New tomatoes flush with popular appeal

"Black" tomatoes are expected to be the buzz of the gardening world this year, according to a California heirloom producer.

"These so-called 'black' tomatoes are not really black," said Gary Ibsen, grower of 600 varieties of certified organic heirloom tomatoes and founder of Tomato Fest Garden Seeds in Carmel.

"They cover a range of dark colors - deep purple, dusky rich brown, smoky mahogany with dark green shoulders and bluish-brown. The depth of colors seems to be encouraged by a higher acid and mineral content in the soil."

The popularity of this Ukrainian-native tomato was revealed in a survey of tomato seed sold to commercial tomato farmers and home gardeners and sales of fresh heirloom tomatoes to retailers and restaurants.

Ibsen said consumers are discovering the superior and complex flavors of heriloom varieties and like the bold colors along with traditional red, pink and orange tomatoes. This year Ibsen is growing more than 600 varieties of certified organic heirloom tomatoes from seeds that originated from family farms around the world.

Scott Daigre is with Tomato Mania, a traveling road show that sells unique varieties at locations from San Diego to Arcadia, Calif., and on the East Coast. Tomato Mania began with 15 varieties for sale and now features 300 varieties.

The goal is to showcase hard-to-find classic heirlooms like the newly popular "black" tomatoes and the other is to showcase hybrids that no one grows, he said.

"He started to find odd seeds and grew it out as plants, and everyone seemed to open to trying new varieties," Daigre said. "In fact, people lost their minds about discovering these new tomatoes.

"We get our products from about 14 suppliers, mostly from Southern California, and encourage them to grow wacky stuff," he said. "The list is amazing. Our goal is to get 50 varieties that no one has seen.

"When we get new customers we build a new market for growers at farmers' markets," Daigre said. "Everyone needs to be more adventurous, so it's great to talk to commercial growers about growing something new."