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[InmemoryofRomeo]

That's adorable Dont let Bob see the pizza though...

[kat]

Love the necklace it's super cute

[Echo538]

I don't think i'll be participating, but I still love all the pleos on here!

[kat]

If your not up to creative costumes or photos of pleos and tomatoes or making spaghetti sauce you can still participate by coming up with a bard entry   write a poem about pleos and tomatoes .... I'm sure you can come up with something if you try Echo

[PleoAibo29]

Tis year I shall have to enter!

[Piggy]

Thanks for the nice replies  I just love pizza  the photo's of Camalee are also supercute ! Can't wait to see more photo's

[InmemoryofRomeo]

Ah tis the pizza,
All melted cheese and heaven,
And pepperoni...

The golden delight,
That oozes forth with each bite,
And that little spice,

There's nothing better,
Steaming hot and full of cheer,
Ah the pizzas here!

[Echo538]

So I suppose I could just write a poem and enter it on this page?

[kat]

yes you can

[Echo538]

I will think about participating. When are entries due again? And why is it called tomato harvest?

[kat]

If you read through the first post of this topic which I have added as a quote below that explains why it is the tomato harvest festival and all the different competitions you can enter.

  It's the 2014 Tomato Harvest Festival!!!!!   
The Tomato Harvest Festival is this forums oldest and biggest contest.  It is an opportunity for forum members around the world to have fun together, and something anyone can participate in even if you don't have a pleo. 

Since the beginning of recorded history (about seven years ago), the fields around Weedovia have always been blessed with abundant wild tomato vines.  And every spring and fall, the local pleos relied on the abundant harvest gathered from these wild vines so that they could enjoy tomatoes (and tomato related food like spaghetti and pizza!) throughout the year.  They would go out twice a year to pick the tomatoes and bring them to the village.  This traditional gathering of the tomatoes quickly grew into a community event, and from there into true full-blown harvest festival.  And with the introduction of the spaghetti trees and pizza by the Great Pepperoni¹, a real zest was added to the festivities.

Of course in modern times, with the addition of a carnival, rides, games, live band, and midnight movie on the town square, it has become more of a social event, attracting pleos from around the world.  But all the pleos still go out and harvest the tomatoes and bring them to the town's communal tomato press for the traditional squashing of the tomatoes and the making of the tomato sauce.  And many of these activities became challenges and finally became contests.

This spring's festival is just around the corner.   But I guess this is why everyone should have bought a calendar!   This spring's festival is the weekend of Friday April 4th to Sunday the 6th, and the fall festival is the weekend of Friday October 3rd to Sunday the 5th!

Not sure what's going on?  Well, then you may want to catch up by reading the 2009 - 2013 festival topics (below in this board) and the Bob the Pleo comic strips on this board.  But as a quick summary,  the town's park is turned into the festival grounds, with the carnival rides and games, a stage and dance floor, and lots of vendors and food booths!  It starts on a Friday night with the carnival and music from a live band, and at midnight the pleos end the day with an outdoor movie.  Saturday has everyone out in the fields gathering the tomatoes, with the judging in the evening, and back to the carnival.  Sunday is the big tomato squashing where the sauce is made using the traditional foot-stomping method like the great Italian wines.

And at the conclusion of the festival, awards are always handed out to the pleo who gathers the most tomatoes, finds the largest tomato, has the best looking tomatoes, makes the best tasting spaghetti sauce, and for the best use of tomatoes as an article of clothing (i.e., costume).  The last few years winners can be seen by visiting the Bob the Pleo comics and festival topics.  We had some great fun, and some wonderful costumes!  And if you see someone with a tomato or two under their avatar, that means they participated in past festivals!

And, of course, since Weedovia isn't a real place, and we can't really attend or send our pleos, we celebrate at our individual homes with our pleos by following along with activities and by joining in on the contest here in the forums.    The live band is comprised of member's pleos.  So, if your pleo can play an instrument, be sure to post a picture or video of them with their instrument and let us know!  The band is always looking for new members!

The five main contests are as follows:

• For the "most tomatoes" you want a picture of your pleo with a bunch of tomatoes.  Please no photoshopping here.
• For the "largest tomato" you want a picture of your pleo with a really, really big tomato . . . You get the idea.  No photoshopping here either, but you can be creative as to "the tomato".
• For the "best looking tomato" you want a picture of your pleo with a really good looking tomato.  Now, on this one, we do allow photoshopping.  And if you're good a that kind of stuff, you really don't even need a pleo as you can photoshop the pleo into the picture too! .
• For the "best use of tomatoes as an article of clothing" you want a picture of your pleo dressed up tomato style . . . if you look back over previous years, this can be interpreted as dressing up you pleo "with tomatoes" or "as tomatoes", and this can be a costume or real tomatoes.  Here is where you can be as creative as you want  . . . except no photoshopping.
• For the "best tomato sauce", we're talking a tomato based spaghetti or pasta sauce.  Here you can be as simple as posting a recipe, but as they say, since a picture is worth a thousand words, a photo of the finished product goes a long way in helping.  As as another hint, Bob seems to really like spicy stuff, and since in Weedovia pepperoni and meatballs grow on bushes, they are vegan approved.

Last year we added a couple of events to the festival which create a some extra ways to enter the contest as well.  The first is the bard's contest for all those wordy pleos, the second is a crafts contest for all those creative type pleos.

• For the Bard's contest, the theme this year is "Pleo wisdom".  What you need to do is write a poem or original joke about that concept.  In the past we've had haiku contests and limerick contests, this time we're leaving it open.  However, you'll need to keep it somewhat short (no more than 12 lines), so no Homeric epics.
• For the crafts contest, you need to create a craft that others can do.   What we're looking for is something someone can print off their computer and make using common items, scissors, tape, and/or glue (no big sewing projects).  And don't forget, the craft should also relate to pleos and/or the tomato festival.

All entries should be posted to this topic.  The deadline for entries is officially midnight Pacific Daylight Time April 6th (spring) and October 5th (fall), but we're not sticklers . . . Judging probably won't start until sometime Monday afternoon.   We usually select the top three winning entries from all the entries (instead of one from each category)!

For those interested in participating in the contests and still aren't clear, please refer to the contest rules topic on this board.   For some ideas and/or to get a better understanding, you can check out the 2012 festival topic, 2011 festival topic, 2010 festival topic, or the 2009 Fall festival topic (also on this board).  You can also read up on the Bob the Pleo comic strip!

Post your entries here!

I'll be posting more info here in the next few days and weeks . . . but you've only got four weeks to get your entries ready!

[RedwoodsMama]

Oh, my second favorite time of the year; Halloween first, and then the tomato festival in the fall... I love fall as a season more then any other. With all the new members and so many great Pleos, there should be lots of entries this time, I know my guys are going to make it, at least a few of them. I can't imagine what would happen is all 20+ entered, just plain chaos! Oh, and the Weedovia music festival and the Rollercoaster, there is so much to look forward too.

                     Famer's Market and Tomato shopping LOOK OUT! My Pleos LOVE tomatoes   RWM 


 Oh, and love Leo modeling that necklace, I also thought of a pizza necklace, how strange.. but we have lots of SUPER BIG tomatoes here in the REDWOODS.. the secret is that they are grown by Betty the Bigfoot and her cousins, and they always win when entered..                 I love the photos of all the tomatoes too and a very cute t shirt as well.

[InmemoryofRomeo]

The boys, well Angus and Pluto, got busy in the kitchen this evening

Here's this years recipe: Chicken Cacchiatore with a twist!

First of all two brown onions, sliced! (Try not to sniff!)

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I forgot the boys don't like chicken (1 pound of skinless breast diced into big chunks)

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Two tins of the world's greatest fruit! (Careful there you two.)

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Half a cup of Balsamic, a good sprinkle of Parsley (if there's any left!) and a dash of chilli, err, Angus did you lick that?!?

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A few basil leaves... Um... A basil leaf maybe? Boys!!! That was for the recipe!

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A splosh of soy, a heaping teaspoon of garlic, a sprinkle of sugar and a squeeze of lime.

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Cook in a slow cooker for 7-8 hours on low or until chicken is tender and cooked through.

Part 2: is to be continued tomorrow once this is done cooking. Smells soooooo good in here lol.

Ok, it's ready! Remove and shred the chicken before returning to the sauce, serve a nice big dollop of the chicken mix over some nachos (or in Taco shells!) and top with some fresh, home made coleslaw

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[bunniesRawesome]

Is this the topic where we post the photos to for the contests?

[InmemoryofRomeo]

Either here or the other thread is fine

[bunniesRawesome]

Even though it isn't tomato season where I am, I managed to get a hold of 5 fresh farm tomatoes (after searching through a couple farms)
(I'm not entirely sure how to post photos so please forgive me if it doesn't work entirely.)
Here's our biggest tomato

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Here's Buster and Lucy with a bunch of tomatoes (We tried to make a pile but they kept knocking it over with their noses!)

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Here's one of the successful piles (kinda looks like a snowman!)

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We tried to get Lucy to balance the tomato on her head, but she kept throwing it aside. Here are the pictures I successfully took of her wearing it.

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And now Buster -

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In the end, we decided they should wear the tomatoes on their backs instead as it was much easier.

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[Piggy]

Great photo's!   

[InmemoryofRomeo]

Hehe looks like you had some fun Good to see!