from July/August 2007 Newsletter

No doubt you’ve heard about “heirloom tomatoes”—old-fashioned varieties that have been passed down from one generation to the next because of their superior taste.

Well, dozens of these old-fashioned tomato varieties are being grown right here in New Jersey, and for the past few years, at the end of summer, the Museum has hosted an event that celebrates heirlooms grown in our state.

On Sunday, August 26, 1–5 p.m., the Hoboken Historical Museum presents its Sixth Annual Heirloom Tomato-Tasting Festival in the walkway alongside the Museum, 1301 Hudson Street, Hoboken. The event, as always, is free.

Wantage, N.J.-based farmers Rich and Sue Sisti of Catalpa Ridge Farm will supply tastings of some of the tomato varieties they and neighboring New Jersey farmers grow. Favorites over the years have included the tart “Aunt Ruby’s German Green,” the supremely flavorful “Brandywine Pink,” and the ever-popular “Radiator Charlie’s Mortgage Lifter.” New varieties are grown every year, so if you were at the tasting in years past, you’ll find new tomatoes for sampling this year (in colors ranging from white to yellow to striped to green to purple and good old red). And if you like what you taste, you can take some home.

Heirloom tomatoes and garlic, herbs, and other fresh-fromthe-

farm produce will be available for purchase, along with some of Sue’s amazing dips and salsas. This year, Catalpa Ridge will return in October with even more garlic varieties for our First Annual Garlic Festival, so mark your calendar for Saturday, October 13, from noon to 5 p.m., for free tastings of recipes made from “the stinking rose.”

For more information about either festival, call the Museum at 201-656-2240, option 8.

from July/August 2004 Newsletter

On Sunday, Aug. 29, at 1 p.m., Hoboken Historical Museum celebrates “history you can eat” with its free, Fifth Annual

Heirloom Tomato-Tasting Festival in the walkway outside

the Museum at 13th and Hudson Streets. New Jersey farmers Rich and Sue Sisti of Catalpa Ridge Farm will again offer tastings of over a dozen varieties of heirloom tomatoes grown on their farm in rural Wantage Township. (Heirlooms are varieties that gardeners have saved by passing down seeds from one generation to the next. They’re usually the most flavorful varieties and often unusual colors and shapes—not your typical round, red tomato sitting in a plastic tray in the supermarket!)

Come and pick your favorite! The Museum provides slices of Hoboken’s justly famous coal-fired oven bread to hold all those delicious juices—or you can use it to dip into the Sistis’ homemade green salsa (a blend of tomatillos, jalapenos, and “Aunt Ruby’s German Green” tomatoes) or garlic pesto (heirloom “Purple Italian” garlic, purple basil, olive oil and salt).

If you’re hungry for more, or want to share the last days of summer with friends and family, heirloom tomatoes, garlic, and other fresh-from-the-farm produce will be available for purchase. For more information on this year’s tasting, call the Museum at 201-656-2240.