Taking place at the Bolivar Farmers Market, the UT and TSU Extension hosted their first-ever tomato contest to showcase the hard work and skills of local gardeners.
Master Gardener Coordinator Rachel Howell told 39 News why competitions of this nature are important to the community.
“So, tomato is one of the largest-grown vegetables for producers, and it’s a healthy vegetable, and I just would like for people to show off their hard work in their garden.”
Participants like Brandy Sides like the competition because it’s fun to grow tomatoes alongside her children.
“It’s just something fun to do, and my kids help me with it, so they get kind of excited if they get a ribbon for it, so, kinda gives them a little happy for doing all the work with me.”
Other participants, like Mike Gowdy, shared with us why they enjoy competitions like these.
“And I just enjoy growing things so much, and you know, to help our extension agencies, I love to come and bring products that we can enter into contest and hopefully generate some interest in the general, you know, area.”
He then said that competitions like this can help educate the younger generation about where their food comes from.
“In today’s markets, you’ll ask a kid, well, where does a hamburger come from? Well, it comes from McDonald’s. Well, now wait a minute, you know, before that there’s cows and I, I think younger people need to understand where our food products come from.”
The community hopes that this competition will encourage gardeners to keep growing.
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