There’s something about summer and growing tomatoes. Maybe it’s because they really only grow in the summer or because they taste so much better (so much better) than anything available in the stores, but there’s something really satisfying about a summer tomato you’ve grown yourself.

There are those, of course, who take their tomato growing to the extremes, such as the guy chronicled in the Los Angeles Times last year who grew something like 10,000 tomatoes in his San Fernando Valley yard. It was in reading that article that I discovered Tomatomania – no, not this particular gentleman’s mania for tomatoes, but the Tomatomania seedling sales, listed at www.tomatomania.com.

I ventured out to one of this year’s Tomatomania events, held on March 28 at the Tapia Brothers’ Farm Stand in Encino (yes, this L.A. Westsider went all the way to the valley for tomato seedlings – that’s dedication). I’m guessing there were at least 30 varieties of tomato seedlings spread out. Luckily they give detailed descriptions as to what kind of tomatoes and what kind of characteristics – from early to late season and whether they did well in coastal areas. I tend to like the heirlooms and the bigger varieties so, after much consideration, I went with six varieties: Purple Russian, Orange Queen, Skorospelka, Barnes Mountain Yellow, Supersteak and Pierce’s Pride.

The next step was planting them. There is one gardener in my particular community garden that grows amazing tomatoes. The theories as to why his tomatoes surpass everyone else’s have included appropriating manure from a local stable, but when one of the other gardeners asked him what his secret was, he said “number one: compost; number two: compost; number three: compost.”

When I told this story to my friend Trisha, she told me that in the book “The Year I Ate My Yard” (http://www.vegetare.com/id1.html) by Tony Kienitz, he recommends putting an egg at the bottom of the hole (a whole egg and not just the shells) and that as the egg decomposes it releases the nutrients that tomatoes crave.

I liked that idea and did a little Googling and found people who put eggs (and egg shells) and a lot more. Cynthia Sandberg of Love Apple Farm has a blog called http://www.growbetterveggies.com/, where she advises throwing the “kitchen sink” (if your kitchen sink includes fish heads, egg shells, aspirin, bone meal and worm cases) into the hole.

I stuck with the eggs, purchasing organic grass-fed free-range eggs (because my tomatoes deserve nothing less) and put them deep into the hole and then covered them with a little good soil followed by some organic fertilizer mixed with the good soil and then the seedling. Following what almost every good tomato gardener tells you, I trimmed any lower leaves on the tomato seedling and just left the top-most leaves and then filled the dirt in around the little guys until their little tops were just barely peeking out of the soil and then gave them a good water. It’s been two weeks and they’re already starting to make their way out of the holes.

To find out about upcoming Tomatomania events, visit www.tomatomania.com. If you’ve missed the events, you can order seedlings directly from White Flower Farm through the Web site. Another good source for tomato seeds and seedlings (which this time of year are your best bet) are the organic garden supply catalogs, such as Peaceful Valley (http://www.groworganic.com), the Natural Gardening Company (http://www.naturalgardening.com), Johnny's (http://www.johnnyseeds.com) and Seeds of Change (http://www.seedsofchange.com). 

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