Tomatomania Is Sprouting at SoCal's Gardens and Farms

A perfect tomato?

Such an ethereal orb may not truly exist, if you're going to wield an unforgiving list of qualities that include the ideal hue, seediness, juiciness, and that hard-to-explain tomato-a-tude, the hard-to-characterize character that gives the zesty fruit its particular oomph.

But one could argue that every single tomato is singularly perfect in its own way, if it can make a marinara sauce tangier, a Caprese salad kickier, or a BLT brighter in taste.

Which most tomatoes certainly can.

If you hold this appetizing opinion, and you're looking to make the warmer stretch of 2021 your tomato-iest summer ever, Tomatomania has arrived to help.

The on-the-road heirloom tomato event is back, and it will be calling upon several Southern California nurseries and gardens from Feb. 26 through April 1.

In-the-know advice from tomato growers and knowers is a feature of the outdoor happenings, as are all of the vivacious varieties of heirloom tomato seedlings that are for sale.

Look also for "pots to fertilizers and stakes" to buy, too, making Tomatomania one-stop shopping for the person looking to juicily jumpstart their own backyard tomato-coaxing adventures.

Up first on the Tomatomania tour?

It's Roger's Gardens in Corona del Mar, from Feb. 26 through March 7.

Fig Earth Supply in Highland Park will follow, with stops to come in Fillmore, Encino, and other regional cities.

The pro-smart tomato enthusiast at the forefront of this fruitful festivity? It's  Scott Daigre, the owner of Ojai's Powerplant Garden Design.

So how'd your tomatoes do last summer? So-so in the grow-big department?

Add some heirloom magic to your life, your little plot o' soil, and ultimately your dinner table with the help of this annual, spring's-here extravaganza, an event that could help turn you into a talented tomato grower for all the summers still to come.