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One of the worst parts of apartment life is that there's rarely enough room for actual gardening. Maybe you can fit a potted plant or two by the window, but if you don't have a yard - or at least a balcony, where do the tomatoes go?
Tomatoes are one of those things that even the most inept gardeners can grow successfully. All they really need is plenty of sun, consistent water, and a place to put their roots. Sure, you can always buy tomatoes at the store, but a commercially farmed hybrid is never quite as good as homegrown; and your typical grocery store has nowhere near the variety of the average nursery or seedling sale.
One of the largest and longest lasting seedling sales in Southern California is TomatoMania, an annual event now in its second decade in the Los Angeles area. An annual event, with three weekend-long sales in the greater Los Angeles area, TomatoMania brings together a wide range of hybrid and heirloom tomato seedlings.
Organizer Scott Daigre finds that, while people tend to go for the tomatoes with the shortest growth cycles, many also come to TomatoMania to find the plants with the most bizarre shapes, colors, and names.
Now an iconic Valley event that draws enthusiastic crowds, TomatoMania began in the 1990s as an heirloom seedling sale at the Hortus nursery in Pasadena. Daigre, a local garden consultant, organized the event while he worked at the nursery. When Hortus closed in 2000, Daigre moved the sale to the Tapia Brothers' Farm Stand in Encino.
Since the 1990s, Daigre has expanded TomatoMania to include seedling sales up and down California, and in Connecticut. In addition to the tomato seedlings, TomatoMania also offers growing supplies and advice.
Beyond the usual tomato hybrids found in the produce section, here's a short list of tomato variants worth checking out:
Green Zebra - While it's often categorized as an heirloom, the Green Zebra is a recent hybrid, developed in the 1980s (while there's plenty of debate over how exactly to define heirloom tomatoes, it's generally agreed that heirloom seeds should have been around between 50 and 100). It ripens early and bears a tart, bright green and yellow fruit.
Cherokee Purple - The Cherokee Purple is a larger beefsteak tomato, with dense, juicy meat and a dark red - almost purple - color. While beefsteak tomatoes are among the uglier fruits around - most are shaped like kidney beans, with tops that usually remain green while the bases are colored like a nasty bruise; and their skin is prone to cracking as soon as they ripen - they have exceptional flavors, and their impressive size - some variants can weigh more than a pound - makes them ideal for sandwiches. Because they don't ship well, beefsteaks are hard to find in stores.
Blaby Special - This smaller, red tomato was originally grown at Shoult's Tomato Farm, in the village
of Blaby in Leicestershire, England. It was incredibly popular through World War II, but disappeared when the farm closed down after the war. In 2006, the Blaby Special was resurrected by a scientist at Lancaster University from seed-bank samples. Already, there has been enormous demand for seeds across England.
Mortgage Lifter - The Mortgage Lifter is another large beefsteak, developed in the 1940s. The Mortgage Lifter is so named because its developer earned enough from selling its seeds to pay off his mortgage.
Jaune Flamme - A small, sweet yellow-orange fruit, the Jaune Flamme is good in salads and by itself (eaten off the vine like healthy candy). This heirloom variety originated in France.
Black From Tula - Another hearty beefsteak, the Black from Tula is a Russian variety with dark coloring and a sweet taste.
TomatoMania! will be at the Tapia Brothers' Farm Stand, in Encino, April 4-6, Party Paper Life, in Beverly Hills, on April 20, and the LA County Arboretum and Botanical Garden, in Arcadia, May 2-4. For more information, visit www.tomatomania.com