$5,000 Awarded to St. Louis Park Backyard Gardener |
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By: NatureSweet Tomatoes Posted: 2006-09-16 23:12:45 |
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NatureSweet Tomatoes congratulates Julie Barr of St. Louis Park for winning the $5,000 grand prize at the 2006 Homegrown Tomato Challenge, held at Cub Foods in Savage. Barr won the competition with her Cherry Sweet 100 variety of tomatoes.
While Barr can now claim to be one of America's best tomato gardeners, she faced stiff competition by the following runners-up, who all received a $250 Cub Foods store voucher for their premium tomato entries: Leonard Helford of Farmington, Carol Beandette of Burnsville and Donald Hodgdon of Eden Prairie. The winner and finalists were chosen from more than 100 entries. NatureSweet's distinguished judges Bobby Jenson, of KARE 11's "Grow With KARE;" Dale K, Fox 9 Morning News; Lewis Gerten, Gertens Greenhouses; Staci Matthews, KS95; Monica Schierbaum, Cub Foods; Brett Wing, Cub Foods; and Phyllis Andrews, Minnesota State Horticultural Society. Winners were chosen based on overall appearance/color tests and Brix testing. Brix tests determine sweetness -- the higher the Brix number, the better the taste. The finalists were then taste-tested by the judge's panel. All surplus tomato entries -- approximately 150 tomatoes -- were donated to the Second Harvest Heartland. The Homegrown Tomato Challenge treks across the country as NatureSweet continues to seek out America's best homegrown tomatoes. |
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