Fruits of Labor
By NAO GUNJI
Rafu English Assistant Editor
Sunday, May 3, 2009

Steve Goto, the “Tomato Guru,” to speak at L.A. Garden Show this weekend.

NAO GUNJI/Rafu Shimpo
Steve Goto, a third generation nurseryman, shares his experience growing and distributing tomatoes at lectures around California.

Courtesy of Steve Goto
The Dixie Golden Giant is one of Goto’s favorite tomatoes for sandwiches.

As the nation endures its worst economic downturn since the Great Depression, consumers are looking to readjusting their lifestyle and pinching their hard-earned pennies. Dining out has become a luxury, and people have come back to their family table. First Lady Michelle Obama has recently took the lead by planting an organic garden on the White House lawn and encouraged the public to grow their own veg­etables and fruits.

This weekend, Los Angelinos will have an opportunity to learn about making edible gardens at the 2009 L.A. Garden Show, “A Festi­val of Flavors” from horticultural experts, such as Steve Goto, who is known by many as the “Tomato Guru.”

The three-day celebration of gardening will be held at the Los Angeles County Arboretum & Botanic Garden in Arcadia from Friday, May 1 to Sunday, May 3. Top designers and landscape architects will create showcase gar­dens incorporating a wide range of edibles in pots, espaliers, boxes and ground covers within their design. Also, the event will host “Garden Chats” on a variety of themes related to edible gardening, organic gardening practices and many uses of plants from fruit to foliage.

Goto has been a fixture of the Garden Show. As a tomato consultant and lecturer, he samples different kinds of tomatoes and talks about growing organic heirloom tomatoes at the annual event.

The third generation nurseryman told The Rafu Shimpo that he never intended to be involved in the business. His grandfather started a nursery in West L.A., and his father took over the family business in the 60s and relocated it to the San Fernando Valley.

“When I was a kid, I envisioned myself being a pilot, astronaut, not a nurseryman,” Goto said.

He’d worked for a bank for 10 years before find­ing himself at a produce company for a better career opportunity. There, Goto researched and distributed different kinds of tomatoes from all over the country, and his journey began.

“I ended up loving the industry,” he said.

So, why tomatoes? Simply, the demand.

“I had customers looking for a wide variety of tomatoes to grow,” the Tomato Guru recalled. “(The business) has grown into a monster by itself.”

By the time he finally took over the family nursery in the 1990s, Goto had distributed over 900 kinds of tomatoes in Southern California.

In the past several years, he closed the family business and now travels throughout California sharing his experience of growing and distributing tomatoes and working with farmers. His lectures have gotten so popular that a few hardcore tomato fans follow him on his lecture circuit. His Top 20 Tomato Picks have become legendary.

“If you let me go, I can talk about tomatoes for about 4 hours straight,” Goto said, smiling.

According to Goto, tomatoes are relatively easy to cultivate and continuously grow fruit to the end of the season. He believes that consumers are tired of paying a lot for veggies and fruits that don’t taste good and organic gardening allows them to gain confidence in their produce.

“(Growing tomatoes) is a great saving, great plea­sure,” he said.

Like Goto himself describes, his business is sort of similar to being a doctor. Instead of sick humans, he treats tomatoes and listens to their concerned caretakers.

“One of the joys for me to do these lectures is that I keep in touch with quite a few of the customers… They ask me throughout the season, ‘I’ve got this problem, what do I do?’, ‘I have a plant dying, could you help me?’ that kind of stuff,” said the Tomato Guru. “The biggest gratification I get is that the following year, the customers say, ‘thank you for returning my e-mail, it helped me help the plant grow really well after you told me what to do.’ And that gratification is very, very rewarding.”

As his consulting business grows nationwide, Goto no longer grows his own tomatoes profes­sionally. But visitors at his backyard in San Diego would be greeted with rows of tomatoes among the rose bushes and citrus trees. He experiments with new kinds of tomatoes and soils.

“If you come to my barbeque, you’d have to stand on the lawn.”

The 2009 L.A. Garden Show will take place at The Arboretum located at 301 N. Baldwin Ave., Arcadia from Friday, May 1 through Sunday, May 3 from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Arboretum members can enter the event beginning at 8 a.m. Ticket prices to the LA Garden Show are the same as daily entrance fees to The Arboretum: Adults $7, Seniors and Stu­dents with ID $5, Children 5 to 12 $2.50, younger than 5 enter free.
For more information on Steve Goto the Tomato Guru, visit his web site at
www.gotomato.us.com