Saturday, July 9th was a busier than usual Carrboro Farmers Market. For the first time in two years, the market got to celebrate Tomato Day.
“Tomatoes are really big in this area,” Market Manager Maggie Funkhouser told 97.9 The Hill. “So big, we have a whole day we want to dedicate to them.”
Tomato Day might be the biggest day of the year for one of the most celebrated and robust farmers markets in the region. Funkhouser explains, “I think it’s due in no small part because they are so good. The farmers in this area just grow the best tomatoes.”
The day featured tomatoes in a variety of ways. Perhaps the biggest was the tomato tasting flights. “It’s like, you get a flight of beers at a brewery…here you get a tomato flight,” Funkhouser said. “It will be a little paper boat with five different types of tomato you can sample.”
Joe Tomasheck got one of those tomato flights at Tomato Day.
“We got six tomatoes,” he said. “We have tried the Better Boy and the Early Girl.
“And this is the Sun Gold,” Tomasheck said, popping a small round tomato into his mouth. He smiled and nodded after finishing the tomato. “Definitely a favorite. If you haven’t done it, you’ve got to try that.”
A spread of tomatoes at the 2022 edition of Tomato Day. (Photo via the Carrboro Farmers Market.)
Tomato flights, or offerings of several varieties of tomato, were given to Tomato Day attendees. (Photo via the Carrboro Farmers Market.)
Festivities also included a beloved tomato dish sampling from a chef who is a longtime friend of the market.
“We are so excited to have Chef Ricky Moore at the Farmers Market,” said Funkhouser. “He’s been such a huge supporter of the Farmers Market from day one, and it’s just such a joy to have him as sort of a returning hero.”
Chef Ricky Moore also happens to be a very recent recipient of a James Beard Award. He explained his connection to the Carrboro Farmers Market to 97.9 The Hill.
“When I first moved back to North Carolina 14 years ago, I worked at Glass Half Full,” said Moore. “And I spent a lot of time at the Carrboro Market, so it’s sort of like a homecoming for me. One of the things I did at Glass Half Full was a chilled yellow tomato soup. It became one of the more popular dishes in the menu, particularly during tomato season. So, it’s sort of like a reflection almost. Tomato Day is sort of symbolic for me.”
At Tomato Day, Chef Moore was enthusiastically greeting customers while dishing out tasting samples of his yellow tomato soup. “Someone tasted it and did a summersault and a cartwheel,” he said. The line stretched long around his booth, with Tomato Day attendees eager to taste the soup and congratulate him on his recent award. Chef Moore laughed, chatted, and continued to dish up soup.
If you missed Tomato Day, fear not. While there will not be official events celebrating tomatoes at upcoming markets, tomato season is long in North Carolina. You can find dozens of varieties of tomatoes at the Carrboro Farmers Market all summer long on Wednesdays from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturdays from 7 a.m. to 12 p.m.
Photo via Ross Martin.
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