MANIA ABOUT TOMATOES

A pleased customer

Possibilities are endless! Photo from the 2011 Heirloom Expo in Santa Rosa, by Alex Trigo of Two-Dog Nursery

My Celebrity from several years ago. To my taste, the perfect balance of acidity and sweetness, with full "tomato" flavor!

I had great fun chatting about tomatoes last Sunday at this year’s TOMATOMANIA!® event at the Tapia Brothers location in Encino. “Mania” is truly the word, with some 5,000 people joyfully purchasing some 18,000 tomato plants in some 275 varieties over the three-day event. A “pop-up” selling of more plants will continue at Tapia’s through April 4, open every day from 9am-5pm. And more full-blown sales will continue at another 8 Southern California locations through April 6 (and then 2 Northern California locations through April 30).  For specific dates and locations, see www.tomatomania.com.
 
What a wealth of choices of varieties to suit everyone’s tastes (literally!) and gardening spaces and skills. Each variety was accompanied by helpful information cards. Loving to “talk tomatoes” were Tomatomania inventor Scott Daigre, long-time colleagues Laura Moore, Steve Gerischer and Sam Hamann; and Master Gardeners Andy Vaughn and Rich Untal.
 
I asked each of them for their favorite varieties and new ones they’re trying this year.  Here’s their listing:
 
Favorites
All Black From Tula
Ananas Noire
Apricot Dream
Black and Brown Boar
Black Cherry
Black Krim
Blue Beauty
Brandy Boy (cross between Better Boy size and Brandywine flavor)
Carmello
Celebrity
Cherokee Purple
Chocolate Stripe
Enchantment
4th of July
German Pink
Gold Medal
Italian Paste (paste, huge and meaty)
Jaune Flamme
Orange Paruske Cherry
Pearson
Persimmon (less acid; complex)
Pink Ping Pong
San Marzano (paste, heavy producer)
Spoon (tiny, great for kids)
Sungold Cherry
Sunrise Bumblebee (like Sungold but oblong and bigger)
Super Fantastic
Sweet Tangerine
 
New Ones They’ll Try This Year
Cherokee Green
Copper River (a foody favorite - big, brown-purple skin, green flesh with copper “river” center)
Dark Galaxy
Green Doctor’s Frosted
Green Zebra Cherry
Pork Chop
Rose
Sunchocola Cherry