Scott Daigre

What's my favorite tomato? "The last one I ate".

Yep, that about sums it up. I love tomatoes of all kinds; every shape, size and color. It's fitting that I own and run America's largest tomato seedling sale, TOMATOMANIA!

This crazy, fun event became a part of my life in the mid-nineties when I worked at Hortus in Pasadena, CA, the nursery where it was born. I'd just abandoned a marketing career so I could pursue something I really love and that leap started a wonderful chain of events that still yields great results, even today. TOMATOMANIA at Hortus became huge and years later, after stepping away to start a garden design company called POWERPLANT, I returned to the craziness and started producing tomato seedling events outside the original nursery site. I bought the company in 2006 and now, twenty plus years after the event started we've held TOMATOMANIA sales in 5 states and over 25 cities. We currently host 20 events in the springtime.

Today, while caring for the goats and chickens, managing five acres and keeping my garden design company going, I grow tomatoes with my partner Sam on a hill in the Upper Valley of Ojai, CA. We grow 500 or so plants each season. Some classic favorites of course but mostly new varieties that we can trial, taste and catalog in order to offer them to our friendly "Tomatomaniacs" in future spring seasons. Sometimes we have good seasons, other times...

Everything we've learned along the way (good, bad, ugly and wonderful) is now condensed into my new book, which I wrote along with my good friend and food lover Jenn Garbee. We've even included recipes so you can experiment with new and tasty ways to use your amazing harvests. I'm so pleased to be able to share our experience and passion with you. Enjoy!