East Texans love their tomaotes.  Last weekend's Tomato Fest in Jacksonville is evidence of that love; it is a 29-year-old event that honors this favorite food! The presence of this festival underscores the importance of the tomato in East Texas culture.

Many of you don't depend upon buying tomatoes at festivals and markets, instead, planting your own garden full of tomatoes. The time will soon come when your production outpaces your ability to eat the fresh tomatoes. If you're  not a farmer selling your crop at a farmers market or festival, what will you do with the abundance?

I had this "problem" some  years ago, when we had forty or so tomato plants in a patch of good dirt next to our home. Those tomatoes were happy as can be there in Anderson County, and by June, my counter, bar, windowsills, and kitchen table were covered completely by Celebrities, Better Boys, as well as cherry and grape varieties.

We ate bacon and tomato sandwiches several times a week to help use the bounty, (my husband won't eat lettuce on this sandwich, so we have BLs for him instead), and we had a plate of sliced tomatoes on the table every night at dinner. I learned to can that year in order to manage the bounty without wasting food. I gave away bags full of them to friends, family members and neighbors, as well.

The salsa, the tomato sauce, and the canned whole tomatoes were a great blessing for my family all year long. I loved breaking open a jar of salsa to pour over a plump chicken before roasting, or making a big pot of chili on a cold January evening with a jar of juicy whole tomatoes. Nothing in a grocery store tastes quite as wonderful as that.

From TX Department of of State Health Services:

The Texas Department of State Health Services has issued an advisory warning people not to consume or to limit consumption of certain fish caught in all waters off the Texas coast due to unsafe levels of mercury.

Women of childbearing age, including women who are nursing, and children under 12 years old should not consume certain fish off the Texas coast. The advisory recommends women past childbearing age and adult men limit their consumption of fish from this area to no more than one or two meals per month. A meal is 8 ounces of fish. (See chart below for specific recommendations.) 

From Hiway 80 Rescue Ministries:

In a partnership with the University of Texas Longview nursing students, a Health Fair will be held on Thursday, April 18, 2013 beginning at 3:00 p.m. and lasting until 6:00 p.m. It will be held at the Hiway 80 Rescue Mission Men's Shelter. We are expecting around 200 homeless men and women to attend this event.

Participants will be offered information on various health related topics. Strategies for how to live with certain issues and improve  over-all health will be available. Along with door prizes to be given out.

For more information contact Gary Crim, Volunteer Coordinator, at (903) 759-8101, ext. 228 or email at garyc@hiway80rm.org