Tomato Challenge 2012: featured contestant

Reader Matthew Barcia from West Hempstead, a verteran of the Challenge, has thrown his hat back into the ring! “Recently I purchased Big Zac seeds, as well as Australian seeds from an internet site located in Utah,” he writes. “It is my hope that finally I will be able to compete with a winning giant tomato.” Barcia started his seeds this year in a cleverly recycled 10-gallon lighted fish tank!

Are you in? The 2012 Great Long Island Tomato Challenge will be held at 7 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 24 at Newsday, 235 Pinelawn Rd., Melville. Bring your biggest, heaviest fruit to the event, where I will weigh tomatoes and name this year’s Tomato King or Queen. In the meantime, send a photo of yourself with your plants and a note about your growing methods to jessica.damiano@newsday.com, and you might be featured next.