Wow what a great day! So what does Gary think about the H.M.E.B."s and what does he think about your modifications.
Was he impressed? Did he bring any goodies?

Raybo

That's great! Enjoy!

sprtsguy,

I was really impressed with Gary, and his "sensitivity" to the coming World hunger crisis. With the Carmel TomatoFest being such a "tony" event, and rubbing shoulders with Clint Eastwood etc., I had envisioned him to be in the "Hollywood crowd" kind of personality. Nothing of the sort. Really nice guy.

I think he was impressed with the versatility of the EarthTainer in that it can be used in locations where an in-ground garden (concrete patio) is not feasible. Anyway, just a nice "kick" to meet him and talk tomatoes.

Raybo

Raybo,

Me and my older uncle would love to come check your set up out if you wouldn't mind. We would love to pick your brain a little bit. If interested, shoot me an e-mail dhdrywall76@yahoo.com. Thanks.

Damon

How exciting it must have been for you! THe only reason I am even trying heirloom tomatoes this season or even growing tomoatos this season is that I randomly ran across the tomatofest website and thought hey I will order some seeds. Now I have 30 plants! Now if I can just get to try a few of each! Never tried a heirloom tomato before. Can't wait!

hey newatthiskat,

Growing Heirloom tomatoes is a lot of fun - - and you will get to meet some very interesting "characters". What Zone are you in?

Raybo

mewste, Good for you! TomatoFest is where I got most of my seeds (that I planted this year) from.

Raybo,

Too cool! You're getting famous!! Bet that was fun...good work!

Bing

Raybo......You are kickin butt!!!

I don't think your tainers are my cup o tea but you've done a very good job at design, re-design, construction and documentation.

Congratulations!

Congrats Raybo. Now I want to go to the tomato fest even more this year since it is driving distance for me and proceed goes to charity.

I do film and video production and would be happy to shoot the footage.

Alan

Plus all of my plants are from TomatoFest seeds.

mr potatohead,

Thanks for an excellent offer!! Gary was just going to "follow me around" with a Camcorder, capturing the steps and tools needed to construct the EarthTainer. Don't know how to compensate you, but I've built a "spare" EarthTainer and it is yours.

my email is: Rnewstead@aol.com

Raybo

I've bought all my seeds from tomatofest.com for the last 5 years and I finally got to go to last year's TomatoFest and it was awesome! So all you NoCal folks should be able to make it if this Chicagoan did!

I've never met Gary but have emailed him quite a bit and I got the impression from them that he is like you describe -- laid back, friendly and passionate about tomatoes...

bluemater, this will bring back memories. I also went to Tomatofest last year. Really enjoyed it. 350 tomatoes to taste--I thought I never wanted to see another tomato after that day.

farkee...I emailed Gary and told him that 4 freakin' hours is not enough time to sample all the fest has to offer! It should be at least a day long...

It was so hard to choose between all those fabulous tomato concoctions the many fine local chefs prepared, the good coastal wines and the tomatoes...I would taste tomatoes for awhile and then wander to the other tents to taste what they had to offer and then back to the tomatoes until I had tasted every variety...

And us "tomato-heads" are great folks! I met so many interesting and lively people from all over the country (and even some foreigners) standing in the enormous line that even that was a fun ritual!

Here's a couple more pics from last year. 1st pic tomato sorbet with a crab salad 2nd pic tomato mojitos, yum!

I have often said that attending the TomatoFest is the most worthwhile expenditure of funds I make each year - BAR NONE! I wouldn't miss it. For me, the best use of my time at TomatoFest is partaking of the seemingly countless dishes the super-creative chefs come up with. I then wander over to the "raw" tomato tasting of over 300 varieties and taste those that look good. Last year my fav was Mandarin Cross. Gary was kind enough to give me some fruit to take home and save seed from. I then offered those as starts to my lucky customers this year. But then guess who forgot to save stock out of the inventory to plant in her own garden? Dang dang dang.

Hi Cynthia,

Your Virginia Sweets that you gave me is looking fine. Have it noted to save you 200 GooseCreek seeds for your 2009 seedlings.

Raybo

Is there a guide somewhere on how to make an earth trainer?