Another casualty of late blight

As you may know, Slow Food Connecticut hosts the fabulous Tomato To-mah-to: Heirloom Tasting Feast each year. This year, it was scheduled for Sunday, August 23rd.

However, with the rainy conditions in the northeast and the ensuing late blight for tomatoes, it is not to be this year.

The hosts for this event are Urban Oaks Organic Farm in New Britain and Upper Forty Farm in Cromwell, CT. Both farms are suffering greatly from circumstances related to this unseasonably cool and wet weather. A few weeks ago, when Susan Chandler, the leader of Slow Food Connecticut emailed to announce the event's cancellation, it was unclear if there would be any field grown tomato plants surviving by next Sunday. Flooding and blight have taken an enormous toll at the farms, and the areas at Upper Forty where tents are usually set up and parking is provided were saturated with rain to the point that they had been swamp-like for weeks.

We hope that if you have the means, you'll contribute to Slow Food Connecticut's Tomato Fund in support of Upper Forty Farm and Urban Oaks Organic Farm, who have generously hosted this event for eight years.

Proceeds will be equally divided between Upper Forty Farm and Urban Oaks Organic Farm and are entirely tax-deductible.

If you would like to donate, please send a check to "Slow Food Connecticut" and mail to:

Susan Chandler
1870 Asylum Avenue
West Hartford, CT 06117.

Please note "Tomato Fund" on the memo line.