Tomato Dreams Do Come True at Blackwood Market

When I first wrote about the , way back in cold and miserable January, all I craved was one perfect Jersey tomato. It could be an ugly or a beefsteak or a plum or cherry. Color did not matter—red, yellow, orange or even a purple heirloom.

All that mattered to me at the time: That the tomato was vine ripened in a sandy field under the bright Jersey summer sunshine.

And finally, at long last, I have my wish.

This week and for the next several weeks, the Blackwood Farmers' Market will be bursting with tomatoes. While there have been a few stragglers and early girls since the market opened in June, now is the time when every tomato is in season. Grab handfuls of strawberry tomatoes (petite red tomatoes shaped like strawberries), Juliets, yellow grape, orange strawberry, red plum, beefsteak tomatoes, slicing tomatoes and other varieties.

Doris Monteleon, from weekly farmer vendor Dave Monteleon Farms, said to expect fresh Jersey tomatoes through September and early October.

"We strung up the last batch of tomatoes this week," said Monteleon, whose brother-in-law is the farmer at Dave Monteleon Farms in Vineland.

Every month Monteleon Farms plants a new batch of tomato plants. And every week, fresh and juicy Jersey goodness can be yours at the Farmers' Market.

Doris’ favorite variety is the yellow grape, which she says she eats like candy. She cans the plum tomatoes—Monteleon Farms cans more than 400 jars of Jersey tomatoes every season. Doris recommends grabbing the bigger, slicing tomatoes for a tomato sandwich.

Her favorite dish is a no-cook tomato sauce over hot pasta. The sauce (grab the recipe here) is made using Juliet tomatoes (which sort of look like mini-plum tomatoes), fresh basil (which you can buy by the bouquet at Monteleon’s stand) and fresh mozzarella (which I grabbed from another market vendor).

Grab some Monteleon fresh tomatoes for $2.50 per pint or two pints for $4.

Monteleon is not the only vendor with fresh tomatoes. My advice: Walk down the row and grab tomatoes from each farmer. At the end of the row, be sure to check out the famous Spino tomatoes from Voorhees-based organic farmer Spino Family LLC. Their tomatoes (two for $1) make the perfect BLT.

The is held every Saturday from June through October in the library parking lot. It runs, rain or shine, from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.

What's your favorite Jersey Tomato recipe? Or is there another kind of Jersey Fresh produce that has you salivating all summer long? Share with us!