Home Grown Tomato Art

I thought I would post one more photo from yesterday's Tomato Art Fest in East Nashville. As we were walking through the craft booths that were set up between two buildings, I noticed tomato art hanging on fence behind a tomato garden! Unfortunately, there were not a lot of tomatoes on the plants due to the drought, no doubt.

The drought has affected all crops. On our way home from the Tomato Fest, we stopped at the Farmers' Market for a few things, and I noticed that the price of tomatoes rose dramatically in the six days since I was there last. Last Sunday, I bought Beefsteak, Heirloom, Bradley and yellow tomatoes, paying $1 per pound for each variety. This week, the Beefsteaks were $1, but the Bradley and yellow tomatoes were $1.50 per pound, and the Heirlooms were $2 per pound. Squash prices were also up, although they were just 25 cents per pound more this week. If the South doesn't get some much-needed rain soon, there won't be any fall vegetables.

You Say, "To-may-to," and I say, "To-mah-to. . ."

In 2003, two Nashville artists decided to host a tomato-themed art festival after reading an article about a similar event held in California. For the first Tomato Art Fest, about 1000 people showed up to view the tomato art and participate in a number of fun contests. Four years later, in addition to an increase in the number of participating merchants and artists, the festival attendees have grown to over 10,000. Events include a parade (for which a number of attendees dress up in tomato red or as tomatoes), tomato tasting, tomato decorating (Yes, people do dress the things up!), the biggest/smallest tomato contest, fashion show, tomato art, the Tomato King and Queen contest, "tomato toss" (Participants throw inedible tomatoes at a building.), and more.

We decided to head to historic East Nashville for the Fest early. When we arrived a little after 10 am, there were a lot of people walking through the festival. However, we didn't see as many people as we expected to see, nor did we see many people dressed in tomato costumes. We didn't last too long as the sun and heat were oppressive, and there were not a lot of shady places to which we could escape. (Hence, we believe, the reason for the lack of costumes.)

As a side note, East Nashville is a historic area full of Victorian and arts-and-crafts homes which residents have renovated. There are a number of funky retail shops and art galleries there, as well as some interesting restaurants and bars.