Maybe it started with visits to Vicksburg, where my Nana and I would gobble up tomatoes on Saltine’s and where I would drink her spaghetti sauce from a small mug, too impatient to wait for noodles. Flash forward a couple decades to my cramming far too many tomato plants into one raised bed, hours toiling and boiling and canning summer’s goodness, and even an unfinished short story featuring my favorite garden produce with a mysterious twist.
Bryon give me this card for Christmas, along with a crow balancing a strawberry on its beak.
These days tomatoes take up more of my attention than they ever have. Currently, there are 39 varieties started in the grow tent, and we don’t even have any plans to sell veggies this year. Because I am still adjusting to a new climate with a later start (I have to sit on my hands to stop myself from seeding too early), I’m continually learning what varieties work here in the Boistfort Valley and which don’t. I’ve cycled out some old friends that did well in our last location but failed to thrive here. Luckily Sun Golds do great and my longtime favorites Cherokee Purple and Black Krim have enough time to get at least one good haul.
This year I gave myself stricter selection guidelines: no buying seeds that list more than 80 days to harvest, preferably 75 or less. I’ve poured through various catalogs and recently discovered a seed company that was made for me: Gary Ibsen’s Tomato Fest. (Which I found from a farmer friend’s post about his tomato starts). Between there, Johnny’s, and other sources, I will be growing 21 new varieties this year. I’m especially excited about these descriptions:
Northern Lights— yellow-orange beefsteak with wonderfully intense, well balanced flavor
Illini Star— deep red tomato with excellent sweet flavor
Wood’s Famous Brimmer— large red heirloom with splendid flavor
Berkeley Tie Dye Pink— striped beefsteak with an outstanding, complex profile
Brad’s Atomic Grape— small purple and green striped beauty with sweet, amazing flavor
I’m really hopeful about this year, since each growing season has been an improvement over the last. As we learn more and get to know the land and weather, our harvest grows in quantity and quality. I do worry about having less time to get everything done, but tomatoes will always be a top priority for me. Because in the meantime, I’m already dreaming about tomato sandwiches, capreses, tomato pie, and Sun Golds warm from the vine.
The day after I wrote the first draft of this post, Bryon found a few birthday presents he had forgotten to give me. Among them: a hat that states “I love tomatoes” and a tomato cookbook. He does know me well! The mug was a gift from my friend Heidi.