Capay Tomato Festival

The problem with fun and productive weekends is they fly by too fast. I thought we’d have a nice relaxing down day at home after such a packed day yesterday. But we got moving on so many chores, projects, and errands that our down day disappeared! But yesterday was worth it! We went to the Capay Organic tomato festival, the huge organic farm that our farm box comes from. This seemed like a wonderful opportunity to see the farm and where our organic veggies are coming from. And what a nice change of scenery!

Gorgeous rolling golden hills and lush farmland. And, of course, it was hot! In the mid-90s hot!

That didn’t stop anyone from having a great time, but maybe sweat a little more while doing it. Which such gorgeous scenery, everyone was enjoying the photography opportunities from grandmas taking pics with cell phones to many professionals with tripods. I even saw a group of hipsters taking artsy tomato pictures with classic, leather-bound Polaroids.

I wanted one of the shirts, but I have too many T-shirts as it is!

But cold beer? Yes please.

The bands were great for country/bluegrass, this one a family affair with talented kids.

Lots of tractors and tractor rides.

But I had to get into the strawberry picking action right away. Guests were given little baskets and being let loose in the strawberry fields to pick, and eat, as many sun-ripened strawberries as we wanted.

It was so cute watching the kids have a blast, I overheard one parent saying, “Are you picking or eating the strawberries?”

When they looked this good and are organic, I started eating them too! So sweet and they just melted in my mouth.

I had too when my baskets were full. :-)

The farm is huge, acres and acres of crops. Tractor tours were running throughout the event.

But I just loved walking around the property and enjoying the views.

And sampling all the varieties of tomatoes.

There were also chickens roaming the grounds not shy of the guests. But I feel thankful to have gotten this shot because a group of toddlers chased them away seconds later.

Guests were also allowed to camp in the orchards overnight if they wanted which was very popular apparently, there were a lot of cars and tents tucked between the trees.

After picking fresh strawberries, fennel, and sampling tomatoes, we set up chairs in the shade near the live music and enjoyed the picnic I packed. There were also plenty of food trucks at the event, but not much for a vegan, so I was glad I packed. Having dinner with this view was worth it.

After dinner, we finally jumped on one of the tractor tours just in time for the sunset and it was gorgeous. I would have snapped more pictures, but riding in a trailer behind a tractor is very dusty. I just didn’t feel like cleaning it from the lens and body for the next 5 hours. :-) But I saw a lot of deer, many varieties of growing tomatoes and other crops, walnut trees, sun spiders, and perfect views of the sunset.

It was a wonderful summer event that celebrated fresh, organic produce and let visitors see and experience the organic farming and amazing foods closest to their natural form. I’m very spoiled by the strawberries now, not sure I could ever buy ones in the store that aren’t fresh and sun-sweetened!