Tomatomania!, the Tomato-licious Seedling Fest, Is on the Road

TOMATOES, we'll wager, have played some kind of central and savory role in your wintertime cooking. You might have made a few stews, the sort of potent pots that brim with beans and diced tomatoes. Some pasta sauces may have been in the mix, and perhaps a hamburger-based hot dish or two. It's a versatile fruit that adds oomph, texture, and tanginess to our cuisine throughout the calendar, and not just in early August when the tomato is the titan of the produce aisle and local farmers market. But after a few cold months of filling tomato-y recipes, a person can begin to yearn for springtime, and the opportunity to grow a few gorgeous orbs of their own. That's where Tomatomania! rolls into the picture, that on-the-road, seedling-strong celebration that gives gardeners the chance to pick up some plants and some great information, too.

IT'S NEARLY TIME AGAIN... for the winter-into-spring tour, which will call upon spots around San Diego, Orange County, Los Angeles, and Ojai, as well as a few other spots. Visitors can expect to see "over 300 heirloom and hybrid tomato varieties," and plenty of other tomato-adjacent items, like stakes, pots, and other garden-related goodies. Of course, the "expert advice" is what plenty of people are seeking as well, so even if your personal patch of heirlooms is looking especially lush, you may want to still swing by for a chat. Is this the summer you truly go big on your tomato plants, all to prepare for the sauces, stews, and hot plates of next winter? It's never too early to plant, er, plan ahead, not when you're a devoted tomato-ist with a knack for knocking tomato dishes out of the park. Discover all of the tour dates and specific stops, stops that happen at places that are full of other flowery and fruit-forward offerings.