Like so many other festival-goers, Linda Stanfel, of Cameron Park, attends the celebration regularly. She did miss one year because she was in Tuscany on business at the time. “I was so excited to taste all those wonderful Italian tomatoes,” Stanfel recalls. “But, I was very surprised. To tell you the truth, the tomatoes we grow here in California are better. And they have nowhere near the variety we do.”
Even though Stanfel has been searching far and wide and discovering many heirloom tomatoes, she still hasn’t found the one that kindled her love for the vegetable: The Mexican Giant. “When I was little, we had some neighbors who grew these and I absolutely loved them. I keep hoping I’ll find them again someday.” In the meantime, Stanfel has found many other heirloom tomatoes to love. For example, there’s the Texas Wild tomato she discovered on her first trip to the Kendall Jackson festival. “They’re wonderful. I planted the seeds I got at this festival about 8 years ago, and I’m still growing them in my yard.”
Most of the plants Stanfel starts on her 5-acre farm, just east of Sacramento, are given away to friends. “When you give a friend a tomato plant,” she says, “all summer long, they have good thoughts of you. It’s good karma.”