'Passion for plants' as thousands turn up to tomato sale

A “passion for plants” was on display at the recent Annual Tomato Sale at the Royal Tasmanian Botanical Gardens (RTBG) in Hobart.

More than 2000 people attended over November 1 and 2, marking the first time in its 19-year history that the event was not held in October.

RTBG senior curator Dale Arvidsson said the decision not to hold the tomato sale on the weekend before the Royal Hobart Show, which is traditionally when it is held, was essentially out of their control.

“There’s a bit of a tradition in Tasmania, and especially Hobart, that you don’t plant your tomatoes until after the Royal Hobart Show holiday – simply because that’s supposedly the date after the last frost occurred,” Mr Arvidsson said.

“However, we did have extremely cold weather and even a little bit of snow around show time.”

Mr Arvidsson said that the decision to delay the event proved to be the right one.

“It meant for us selling the tomatoes that they were a little bit better established, so people could pretty much pick up a tomato, go home and plant it straight in their garden.”

With it being the first year Mr Arvidsson had been involved in the Annual Tomato Sale, he said the event “exceeded all of his expectations”.

“I understand not everybody likes plants, but everyone loves food.

“And for me, this is great because it brings so many people to the Botanical Gardens and often brings people that maybe wouldn’t necessarily visit.

“It’s a really sustainable thing for people to say they can grow their own tomatoes rather than having to buy them from the shops.”

Mr Arvidsson said most people bought between 6 and 12 tomatoes at this year’s sale.

2026 will mark the 20th anniversary of the event.