The votes are in, and we have a winner.

  The Henry County Farmers Market, at Heritage Park in McDonough, hosted its annual Tomato Tasting contest Thursday. The event showcased tomatoes grown by local farmers.

  Tomato no. 1, submitted by C.D. Gray of McDonough, emerged victorious, said Frank Hancock, agriculture and natural resource agent for the University of Georgia Extension Office.

  “That’s the one that most of the folks chose to be the best one,” said Hancock. “The variety was a Big Beef. In second place was a Better Boy Purple variety, tomato no. 3, submitted by Gary West of Westworthy Farm in Locust Grove. In third place,  a Santa Rosa, tomato no. 11, submitted by David Mangham of Circle M Farm in Molena, Ga.”

  Hancock said the Tomato Tasting followed a blind-test format, in which participants did not know whose tomatoes they were sampling or what varieties they were. He said returning farmers and new vendors submitted entries for the competition.

  Their identities, and the varieties of tomatoes in the competition, were not revealed prior to their publication in The Henry County Times, said Hancock.

  “The people who were tasting them only know them by number,” he said.   “We had five farmers who submitted samples for this evaluation.”

  Eleven entries were submitted for the Tomato Tasting. A total of 230 shoppers visited the Farmers Market Thursday, including 75 who tasted the tomatoes.

  Hancock said the Tomato Tasting has maintained its popularity among area residents over the years.

  He said when the Farmers Market rolls around each year, area residents call the Extension Office to make sure they don’t miss the competition.

  “There seems to be a lot of interest,” he said.

  Others who submitted tomatoes for the tasting include Carolyn Runion of Locust Grove and David Weeks of Nu Sunrise Farm in Spalding County.