Tomato Fans to Gather in LeDroit This Weekend for ‘Tomatopalooza’

Locals will be able to partake in some “hot and messy fun” this weekend during a gathering for tomato lovers at an urban farm in the LeDroit Park neighborhood.

The first-ever “Tomatopalooza” will kick off at Common Good City Farm (V St. NW between 2nd and 4th streets NW) this Sunday at 11 a.m., according to the event’s organizers.

During the event, attendees will gather around 100 pounds of organic tomatoes for a crash course in canning the acidic red fruit. The event will include expert instruction from Washington Post food columnist Cathy Barrow on how to preserve tomatoes, what you can make with them and which tomato varieties are the best for canning.

“It’s so easy and fun,” said Lisa Zechiel, owner of Washington’s Green Grocer, the local business helping to organize the event. “It gets people using local produce and doing things themselves. They can make thing themselves out of basic ingredients.”

And here’s a bonus: everyone who attends Tomatopalooza goes home with two pints of canned tomatoes, she said.

After the canning demonstration, attendees will sit down for a lunch of tomato sandwiches with or without bacon, salads, watermelon, drinks and Barrow’s popular slab pie, Zechiel said.

Tickets are $25. All proceeds go toward funding Good City Common Farm.

Photo courtesy Washington’s Green Grocer