Monday, May 11, 2009

It's really hard *not* to sing a song while I write this...

You know which song I'm talking about... It's about pronunciation. And vegetables. And ditching everything. But it seems so cliche that I'm.Not.Going.To.Do.It.

If you are one of my friends whom I pontificate to about tomatoes, the kinds of tomatoes I have, my collection of tomatoes or why everyone should grow tomatoes, I apologize. I really like tomatoes. I know of no other vegetable (or fruit, if you want to be picky) that comes in so many different shapes, sizes, colors, and flavors, aside perhaps from beans, which aren't nearly as interesting to me. Most people that I know have seen a red tomato. Maybe a yellow one. They are familiar with cherry tomatoes and beefsteaks, but that's about the breadth of their tomato knowledge.

At our last house, my record was 15 varieties of tomatoes crammed into my little garden in one summer. I have in my possession over 45 types of tomatoes. I'm in the process of cataloging all of them, so I'm not sure what my current count is, but I'm pretty sure I'm in the upwards of 60 or so varieties. If you are new to tomatoes, you might be interested in Carolyn Male's book 100 Heirloom Tomatoes for the American Garden, a really interesting look at some of the different variations in tomatoes. My goal is to try all 100 over time.

This year, I have planted:

Paste/plum tomato:

  • Amish Paste
  • San Marzano (these did not germinate at all. Kind of bummed about it)

Cherry-type tomato:

  • Pink Ice - new to me, haven't tried these before, but picked them up at the TBG seed swap
  • White Cherry - I'm hoping these are similar to Snow White- one of Miss Things' old favorites
  • Black Cherry - beautiful black/red color
  • Green Grape - also a new one for me, but I love having cherries in every color.

Regular/Salad tomato:

  • Stupice - a really early tomato, 55 days - can't wait to get those puppies going.
  • Anna Russian - haven't tried this one before, made the 100 heirloom book though.
  • Riesentraube - heavy setter - really looking forward to this one
  • Juanne Flamme - beautiful small orange/red tomato - one of Elise's favorites.
  • Nyagous - black, baseball sized fruit. A new one for me this year.
  • Orange queen - large, orange fruits. This one didn't perform well in columbus, so I'm giving it another shot here.

Mr. H built me a small garden box for the spot in the back of the yard where we do hopefully get enough sun to grow something. Last year's experiment with pots by the driveway was not successful. It is fenced in to keep wildlife like squirrels, deer, racoons and one of our dogs who cleaned out several tomato plants in the last house. I also am borrowing space at a girlfriend's house who is trying gardening for the first time. I figure between the two, I can supply myself with enough fresh veggies for at least the three of us.

The seedlings are doing very well in the sunroom. They probably could be transplanted again before they go into the ground, but I'm not sure I have the room for it.

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