I know you’re lazy today but really it’ll be worth it to get in gear and run over to Tapia Brothers Farm Stand in Encino for Tomatomania.
A tiny effort now will yield staggering deliciousness all summer long.  And inspiration.  Let’s not forget about the importance of inspiration to keep us content to cook each day.  I love color.  It’s why I knit.  Those fibers with all their shades just calm me down.  It’s the same with raw vegetables.  Often the palette of raw ingredients is as satisfying as eating …

For anyone interested in a pre-carmeggedon excursion, I’ll be judging Preserves at the Orange County Fair on Friday at 1pm in area 38.  There are a zillion activities at the fair and, of course, a full complement of every fried food imaginable.  It will be my first time judging preserves and I’m looking forward to it and have some dread about getting ill in equal measure.  Just to get into the groove I canned some homemade tomato sauce last night.  You don’t have to do dozens of cans at …

Many of us here in SoCal struggle with growing tomatoes.  Inconsistent temperatures, nighttime humidity and poor gardening practices all conspire to give us blight and sometimes, just bad luck.  So I’m really delighted this year to already have some beauties to eat and can.  I contribute my success to my innovative “technique” of double stacking bottomless paper pots onto already large containers, giving the plants extra room for all those roots.
Of course I had to lose the name tag for these beauties on the left.  I bought the plant …

I came home yesterday afternoon to find a cluster of these bugs on my Sun Gold tomato plant.  Does anyone know what this is?
 

Harriet Ells is Good Food’s Supervising Producer.

Back at the end of March, I started this tomato odyssey.  After two years of failed attempts, I decided to get serious.  I bought the seedlings, planted them, watered them and now they are producing!  I actually have tomatoes.  Scott Daigre, my “tomato tutor” came over the other day and checked on my progress.  Here are some notes from the master:

Sun: 6 hours is good, 8 is optimal
If you have blight (brown colored leaves): remove leaves and apply compost tea (if organic growing)
If …

I confess to being a very lazy gardener.  Well maybe not lazy but distracted and often not able to devote the time to create beautiful solutions in the garden.  But I want the food, as much as possible and close by, so I don’t have to shop every time I want to cook.
So when it came to planting this season’s offerings from Tomatomania I was determined to actually get them in the ground within a week of purchasing the seedlings.  Sometimes they hang out in their little plastic pots …

Good Food Producer Harriet Ells is growing tomatoes this spring and summer.  After two failed attempts, she sought the council of Scott Daigre of Tomatomania.
Almost exactly a month ago I planted my little tomato seedlings.  I’m proud to say they are now in adolescence.  Puberty, maybe.  Early on, Scott commented that I needed to add more soil to the pots.  I did that, and I added some fertilizer.  It worked!  They are growing like crazy.  In one of the plants, I even spied an actual tomato.  I’m finding …

Good Food producer Harriet Ells is trying to successfully grow tomatoes, after two past failed attempts.  She spoke to Tomatomania’s Scott Daigre on Good Food a couple of weeks ago (listen here).  Check back here for weekly updates on her tomato progress.
My tomatoes seedlings are now in the ground.  Well, actually in pots.  This past weekend I bought 3 seedlings at Tomatomania: a Sun Gold (cherry), a Fourth of July (medium size hybrid) and a Pierce’s Pride (heirloom variety).  I planted them according to Scott’s instructions:
I put Malibu Compost in the …

And so, my tomato odyssey begins.  Today, Evan and I went up to Encino to buy my tomato seedlings and all the things I need to grow robust, tasty tomatoes.  Last week on Good Food, Scott Daigre of the annual tomato sale Tomatomania, gave me a tutorial on how to grow tomatoes.  I took home three plants, Malibu compost, bamboo stakes, potting soil, worm castings and fertilizer.  Tomorrow, I plant…
Pictures of tomatomania follow…