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'm very interested as well and would love to meet some local gardeners. I have Sasha Altai, Grushovka, Ranger hybrid, Principe Borghese, Mortgage Lifter reds, Beefsteaks, Amish Pastes, San Marzanos and Jersey Devils started along with a few others that I can't remember at the moment. (I just had a Spinal Steroidal Epidural in my neck earlier today and was prescribed Percocet for the pain so I'm a bit loopy right now. ;P ) My starts are about 3-4" tall as of today and I'm going to be transplanting them tomorrow into larger pots providing I can stand up straight for more than a few minutes. Please keep me in the know for updates for this MAGTAG festival. I'd love to meet other gardeners in the area and exchange ideas for growing tomatoes in our area. I'm a DC native and have been growing tomatoes for years but as an eternal student, I'd love to have the opportunity to learn new ideas/ techniques from other local gardeners.

The good news is, my friend from work gave me a dozen or so tomatoes for my BLT bar. She has no idea what kind they are, but I may enter some under "mystery tomato" in the tasting just for comparison (She thinks they may be Better Boy or Supersonic or both). So now I can relax. The bad news is, they're calling for rain on Saturday. Of course, things could change - we all know how reliable those extended weather forecasts are. It's supposed to cool down a little, so it shouldn't be 90+ degrees like in 2007. We wouldn't be able to grill if it rains, unfortunately. (The rules for the park say no grilling inside the pavilion.) A possible Plan B for carnivores: There is a good BBQ joint and a decent chicken wings joint nearby - we could take a collection. Of course, we may have enough other food anyway. More ramblings: Remember how I mentioned that I was going to dye my (very short) hair red and green for MAGTAG? I tried the temporary haircolor the other day, and it was a disaster. It turned into a powderlike substance that rubbed off onto everything. I figured that if it got wet from sweat or rain, the stuff would run and I'd look like I was bleeding. So I went to the beauty supply store and got a semi-permanent dye that comes out after a number of shampoos. The color I bought was cherry red, since pinkish-red would be more flattering on me than orange-red. So now my head looks kind of like a neon version of a Brandywine tomato.

Hi Cecilia, Good luck with the Stupice! We really missed you all very much, we were in Boston at that time last year and often throughout the day we talked about MAGTAG. I spent the day thinking about BLTs. I do hope Kim will come, and all the regulars and new folks too ;-) I've got several toms already in flower so maybe I might have a large greenie by then...well, we'll see. I was very surprised by a variety called Islea which sprouted outside on March 30th and was already setting flower buds when I planted it in the ground last week. Islea handled some frosty nights quite well--I am thrilled with it. Let's hope that the plants remain healthy and set yum fruit too--if so, I've got something that will give Stupice a run for its money. As always, let us know how we can help out and what we can bring. We miss you all dearly. Trudi