MONTAGUE — Red Fire Farm is coming away from the 40th annual Massachusetts Tomato Contest a winner, this year for its Brandywine and Purple Zebra heirloom tomatoes.
Red Fire Farm co-owners Ryan and Sarah Voiland have found success in the contest before with their cherry tomatoes. Ryan Voiland said he thought the cherry tomatoes this year were good, but it was the pumpkin-esque, flavor-filled Brandywine and Purple Zebra heirloom tomatoes that ultimately came out on top.
“Brandywine is a really remarkable-tasting tomato, so it’s always one that I have in the top of my mind that might be a good one to enter in the contest,” he said of the Brandywine, which won first place in the heirloom category, just ahead of the Purple Zebra in second place. “It does have the potential to taste that perfect balance of sweetness and acidity, and nice interior that’s a deep crimson, pink color.”
This year, the contest received 101 submissions from 19 farms across the state that were judged by chefs, food writers and produce experts on Aug. 19, according to the Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources. Massachusetts farmers produce roughly 5 million pounds of tomatoes each year from 739 farms spanning 520 acres.
Red Fire Farm, which has property in Granby in addition to its Montague location, was the only farm to represent Franklin County in this year’s contest. Categories included slicing, cherry, heirloom and heaviest.
“The Tomato Contest celebrates the hard work of commercial growers from across the state and showcases the fresh, high-quality produce available during our harvest season,” Department of Agricultural Resources Commissioner Ashley Randle said in a statement. “Today’s contest highlights the determination of our farmers, who face challenges from changing weather patterns, to provide food that supports our communities and local economies.”
Voiland said the contest judges take into account the flavors of the tomatoes they are judging, while also reviewing the cosmetic look of the fruit. He said selecting the tomatoes to submit is “a little bit daunting” given the many varieties of heirlooms.
Additionally, growing these tomatoes is a balancing act. The farm grew the award-winning plants inside its Montague greenhouse, with a drier growing season helping the plants not become oversaturated. Voiland said the farm could balance how the plants were watered to preserve the flavor, as well as limit the risk of the heirloom splitting.
“When I’m selecting tomatoes to enter in the contest, I have to go through all my rows and fields to try to find five fruits that are identical to each other, cosmetically perfect in every way, that aren’t cracked, that don’t have catfacing,” he explained, referencing a physiological disorder that can increase the chance of the fruit becoming infected by black mold rot. “I was lucky this year and I was able to find a really nice batch of Brandywine planting in one of our greenhouses.”
Although the farm didn’t place in the other three categories this year, the favorable growing conditions and proper monitoring helped the farm place for the two heirlooms.
“I think we were able to get the watering right and the nutrition right, and keep the plant healthy. So we have a lot of good, healthy leaves,” Voiland said. “I think we did all right this year.”