I Have a Problem

Sometimes I daydream about living in a climate where I could grow my own food year round (or at least most of the year). However, since I live in a climate where most things can't survive the winters, this time of year is exciting for me. This is the time to start tomato plants from seed. It begins the renewing feeling of spring, even if it is still months away here. The mere act of planting seeds and watching them grow is so satisfying. It breeds new life into the white landscape of the world outside my window. Enter my problem: I love tomatoes. Why not just wait until the end of May and buy an already mature plant from the local nursery? Most of the common tomatoes are bred for convenience. They have a good shelf-life, uniform size, they ship well, and a hundred other convenient traits, none of which include superior flavor. When you start looking in to heirloom tomatoes, your mouth will really start watering. Here is an excerpt from Seed Savers catalogue for the Emmy tomato: "...Originated with Ernestine’s friend Emmy who fled Romania after WWII with one of her Transylvanian tomatoes. Small orange-yellow fruits with an intense tomato flavor. Indeterminate, 90 days from transplant." I mean, come on, if you are fleeing your home country because of war and you think to bring a tomato plant or seeds along with your precious few possessions, it must be quite the tomato! Needless to say, I bought the seeds. I can't say how long it took me to narrow my choices down, but I was only able to narrow it to 10 different tomatoes. Those seed catalogue writers are GOOD! So, here are the seeds I will be planting as soon as I finish making my newspaper strip pots: Siberian, Ispolin, Brandywine, Emmy, Sasha's Altai, Nepal, Galina, Riesentraube, Valencia, and Beam's Yellow Pear.

My Garden, one of my favorite hang-outs

The books that I have used to glean all of my gardening knowledge are, Organic Gardening in Cold Climates, by Sandra Perrin; All New Square Foot Gardening, by Mel Bartholomew; and Carrots Love Tomatoes, by Louise Riotte. If you don't already have a garden, I suggest starting a small one and see if you get addicted to eating food that has been within your site since its conception. Even the best store-bought tomatoes and carrots don't stand a chance against ones that are plucked from your own back yard and consumed while you meander through the rest of your garden. It is truly one of life's great pleasures.