Is anyone going to attend Tomatomania?

[heirloomtomaguy]

Im wondering if anyone in Southern California is or has ever gone to Tomatomania. I have gone the last couple years. It is a giant tomato plant sale usually in cool settings. I am going tomorrow to Tapia Brothers Farm Stand in Encino. This is their biggest and best seedling sale and tomato tasting event. Here is the link for anyone interested. I will take pics and post them here after i get back.
http://tomatomania.com/events/

[Gerardo]

I missed the El Cajon one, the southernmost event. Maybe if they do another one down here I'll hit it.

[peebee]

It's a bit far for me but if they are ever closer I'd go. But I really shouldn't cuz I have far too many seedlings already, so I don't want to be tempted.

[shatbox]

I've never been to the Encino one, but please post a list if you get one and let us know what you picked up. I think I have a little time on Sunday if there are some interesting ones. Fullerton Arboretum has the VeggiePalooza that I have been going to for the past 5+ years. No tastings, though, but they do post a list of available varieties on their website.

sBox

[carolyn137]

I got the notice as well, and that's b/c I was at the 2nd Tomatomania event ever held, asked to fly to the west coast to give some talks on heirloom tomatoes and answer questions,and that was at a fancy nursery,I forget the name now,owned by two brothers. I remember they also had a place in Orange County and I was asked to go there for an afternoon ,same gig, and one of the brothers drove me there on those insane CA expressways with 6-12 lanes on each side..

And I met many of the SCAL folks I'd known which was great.

Tom Wagner had driven down from Bakersfield to meet me in person and sat at the same table where I was answering questions and autographing copies of my heirloom tomato book, which they were also selling.

I listened to the other speakers and that's the first time I heard about dry farming and heard that Early Girl was the state fruit of CA.

I think they sold out to some nursery chain stores called Armstrong.

Tom and I went out for dinner one night and of how I wish all of you had been there to hear him and his rants. We ended up eating at what I would call a dive.

The previous night many of the folks I'd known all went out for dinner together at a well known Mexican restaurant and the food was great.

So someone somewhere has just kept me on the list to get a notice every year.I didn't spend much time reading but each place used to list which varieties they were selling.And I remember that the one at Long Beach was a fave of many.

Carolyn

[cjp1953]

Early Girl is one of my favorites that I'm growing.

[heirloomtomaguy]

Originally Posted by carolyn137

I got the notice as well, and that's b/c I was at the 2nd Tomatomania event ever held, asked to fly to the west coast to give some talks on heirloom tomatoes and answer questions,and that was at a fancy nursery,I forget the name now,owned by two brothers. I remember they also had a place in Orange County and I was asked to go there for an afternoon ,same gig, and one of the brothers drove me there on those insane CA expressways with 6-12 lanes on each side..

And I met many of the SCAL folks I'd known which was great.

Tom Wagner had driven down from Bakersfield to meet me in person and sat at the same table where I was answering questions and autographing copies of my heirloom tomato book, which they were also selling.

I listened to the other speakers and that's the first time I heard about dry farming and heard that Early Girl was the state fruit of CA.

I think they sold out to some nursery chain stores called Armstrong.

Tom and I went out for dinner one night and of how I wish all of you had been there to hear him and his rants. We ended up eating at what I would call a dive.

The previous night many of the folks I'd known all went out for dinner together at a well known Mexican restaurant and the food was great.

So someone somewhere has just kept me on the list to get a notice every year.I didn't spend much time reading but each place used to list which varieties they were selling.And I remember that the one at Long Beach was a fave of many.

Carolyn

Sounds like you had a great time Carolyn and yes our freeways are huge but even as big as they are i had to sit in 2 hr traffic to go 30 miles today on my way home.

[heirloomtomaguy]

Pics as promised. Apparently they do not do tomato tasting anymore. It is just a giant yomato seedling sale. But they did have a ton of varieties.

[heirloomtomaguy]

More pics

[heirloomtomaguy]

They had a pretty impressive variety list.... 462 in total. Here is the master list

[heirloomtomaguy]

Desisions decisions

[heirloomtomaguy]

So i was good. I let the kids each pick 1 plant each. My Son chose Sprite F1 and my Daughter chose Supersweet 100. My Wife picked a Golden Zucchini.....go figure no tomato. I picked up a Sungreen F1, Piglet Willie's French Black, and a Harless Creek Gold. We had a great time searching through all the varieties.

[shatbox]

Well, I broke down and went.

I bought a Thunder Mountain and Rutgers 250. Tomatofest lists Thunder Mountain as having regular leaves, but as you might be able to see in the pics, the plants were both potato and reg leaf. The woman who does the buying for Tomatofest says it can be either (like Marianna's Peace she said).

[ddsack]

Terrific pictures, thanks to both for posting. All those big green tomato plants are a sight for sore eyes getting so tired of my remaining snow banks! I would have loved to wander the aisles for a few hours. Heirloomguy, are those cute kids in the last two pics yours?

[heirloomtomaguy]

Originally Posted by ddsack

Terrific pictures, thanks to both for posting. All those big green tomato plants are a sight for sore eyes getting so tired of my remaining snow banks! I would have loved to wander the aisles for a few hours. Heirloomguy, are those cute kids in the last two pics yours?

Yes they are my twins. I am so Blessed!