Anthony Racioppi with his winning tomato, 1981 New Jersey Championship Tomato Weigh-In
Hello Oak Folk!
This is AJ chiming in on this rare post. Starting today, we're kicking off a tomato growing contest in honor of my dad, Anthony G. Racioppi. My dad was a hell of a guy, and one of his loves other than his family was time spent in his garden. Growing up in Newark, he would learn about gardening from his grandparents and what they did in the “old country." Later in life he took that knowledge along with help from countless books he read to create his own garden oasis.
Although he could grow just about anything, the one thing that set him apart was his ability to grow monster tomatoes, more specifically “Beefsteak” tomatoes ("not that hybrid shit” as he used to say). His understanding and skill with growing these red beasts would even net him the crown for growing the largest tomato in NJ way back in 1981 with a 3.5lb whopper.
We at Oakflower are always looking for fun things to do to engage with our community both near and far, and we decided to go old school and bring that tomato contest back!
Let me explain a little about how this is going to work:
From August 1st until September 15th, bring your locally grown NJ tomato and weigh it on a scale we will have at the bar.
Fill out a short entry form (name, date, weight of tomato, type of tomato, where grown, and t shirt size).
Take a picture of the tomato on the scale and either tag us in a social media post or email us at info@oakflowerbrewing.com with the pic.
You can enter multiple times if you find yourself with multiple monsters.
Mid-September we will hold a fun little gathering where we will announce the winners for first, second and third as well as a winner for best looking tomato. Winners need not be present.
So you might ask, what happens if I win?
Answer: NOT A DAMN THING! Kidding, and right there is the reason I'm not allowed on social media. The real answer is that we will be making donations in the winners’ name to the The Garden Club of NJ’s Garden Therapy program, plus you will get a VERY limited edition “Anthony G. Racioppi Memorial Tomato Competition” t-shirt which will have your name and the weight of the tomato on the back. There will also be replica winners hats from the 1981 contest as well!
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