Sunderland’s Kitchen Garden Farm nabs third place in state’s annual tomato contest

Kitchen Garden Farm owner Lilly Israel with a trophy for an award-winning tomato.

Kitchen Garden Farm owner Lilly Israel with a trophy for an award-winning tomato. STAFF PHOTO/PAUL FRANZ

Massachusetts Department of Agriculture Commissioner Ashley Randle presents Kitchen Garden Farm owners Lilly Israel and Max Traunstein with a trophy for an award-winning tomato during a farm tour on Tuesday.

Massachusetts Department of Agriculture Commissioner Ashley Randle presents Kitchen Garden Farm owners Lilly Israel and Max Traunstein with a trophy for an award-winning tomato during a farm tour on Tuesday. STAFF PHOTO/PAUL FRANZ

By CHRIS LARABEE

Staff Writer

Published: 09-01-2024 9:09 AM

BOSTON — While Kitchen Garden Farm’s Pink Jazz tomato was honored with third place in the heaviest category at the 39th Annual Tomato Contest in Boston earlier this month, don’t expect to find this form of tomato among the farm’s produce.

Weighing in at 2.03 pounds, Pink Jazz certainly grew to a large size, but, its growers said, it was a little too big. Kitchen Garden Farm co-owners Lilly Israel and Max Traunstein said they’re proud they were able to grow such a large fruit, but it was so large that it doesn’t really fit their use down in Sunderland.

“This was much too big,” Traunstein joked. “Our tray is a certain size … the tomato is too big and too tall.”

Kitchen Garden Farm is known for its handmade salsa, as well as its sriracha, with jars able to be found in all 50 U.S. states. The Pink Jazz tomatoes, which are grown from seed provider Totally Tomatoes, just don’t fit in alongside the 10 other varieties of tomatoes due to their size, as it can’t be packaged to customers.

“People generally don’t like bigger things,” Israel added.

The Annual Tomato Contest is an event held by the Massachusetts Department of Agriculture (MDAR) to raise awareness of locally grown produce during peak harvest season. This year’s contest, which was held at the Boston Public Market, drew 108 entries from 24 farms across the state.

Kitchen Garden Farm’s Pink Jazz was outweighed by Medford’s Clodhopper Farm’s Cherokee Carbon tomato at 2.26 pounds and Sharon-based Ward’s Berry Farm’s Oxheart tomato, which claimed first place at 2.30 pounds.

“Late summer is the peak harvest season in Massachusetts which includes tomatoes that our growers have spent a lot of time and effort to produce one of the most delicious local crops available to consumers,” said MDAR Commissioner Ashley Randle. “The time is now to visit a farmstand or farmers market and take advantage of so many varieties of fresh locally grown tomatoes. We thank the New England Vegetable and Berry Growers Association for their continued collaboration on another successful event, and to the Boston Public Market for always being such great hosts for this contest that shines a bright light on our fruit and vegetable farmers.” 

Article continues after...

Yesterday's Most Read Articles

GoFundMe started to cover celebration of life expenses for Keene, NH woman found in Warwick
‘A perfect place’ to experience nature: Work underway at Hinata Retreat in Charlemont
As I See It: Melania Trump’s nude photos — Art of pornography?
Shed destroyed in fire on South Street in Shelburne Falls
Route 10 closed, 400 customers without power after dump truck takes lines down in Bernardston
Mayor Desorgher eyes removal of Green River dams

As an added bonus, Kitchen Garden Farm was featured as a stop on U.S. Rep. Jim McGovern’s annual farm tour on Aug. 27, where Randle, a Deerfield native, was able to present a trophy to Israel and Traunstein.

“We’re going to stop growing it because it’s too big,” Israel said to laughs from the crowd of legislators, state and federal officials, “but it was good for this competition.”

More information about Kitchen Garden Farm can be found at Kitchengardenfarm.com.

Chris Larabee can be reached at clarabee@recorder.com.