PAULINA — The LSU AgCenter held the Eighth Annual St. James Parish Tomato Field Day at Raymond (T-Black) Millet’s and Rene (T-White) Millet’s farm in Paulina.

Approximately 125 attendees took part in educational programs provided by Craig Roussel and Mariah Simoneaux of the LSU AgCenter’s Cooperative Extension Service, covering new tomato, bell pepper, and cucumber cultivars, insect management and disease management.

The 2017 St. James Parish Garden contest winners were announced and many of the attendees participated in a blind taste test, evaluating the flavor of the past five years’ taste test winners against the authentic LSU Creole variety and the local favorite Jet Star variety.

After tallying votes, Creole outdistanced all other varieties, beating second place finisher Jet Star by two to one, and other varieties by at least three to one.

The highlight of the day was the Biggest Tomato Contest. There were 14 entries, with all tomatoes weighing more than a pound.

Brogan Louque had the biggest tomato weighing in at 1 pound and 11 ounces. He received a $20 cash prize for his entry.

Preparations are underway for next year’s tomato field day, and organizers encourage St. James residents to begin the planning process to compete in the 2018 Garden Contest and the Biggest Tomato Contest.

Twelve adults and five 4-H Youth participated in LSU AgCenter’s St. James Parish Home Vegetable Garden Contest.

Ascension Parish Master Gardeners conducted the judging.

G & G Martin Farms earned first place in adult large garden, and Mona Borne won first place in adult small garden.

Janie Leblanc earned first place in 4-H youth garden, and Willy Martin Sr. won first place in adult medium garden.

East St. James Parish Farm Bureau donated $50 cash awards for all first place winners.

West St. James Parish Farm Bureau donated plaques for first, second and third place winners in each category.

Winners were announced and awards presented at the 8th Annual St. James Tomato Field Day.

Al Orgeron of West St. James Farm Bureau and Gene-O Martin of East St. James Farm Bureau presented the awards.

Other top finishers included: Alex Foret, second, and Michael and Brayden Krumholt, third, in 4-H Youth Gardens; Moise Oubre, second, and Wop Foret, third, in adult small garden; Ricky Accardo, second, and Dennis Snyder, third, in adult medium garden; and Terry Louque, Dean Louque and Clifton Williamson, second, and Eric Louque, third, in adult large garden.

Judging criteria includes weed control, disease control, productivity, site selection and varieties others recommended by the LSU AgCenter.

Record keeping is a critically important step in gardening because it allows producers to provide information to extension agents, chemical company representatives or LDAF field agents if problems arise.

— Craig Roussel is the

LSU AgCenter horticulture agent for St. James

and Ascension parishes.