Are you telling me I should be starting tomato seed under lights?? Steve in Baltimore County.

Hey we haven't even talked about the spring swap yet!! Get a grip. Just because it's 70 degrees today...

Steve, I haven't started mine yet because I'm waiting for the seeds to come in the mail. But, yes, I've been known to start tomatoes in February. Not quite this early, though - although it's fine to start peppers under lights now because they grow more slowly!

Anne - Yes, we've already been talking about the spring swap! See below.

I didn't even notice it was 70 degrees, being stuck in my freezing office. That must be why all the birds were singing their little heads off this morning - they think it's spring!

Here is a link that might be useful: Spring Swap

Cecelia, you might want to check out tomatomania under yahoo groups Ihave been getting all sorts of seeds . It is basically free, but contributions of seeds, supplies, stamps, etc are appreciated
I have "traded" with them and have received a whole bunch of different varieties.
Mary

CECELIA,
I am for a little earlier in the month of August if that works for you, MAry

MAGTAG 2006 and 2007 were both held on the Saturday before Labor Day Weekend. We should definitely consider Mary's suggestion that we schedule it a little earlier this year, as for some of us (myself included), my harvest had petered out by time the festival was held and I was unable to contribute much, tomato-wise. (It's not like we had any dearth of tomatoes, though!) Any comments? Hopefully it won't be 99 degrees this year!

Is everybody OK with the location? If so, I'll get the wheels turning to schedule a pavilion at the park as soon as we decide on a date.

I think the location is fine Cecilia--there's not much we can do about the heat ;-(

T-my 2nd Place Red Ribbon adorns my office wall (smiling to self that Red Currant placed)

Hi -- I am pretty new to Garden Web, but I have been reading with great interest about your Tomato festival and spring swap. I am curious about whether these events are open or a private group, which I would totally respect. I've started 16 varieties of tomatoes, many of them are heirlooms. I live in southern Maryland.

maggiemd, of course you're welcome to attend! You're a Mid-Atlantic gardener, after all. And we can never have too many tomatoes.

I've gotten some responses from MAGTAG regulars who post on Tomat0ville.c0m and so far, August 16 seems to be the day of choice. Please let me know what you here on GW think of that date.

I like August 16.

Thank you so much for opening the event to me and others like me. I tried to post this message already once, so forgive me if itÂs a repeat. So where is the event held, and what time?

I can see that people bring lots of tomato type food (sounds good to me!) and tomatoes to share and taste, but if there is anything else I should do, please let me know. August seems very far off, though my little seedlings have popped up already (smile).

The park is a great location. August 16th sounds good. I'm putting in my order now for 75 degrees and sunny lol.
John

I guess no one ever answered Maggie. MAGTAG is held at a park just south of Baltimore. I think it usually starts around 10 or so. This ensures that we are there during the hottest part of the day. Hey have we ever considered starting at like 3?

Homebrew is another popular part of it. I believe that chocolate-containing foods like brownies are also de rigueur. We also swap seeds, mostly tomatoes. Like all our swaps, this is not so much a one-for-one as take what you want,take these, too. And you can harvest seeds from the tomatoes being tasted.

Oops, Sorry, Maggie. I've attached a link to last year's detailed directions. Nothing has changed since then.

I've been busy with a work deadline, but now it's over and I can get crackin' on my MAGTAG duties. I will call Baltimore County this next or week or next week and reserve a pavillion for SATURDAY, AUGUST 16, 2008, if it's available. DH Dave is happy, because it doesn't conflict with the highlight of his summer, the Bel Air Barbecue Bash, which is the weekend before. This also means we can use him a grillmeister again this year!

Any comments on Annebert's comment that we begin the festivities later in the day? The only problems I can see are 1) I think we need to vacate the park by 6:00 - I'll check on this, and 2) it takes forever to tally the results of the tasting contest.

Which reminds me - any suggestions for streamlining the judging would be much appreciated. So far we've tried two different techniques and neither has really been acceptable. The varietie that are more prolific, as well as those that are brought in earlier in the day, get the most tasters. This skews the results toward those varieties. Plus, I usually am stuck doing the tallying, and (despite using a calculator) I am math-impaired - just ask the people I have to weigh in at Weight Watchers meetings! Any suggestions on this would be appreciated.

Here is a link that might be useful: Detailed directions to MAGTAG

I called Baltimore County Parks & Recreation this morning, but I haven't heard anything back from them yet.

Thank you all for posting the information from last year, including the directions. My tomato plants are a foot tall (hmm, wonder if I started them a little too early?) -- got Green, Yellow, Pink, Orange, Purple, and of course Red varieties -- very exciting. Down here in southern Charles County, I'm supposed to be able to plant into the garden May 1st... two more weeks. Never having been to the event, I don't know how the tallying has happened (a ballot box?) but I'll be glad to help any way I can. Chocolate, homebrew, and tomatoes... sounds like a great combination to me!