With great anticipation, the recent TomatoFest winners were unveiled with five heirloom tomato gardeners awarded titles of “best of the best,” in their respective categories.

From over 45 entries of red, yellow, orange, purple, green, brown and striped varieties of all shapes and sizes, winners were selected by approximately 400 eager visitors who attended demonstrations, tasted, evaluated and then voted for the best tasting tomato of the season.

The “Best of Fest” title went to Randy Sine, for his amazingly delicious cherry tomato called “SunSugar OP.

When asked about his success, Randy said, “I really enjoy winning tomato tasting competitions of course, and especially like winning with obscure varieties. I want people to know there is a world of great tasting heirloom tomatoes out there, not just the big names like Brandywine and Cherokee Purple.”

The Red/Pink category winner is Louise Finch with her “Brandywine Pink tomato.”

“This tomato is by far the largest in the competition,” said Allison Adams, co-chair of the fest, “and equally tasty as we can see from the vote tally. I’d like to see a largest tomato category next year, and this one certainly would be a top competitor.”

For the Yellow/Green group, “Orange Crush,” a brightly colored orange tomato developed and grown by second time winner Randy Sine, crushed the competition.

Of the many Cherry entries, Tomoccio, grown by Mary Palmer, pulled to the front of the pack and won the award.

The Roma, know for it’s slender and firm nature, is the perfect canning tomato. First place goes to Allison Adams for her homegrown Opalka, her favorite tomato for canning homemade salsa and spaghetti sauces.

The TomatoFest sponsors – the Master Gardeners of Berkeley/Jefferson counties – awarded homemade salsa and gift cards from local businesses as prizes to the excited winners.