BOSTON (AP) – Three years ago, Peter MacArthur set out to grow the best tomato in the state.

His father-in-law, the mentor who taught him everything he knows about farming, had died, and he’d heard a minister talk about the need to have a goal in life: MacArthur decided to focus on tomatoes.

A year later, his commitment started to pay off. He won first place in the field tomato category of the Massachusetts Tomato Contest and Festival. On Monday, the Holliston farmer stood nervously just outside the cordoned judging area in Boston’s City Hall Plaza and hoped for another win.

“I heard the judges saying it was the best-tasting tomato,” MacArthur said.

With clipboards in one hand and toothpick in the other, 20 judges from the food industry walked up and down three rows of tables sampling the best tomatoes the state had to offer. Judges looked for best flavor, a balance of acidity and sweetness, firmness or “slicing quality,” ideal color, and symmetrical shape.

The tomato contest included four categories: cherry tomatoes, field or “slicing tomatoes,” heaviest tomato and heirloom tomatoes, or non-hybrid, much older varieties.

Gail Perrin wrinkled her face as she tasted a cherry tomato she determined was overly acidic.

“They all looked beautiful, but very few tasted like tomatoes,” said Perrin, a retired food editor, who wore plastic tomato earrings.

This year’s contest drew just over 100 entries from all around the state, according to coordinator Nat Arena, a member of the New England Vegetable and Berry Growers Association. Arena said the number was slightly fewer than previous years, due to this year’s record rains, which damaged many tomato crops.

Marie Hills, owner of Kimball Fruit Farm in Pepperell, said she and her husband Carl beat the rain by buying a machine to raise their tomato beds. The heavy rain ran down aisles between the raised beds instead of drenching and splitting the fruit.

“My family is passionate about tomatoes,” said Hills, whose farm produced the 3.3-pound reddish pink Aussie that was awarded the heaviest in the competition.

Producing an award-winning tomato isn’t easy. MacArthur has to heat his greenhouse to keep his tomatoes at a constant 70 degrees. For a month in the winter, he brought his tomato seed trays into his bedroom to keep them warm before returning them to the greenhouse.

The 22nd annual contest kicked off Massachusetts Farmers’ Market Week, a celebration of the more than 100 farmers’ markets throughout the state. The event is sponsored by the state department of Agricultural Resources, the Federation of Massachusetts Farmers’ Markets and the New England Vegetable and Berry Growers Association.

The top three winners in each tomato category received trophies topped with bright plastic tomatoes. Stillman’s Farm in Lunenburg took home two first-place trophies in the field tomato and heirloom categories. Ward’s Berry Farm in Sharon won top honors in the cherry tomato category.

MacArthur placed second in the field tomato category, but said he wasn’t disappointed.

“It’s just being here and being acknowledged for the hard work,” he said. “This makes it worthwhile.”