Backyard Farms Tomatoes

Let’s face it. One of the best parts of summer is the bounty of fruits and vegetables that become available. Tomatoes happen to be one of my favorite foods. When they are fresh and in-season, tomatoes are perfect all by themselves, no need to be cooked or even seasoned. I look forward to local tomatoes all year and then often eat them for several meals in a row.

When I received an email inviting me to a tomato-tasting event with Backyard Farms and Neptune Oyster, I was beyond excited.

When we arrived at the event, we were greeted by our PR agency hosts, offered some delicious wines, and then got settled to learn about Backyard Farms.

Backyard Farms tomatoes

Backyard Farms grows fresh greenhouse tomatoes year-round in Madison, ME. As a small  business, the employ 200 locals with good agricultural jobs that offer year-round work and benefits, something that is rare in an industry that often pays extremely low wages for seasonal work. Tomatoes at Backyard Farms are picked when ripe and only distributed as far as Maryland, ensuring they are perfectly ready for eating. The tomatoes are always fresh and at their best quality, juicy and red. You won’t find any tomatoes with dry, white centers from Backyard Farms.

Backyard Farms tomatoes

Backyard Farms

Over the course of the event, we learned a lot about Backyard Farms and tomatoes, but the best part was the eating!

Backyard Farms

My favorites were definitely the cocktail tomatoes with their petite size and big, slightly sweet flavor. We had the opportunity to try our tomatoes plain and also with a variety of toppings like good balsamic vinegar and salts like an incredible applewood smoked salt that reminded me of bacon. Yum. Backyard Farms tomatoes are sold in a number of places in the Northeast; you can find out the stores near you on their website.

cocktail tomatoes

The second part of the event was a cooking demo from Neptune Oyster Chef Michael Serpa. He started by making a signature dish, a lobster caprese salad. Chef Serpa was entertaining as he put together the simple salad that highlighted quality ingredients like the tomatoes from Backyard Farms.

salad ingredients

lobster caprese ingredients

Chef Serpa

lobster caprese

I actually missed eating the lobster caprese and other salad because I had a handsome date waiting for me at Nebo. It’s a rarity that my husband makes it back to Boston for dinner dates, so we jumped at the chance. But I am pretty much in love with Neptune Oyster and make it a priority to get there at least once a summer. That visit, for lots and lots of cold, briny oysters and lobster caprese salad needs to happen soon. Before I left I got to snag a great gift bag filled with, you guessed it, tomatoes! The bag included tomatoes, a cute tomato-shaped cutting board, a bottle of olive oil, a tomato knife, and a few other goodies. I can’t say I did anything exciting with the tomatoes; I ate most of them all on their own because they were so delicious.

Are you a tomato fan? What’s your favorite way to eat them?

Tags: events, Food, salads, summer, tomatoes

  1. Daisy’s avatar

    What a fantastic event! I also make it a point to get to Neptune at least once a summer. I think we need to meet for oysters and lobster rolls!

    Reply

  2. Michelle’s avatar

    You know that I’m a big fan of tomatoes. 🙂

    Reply

  3. Bianca @ Confessions of a Chocoholic’s avatar

    I’m bummed I didn’t get to attend the event. During the summer I love sweet tomatoes in a caprese salad, and during the colder months I really like making tomato sauce 🙂

    Reply

  4. Sues’s avatar

    What a great event! Those tomatoes look beautiful 🙂

    Reply

  5. Lindsey @ BeantownEats’s avatar

    I never like tomatoes growing up, but made myself try one every summer. Finally it clicked! I really like making a chilled summer bruschetta.

    Reply

  6. Michelle Collins’s avatar

    This was such a fun event. It was great to see you!

    Reply

  7. Megan’s avatar

    Should we plan a Friday lunch date at Neptune? (Of course, I can’t do til August.) Bummed you missed the salads — they were awesome. I’ve already been making all sorts of things with my tomatoes. Love them!

    Reply

  8. Emily @ A Cambridge Story’s avatar

    Tomatoes are the epitome of summer. What a great event – even if you had to leave early!

    Reply

  9. Elizabeth’s avatar

    Can’t WAIT for tomato season. I met Michael Serpa last month and he was such a sweetheart. Great seeing you tonight!

    Reply

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