Vicki’s Veggies

I learned about Vicki’s Veggies and the annual heirloom tomato festival when I visited one of the local wineries earlier this spring, and just knew I had to come back for the festival. Who doesn’t want to see hundreds of varieties of tomatoes on display for tasting and purchasing?! (Okay, probably a limited demographic for this, but if you love local produce, this is a place for you).
We arrived at Vicki’s near the end of the first day of the festival, and I wanted to hurry from the parking lot to the grounds as fast as possible once I started seeing the ripe and filled baskets of beautiful produce I saw people carrying as they returned to their cars. Thankfully, there was plenty of produce left to admire and purchase.
The tasting is open on a long buffet-​like table, and you can sample whatever you choose. The names are prominently displayed, so you can take note of ones you like for later when you are heading to the checkout. It would be helpful to have a checklist with all the names and small golf pencils to help you organize your thoughts, but that’s merely a suggestion that would be icing on the already delicious cake.
Among the grounds you could also speak with a number of local vendors — Chocosol from Toronto was present, samples from the Neal Brothers chips were available and a local 84-​year old with her homemade jams, jellies and preserves for sale were highlights for me.
If you wanted to have a meal there, that was also an option — the menu looked fantastic, but we had just eaten so it didn’t interest us. Games and activities for the children were also available.
Overall, it was a great way to learn more about the produce and farming community present in the area as well as discover the devotion this one farm has to preserving the range of heirloom produce that are possible.
We left with an armload of tomatoes and veggies which were put to good use in the coming days. A highlight of my summer to be sure and a must-​do for the years to come.