The Starter Farm @ Forage Florals, Santa Ynez
2025 Date TBA
Update: We’ve added classes!
In Santa Ynez Mark will teach a tomato growing class at 1pm each day. (Sunday there’s an all-day treat for kids!) Plus, he’s seeded some VERY cool flower six-packs for you to fill out the rest of the garden.
April 6 @ 1pm “Finding Your Perfect Tomato: choosing the right variety that suits your needs and garden locations.
April 7 @ 1pm “Tomato Plant Pitfalls: identifying challenges and ensuring the best success for a fantastic Tomato season
April 7 All Day/Free/Kids “Tomatomania Kid’s Tomato Potting Plant area. Each child can plant a seedling in a take home pot to plant in their own yard.
We’re excited that we’ll return to the Santa Ynez Valley this spring, courtesy of The Starter Farm, (@thestarterfarm), one of our summer test gardens! If you were able to attend the August tomato tasting in SY you know that the valley is an amazing place to grow tomatoes. 🙂
Mark Donofrio and his farm team are busy most of the growing season nurturing cut flowers that decorate the most exciting events in their area.
In the summer, however, you can also find them picking tomatoes in the field and recording their impressions of some very unique fruit. Each season we challenge Mark to grow new varieties and particular ones we’re watching so we know how they fare in this region. After years of growing hundreds of varieties The Starter Farm is an amazing source of information and tomato knowledge.
Again this year they will invite their friends and neighbors to join in Tomatomania! Mark will join hands with Forage Florals (@forageflorals) and host this event at their studio and store.
What to expect:
This unique event focuses on STARS OF THE SANTA YNEZ VALLEY, a showcase of 40+ varieties that have delighted this farmer through the years. They’ve done their homework and will recommend the standouts; tried and true tomato seedling varieties that perform well in the Santa Ynez area. (*And a note, tomato lovers: while we love classic hybrids you won’t find those in the lineup here.)
Forage Florals will be the host of this event, since Mark’s field is full and bursting with flowers in early April. Find this group of Tomatomaniacs at Forage Florals in the Santa Ynez Mercantile Center.
And hey, you can leave this event with tomato seedlings AND a beautiful bouquet!
Don’t miss this one.
Forage Florals