 a.m., cooking demo by chef Paul Myshka of Sweet Basil; 9:30 a.m., tour of squash (including pest and disease prevention); 10:15 a.m., tour of accessible gardening; 10:45 a.m., preserving the garden’s bounty; and 11 a.m., tour of herbs and flowers.

Annie Calovich

“Candy-corn” tomato

“A botanical breakthrough occurred with the successful crossing of a Jet Star tomato and candy corn,” Doug Johnson of Andover joked about this tomato that grew with a protuberance coming out of its top. His wife, Jan, ate it – without mentioning anything about it being sweeter than usual.

Share a photo of your notable vegetable or fruit by sending a jpeg of it along with a brief description, your name, town of residence and phone number to acalovich@wichitaeagle.com.

In bloom at Botanica

SunPatiens Variegated Spreading White impatiens, on the main path across from the Beverly R. Blue garden.

This story was originally published July 17, 2015 at 4:58 PM with the headline "Tomato Day is this weekend."