Annual tomato seed sale from Tomatofest

Dagma Lacey continues the work of her late husband Gary Ibsen at Tomatofest.

Tomatofest was founded by the late Gary Ibsen and his wife Dagma Lacey, who is continuing the work of preserving wonderful heirloom tomatoes.
Even though I have hundreds of varieties of tomato seeds, every year I search the sale to find a couple of new things to grow. Here’s the tomato seed sale.

Gary and I were email friends for years, sharing a love of heirlooms and time spent on the water. Before his back went bad, he loved spending time in his canoe.

I was sad to hear of his passing from a heart condition, his collection of tomatoes is unmatched, his lifelong passion for these varieties thankfully continues in the hands of Dagma.

When I worked for the Tribune-Review I wrote an article about Tomatofest in 2019.

I had set up an interview, but had the wrong time, I’ll never forget what he told me that morning, the article begins like this-

Gary Ibsen was surprised to hear from me as he picked up the phone in his California home. We had scheduled a morning interview, but neither of us realized we were in different time zones. The 74-year-old co-owner of TomatoFest was in the middle of his morning ritual with the love of his life, Dagma Lacey, and asked if I could call back in 30 minutes.

“At 6:40 a.m. I start to make Dagma’s tea,” he says. “At 7 a.m. I slip into the dark bedroom, put her pot of tea on her bedside table, then wake Dagma with a kiss, and whisper, ‘Good morning, Dagma. Here’s your tea to start what I hope will be your best day.’ Then I close the open window, turn on the heat, or start a fire in the wood-burning stove, fluff up her pillows, give another kiss, then return to the office.”

The full article is posted down below.

A couple of years ago, I noticed ‘Aker’s Plum’ in the catalog. It’s a family heirloom saved by my late friend Carl Aker. He used to call the radio show, loved to fish and I visited him a few times at his Monroeville garden.
Here’s the description from the catalog- “These tomato seeds produce a healthy, long-lasting, regular-leaf tomato plant that yields abundant crops of 2.5 x 3.5-inch (6-8 oz.) brilliant red, jumbo plum-shaped tomatoes.  These tomatoes have thick, meaty walls with excellent taste. A fantastic multi-purpose tomato suitable for juice, cooking, salads. Several gardening friends consider this tomato variety one of their top choices to include in their tomato garden each year.”

‘Aker’s Plum’ is a family heirloom from the late Carl Aker from Monroeville.

I was also surprised to see that Carl also provided tomato seeds for ‘Aker’s West Virginia'. Here’s the description- Originally from West Virginia. These organic tomato seeds produce a vigorous highly productive, regular leaf, heirloom tomato plant that yields an excellent set of large, 10 to 16-ounce, deep-red, slightly flattened tomatoes in clusters of 2. Fruits show little or no cracking and have a well balanced sweetness to acidity. Delicious, robust flavors.

‘Aker’s West Virginia’ is another heirloom saved by the late Carl Aker of Monroeville.

Gary Ibsen was a fan of Anthony Bourdain, and after the chef’s death named a special tomato for him called ‘Anthony’s Passionate Heart.” At the time, Gary told me of his affection for the celebrity chef. Here’s the description from Gary-

Anthony Bourdain (1956-2018), was an American celebrity chef, author, and television personality who explored the cuisines, culture, joys and essentials of human existence around the world. He was an icon to me, and many others, who love food and cooking as a most enjoyable way of gathering people together to celebrate our humanity.

I wanted to pay tribute to Anthony Bourdain's life by honoring his legacy with "Anthony's Passionate Heart"', a tomato heretofore unknown, that we have identified as particularly outstanding for its excellent flavors and beautiful, heart-shaped appearance.

We found it suitable that "the world's most popular fruit," a tomato, would carry Tony's name through future generations in a way that would enrich the lives of many.

This tomato was created by respected tomato breeder and friend, Jeff Dawson, from a crossing between "Sungold" and "Amish Paste." This cross yielded the "Amish Red" which over time threw off a slicer, "Red Buddha," and this red oxheart. After seven years of stabilization it has consistently produced 1 lb. tomatoes with bold, fruity-sweet flavors and sufficient acidity for perfect balance.

‘Anthony’s Passionate Heart’ is a tribute to celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain.

Gary Ibsen was surprised to hear from me as he picked up the phone in his California home. We had scheduled a morning interview, but neither of us realized we were in different time zones.

The 74-year-old co-owner of TomatoFest was in the middle of his morning ritual with the love of his life, Dagma Lacey, and asked if I could call back in 30 minutes.

"At 6:40 a.m. I start to make Dagma's tea," he says. "At 7 a.m., I slip into the dark bedroom, put her pot of tea on her bedside table, then wake Dagma with a kiss and whisper, 'Good morning, Dagma. Here's your tea to start what I hope will be your best day.' Then I close the open window, turn on the heat or start a fire in the wood-burning stove, fluff up her pillows, give another kiss, then return to the office."

Dagma Lacey and the late Gary Ibsen from Tomatofest

The two business partners share a deep love for each other and also for heirloom tomatoes, acquiring well over 600 different varieties of seed. Some are sold to gardeners but most are distributed to charities and others who need help.

He discovered heirlooms accidentally in the early 1990s when a farmer down the road invited him to see his fields. As the farmer proudly talked about the soft, rich loam that was home for his plants, he handed Ibsen six heirloom tomato seedlings to try in his own garden. At harvest time, Ibsen was beyond thrilled with the fruit harvested.

"I was overwhelmed with the pleasure, quality of taste and the variety of colors I had never seen," he says.

Like many gardeners in the era, he had only grown hybrid tomatoes, cultivars which are crossed using traditional breeding techniques.

One day he had an epiphany, inspired by these tasty fruits. Ibsen invited chefs he was friendly with along with others for a backyard celebration of his heirloom tomatoes to spread the word of their culinary superiority. The initial TomatoFest for 50 people grew into an annual event that lasted 17 years in Carmel Valley, Calif., eventually drawing thousands of like-minded tomato lovers from all over the world.

Growing, harvesting and evaluating 650 varieties gets harder for the couple each season.

"I'm getting old enough where I can't handle that volume because of all the work, we're probably going to take it down 100. I keep saying that every year," he says laughing.

But every season more varieties, grown for generations by families, each one with a history to be told, come across his desk. He in turn feels compelled to share them with the world.

"I can't ignore that story that needs to be told," he says. "The primary reason is we want to keep these varieties from disappearing, to keep the family and cultural stories alive."

For 25 years, they've built a seed bank of heritage varieties of tomatoes, each cultivar special in its own way.

This season, Ibsen and Lacey have added 'Anthony's Passionate Heart,' a particularly important tomato named in memory of the late chef and television personality Anthony Bourdain.

"I really like the man," Ibsen says, "what he did and how he offered a life exchange through different cultures and different places through the foundation of a food experience, I wanted to honor him somehow with a tomato."

He put the word out to different tomato growers looking for something that wasn't named yet that would be spectacular enough to be named for Bourdain.

Noted breeder Jeff Dawson had a variety that he worked on for seven years which might fit the bill. It's a cross between 'Sungold and 'Amish Paste', which produce one-pound fruit.

"I love them," Ibsen says of the tomato. "It's a heart-shaped tomato, a big red variety. They have that boldness that Anthony Bourdain was known for and have the flavor that I really like."

He chose this tomato over another Dawson offered due to its taste, production and habit.

"I wanted to see something that would have a legacy, way beyond anybody possibly remembering who Anthony Bourdain was," he says. "The tomato could contribute a benefit to folks out there. I think it's one of the most enjoyable ways of gathering people together to celebrate our humanity through food."

Most of the tomatoes he grows also hold a special place in gardeners' hearts. 'Homer Fike's Yellow Oxheat was sent to Ibsen from one of Fike's grandchildren 15 years ago. He only grew this variety for decades, no one outside the family or town ever knew about this variety.

"It's one of our most popular varieties," he says. "We get notes from the family, they have a family gathering and every one brings the tomatoes they have grown."

His TomatoFest site is probably the only place to purchase Pittsburgh's most famous heirloom tomato, the 'Limbaugh Legacy Potato Top' tomato.

"There seems to be a cult around the Fred Limbaugh Potato Top tomato," Ibsen says of the large, meaty pink tomato that has been part of a seed and plant project giveaway since 2000, detailed here. "I love its exceptional complex sweet fruity flavors that also is well balanced by the right amount of acid punch."

Ibsen and Lacey spend countless hours getting seeds to people in need, too.

"Ninety percent of the seeds we harvest, we give away," he says.

Urban gardens, school gardens and nearly 400 different charities receive seeds. One example includes five women in India who requested seeds that have now created an economy for the area. They grow the plants and sell the transplants and fruit to feed their village.

One thing that's new this year are dwarf varieties he's added.

"I was overwhelmed with appreciation," he says of these diminutive cultivars. The plants are big and leafy with a thick stem, very productive, but smaller in stature, growing anywhere from 2 feet to 4 feet tall.

"These are really well suited for containers and for growers with less land," Ibsen says.

They are indeterminate varieties, but will only reach a certain height. The dwarf plants can be grown in something as small as a 5-gallon bucket. Younger gardeners are attracted to the smaller varieties as are older growers trying to cut back on the amount of work needed to grow full-sized plants. He's added 24 new dwarf varieties, even though he's pledged to grow less.

"I want you to remind me of that over the next couple of weeks," he says chuckling.

'Uluru Ochre' produces 12-ounce black and orange fruit with fantastic, delicious flavors. 'Dwarf Purple Heart' is very productive, putting on heart-shaped, purplish/black tomatoes that weigh 6 to 16 ounces.

"I'm not sure how long we'll be able to continue," Ibsen says, "because there's a physical lot work in the field and trying to keep this many varieties sustained."

Some of these worthwhile varieties might only sell two packets a year, he adds, but they are still available for now.

"It might have really great flavor or I have a personal love for the variety and can't see why they aren't appreciated," he laments.

Ibsen encourages gardeners to save seeds of favorites to keep the variety alive.

"Each year I tell my wife, maybe we should pare it down, lets take a look at a five-year plan. She says, 'I want to keep going,' so I say, 'Let's keep going.'"

The couple plant and harvest thousands of plants and when asked why he persists, Ibsen responds: "The love of it, we love our lifestyle of being growers of healthy food and being advocates of the organic food movement, as well as protecting the diversity in our foods. It's a mission."