KINGMAN — The Tomato Quest Harvest Festival has completed its fourth annual run. The event was held at Locomotive Park. The sponsoring groups were the local chapter of the Master Gardeners of Arizona and the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension in Kingman.
Griffin Collins is the Master Gardener Area Coordinator and he explains what this event was all about.
“What it is, is a family-oriented event. It’s all basically non-profits and educational booths. And we’re here to celebrate, not only the community, but tomato growing, too.”
The exhibition was held on a picture-perfect Kingman day and was designed mostly for Mohave County back yard gardeners. Collins continued about the roll Master Gardeners play in the community.
“What the Master Gardeners are focusing on with this especially is helping people find plant varieties that are better adapted to the area. They’re a volunteer group and the main thing that they do is field people’s questions about landscaping and gardening issues.”
Information about the Master Gardener program is available through the local Cooperative Extension Office located on Beale Street at the corner of First. To get designated as a Master Gardener, you need to take a rather extensive course that is offered by the University of Arizona Extension program which will have another session starting soon.
“We have our Master Gardener training course coming up January 15th. Also this year we had the second annual salsa contest, so it’s not just growing the tomatoes and other ingredients, it’s using them, tool”
The salsa contest winner is Andrew Brischke, who picked up the victory over seven other entries. It was a “people’s choice” win as festival attendees sampled the salsas and voted for the taste winner.
The event was a well-crafted presentation that allowed Mohave County residences the chance to learn about the best plants to grow in this area, especially tomatoes. Numerous booths were available to take in regarding the vast knowledge from the local chapter of the Master Gardeners of Arizona and the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension.
