Tomatomania Time

the stuff of tomato dreams

A tiny snapshot of the hundreds of tomato varieties on offer at Tomatomania events. Photo courtesy of Tomatomania.

Every year around February my tomato dreams begin. You never know if it will be a great or mediocre year but the yearly ritual holds so much hope. I do a clean out of all the pots from the previous year, saving some of the soil. (I only grow in pots because all my available in-ground areas are too shady for tomatoes). When you are planting four or five 15 gallon containers it’s a lot of soil. But this year I couldn’t wait to get my Tomatomania fix so I threw a couple of plants in their tidy homes in advance of the rains. But those were just regular varieties on offer at my local hardware/garden shop. I knew that a few weeks later I could go to a Tomatomania event and take my time to browse the seemingly unlimited tomato varieties to fill in my tomato dreams for the summer. That time is now. If you’re a home gardener, and even if you’re not, think about planting something, somewhere if possible. (Listen to my interview here with Kate Brown whose book Tiny Gardens Everywhere is so inspiring). Go to the 11 minute mark.

I reached out to Tomatomania co-founder Scott Daigre with some questions.

Endless variety of color, shape, size and flavor. Photo courtesy of Tomatomania.

What was the first year you did Tomatomania?
Tomatomania was created by Gary Jones at Hortus, Pasadena, early in the 1990s. I was fortunate to work with Gary and helped build the event till it became the biggest weekend of the nursery’s year. When the nursery had to close in 2000 I picked up the event and took it on the road. 2001 was the first year I produced an event outside the original site.

Why? What was the impetus? How many varieties were available that first year? Now?
Our audience of good gardeners didn’t want the event to go away and neither did we! We found a host, Tapia Brothers Farm Stand, who was willing to foster us. We celebrated 25 years at that flagship location last year and will host this year’s event there March 20-22. In our first year we showcased over 100 varieties. Today our largest events boast 250 plus different tomato varieties.

How many growers do you work with now? How far in advance do they need to get seed to begin?
I work with four different growers now. These pros grow a list I develop and I devise a schedule for delivery to our various events. We work in greenhouses starting in early December for our first events. It generally takes us 11 weeks to grow and “size up” a one gallon plant and 8 weeks for a standard 4” plant.

Tomatomania tomato seedlings in a greenhouse. Photo courtesy of Tomatomania.

How do you decide which varieties will be planted in any given year?

We’re constantly looking everywhere for new tomato varieties. Social media and other media of all kinds point up new opportunities all over the world. There are huge companies and small backyard hybridizers everywhere creating new varieties. Our old favorites are always considered for the spring list and we use our summer test gardens and farms, (there are three of those currently), to trial new varieties that intrigue us. In truth, however, a good number of varieties available at our events are new-to-us varieties that we will have in trials the following summer. That way our Tomatomania family can trial varieties right along with us.

What three/or more varieties are you most excited about this year?
Cowboy, a huge rust-colored beefsteak from a hybridizer in British Columbia,
Solar Vortex, a multicolored flat beefsteak from a long-time friend and hybridizer in Northern California. Scarlet Sunrise, a new red/yellow hybrid cherry introduction from the well respected Hort and breeding team at Rutgers University. It’s a new “Jersey” tomato.

Are there particular types that are the most popular? Color? Shape? Size? Container?
Beefsteaks always amaze and temp our audience but I think it’s the cherry tomatoes that tend to be most universally loved and grown. They can be the easiest to have success with so they have wide appeal. The “black” tomatoes, particularly the black varieties from Russia, are the lovely characters that truly started the Tomatomania heirloom hysteria many years ago. They are still in high demand. Dwarf tomatoes are perhaps the newest tomato craze. Sturdy, compact and fruitful, the majority of those being introduced today are heirloom indeterminate plants, so very different from the dwarf plants we’ve grown for years. They can be tiny one-foot-tall wonders but some will grow to five feet. They are still sturdier though and require less staking. They offer the whole rainbow of colors, stripes and fruit sizes.

How many varieties does the average tomatomaniac buy to take home?
While some are happy with or limited to growing a couple plants in pots on a balcony we also champion home tomato farmers who grow a hundred or more varieties. I think the average tomatomaniac grows 8-10 plants.

The footprint of Tomatomania has grown. How many venues are participating this year?
This year will see 17 events in our lineup. Most of our events are in Southern California but there are two sites in Denver and one in the Seattle area (Issaquah) this season.

Looking back, what has been most surprising about the endeavor for you?
So many things have surprised me about this journey. The loyalty of our audience, the devoted staff “family” that returns to support me and the event each season, our generous hosts, the longevity and growth of the home gardening movement and the sincere enthusiasm expressed by people who engage in the simple act of planting a tomato all amaze me each year. Someone told me twenty years ago that heirlooms were “over”. Glad I didn’t pay attention to that.

Above all though I think I’m moved and excited by the true gratitude that we see and feel each season. Our customers and friends are so effusive and constantly expressing their thanks for all the work we do and this adventure we provide. And it IS an adventure. We’re happy they see it that way. Our friends walk into our events and we often hear “This is my favorite day of the year”.

They are why we do this. We’re grateful.