Heirloom Festival

A Glorious Day for Heirloom Festival

Our third Heirloom Festival was held on August 19, 2006. Dowling gardeners and the community came to sample tomatoes and learn about open pollinated varieties of food crops and flowers. Our new heirloom demonstration garden was open for tours, and the gardens were looking very nice.

Over 60 Kinds of Tomatoes

The tomato tasting featured many new varieties: cherry tomatoes in shades of brown, purple, orange, yellow and green; small salad tomatoes; pink, red and gold beefsteaks, and a few bi-colors; paste tomatoes for cooking and a tomato for drying. Tasters were asked to comment on their favorite tomatoes, and although preferences varied, these tomatoes were ranked at the top: Black Cherry and Brown Berry cherry tomatoes, Marianna's Peace, Cosmonaut Volkov, Wisconsin 55, Brandywine Pink and Moskvich.

A Special Focus on Flowers

From Victorian nosegays to edible arrangements, Heirloom Festival featured flowers. Kym from Soderberg's Flowers (also a Dowling gardener!) created 'tussie-mussies' and displayed sachets and pictures made of dried flowers. We presented information on edible flowers and how to cook with them, techniques for preserving flowers and ideas on how to use them. For PDF versions of flower recipes and crafts:

• The Language of Flowers
• An Introduction to Preserving Flowers
• Edible Flowers
• Edible Flower Recipes
• Tomato Tasting Varieties
• Tomato Taste Survey