Earth Fare is sponsoring its sixth annual Take Your Tomato Contest,

Earth Fare is sponsoring its sixth annual Take Your Tomato Contest, in which you take your freshest tomato and show off your creativity.

There are four possible categories, with each showcasing the summer staple in the culinary arts, visual arts, performance arts and as world traveler.

* Baked Tomato: Write up an original recipe that features the tomato as a central ingredient. Judges say they're looking for something tasty and innovative, and they "know how to Google to see if it's original."

* Van Gogh Tomato: Let your tomato be the muse for a creative work. Paintings, collages, Photoshop manipulations, sculpture. Start with tomato inspiration, and take it anywhere, then submit a pic.

* Mater in Motion: Make your tomato the star of a video short (two minutes maximum). Post to any popular video site (YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook) tag it @EarthFare and submit a link where judges can view it.

* Traveling Tomato: Take your tomato somewhere cool, somewhere unexpected, somewhere creative or inspiring and take its photo.

Every participant receives a coupon for a free pound of organic, on-the-vine tomatoes from the natural foods grocer (with $5 purchase), and $1,500 in prizes are at stake for winners. Four will win a $300 Visa gift card - one to the popularly selected winner of each submission category. One will win a $500 Visa gift card for Earth Fare's favorite - an overall winner picked by Earth Fare team members.

Entries are due by Sunday, Aug. 10. For complete rules and restrictions, visit www.earthfare.com.