This weekend the sky was the color blue we only see a handful of days in Missouri, between the grey of winter and the haze of humid summer, the trees were blooming and the grass was the beautiful yellow-green of spring. It was a perfect day to walk around the yard and dream of planting for summer. We moved “in” from Ballwin almost five years ago, leaving behind the treeless suburban sunny yard for a well-established, much smaller, shaded yard.
We left behind two 8’ X 8’ raised beds where I planted vegetables. The tomatoes and peppers thrived. We also grew some zucchini and pumpkins over the years. (Sometimes I would forget to pick the zucchini regularly and found 2-3 foot long giants the next morning.) The first year I even planted two rows of corn, the biggest waste of space in a small garden – who knew you only got one ear of corn per stalk?
In our new yard I tried tomatoes in tubs, moving them throughout the day to find the sun, but that got old very quickly. Last year we had some dying trees cut down and I found one small space in the middle of the yard had some sun. I planted tomatoes and peppers and re-found the joy of eating cherry tomatoes right off the plant.
Which brings me to the dilemma – do I plant tomatoes again this year? We haven’t started receiving our local food yet, but I have to believe we will be getting a lot of tomatoes, zucchini and peppers when they are in season. These are the easiest to grow in St. Louis and are enjoyable. I asked my family at dinner what they thought and my oldest daughter immediately responded YES! She loves the fresh tomatoes and shares my joy of eating her snack off the plant when out in the yard. But it does seem like a lot of unnecessary work, which may even lead to wasted produce.
What do you think?
If it makes you happy AND your oldest daughter says yes, then I would plant at least a few. It seems that this is one of those memories you may miss years from now even though you are getting your box soon. My Mom used to love planting, caring, and eating her home growm tomatoes. Go figure I never really was much for them, but I cherish those memories of helping her with somthing she loved. Plant the memories Barb:)
ReplyDeleteI'll let Guy Clark speak for me:
ReplyDeleteAin't nothin' in the world that I like better
Than bacon & lettuce & homegrown tomatoes
Up in the mornin' out in the garden
Get you a ripe one don't get a hard one
Plant `em in the spring eat `em in the summer
All winter with out `em's a culinary bummer
I forget all about the sweatin' & diggin'
Everytime I go out & pick me a big one
Homegrown tomatoes homegrown tomatoes
What'd life be without homegrown tomatoes
Only two things that money can't buy
That's true love & homegrown tomatoes
You can go out to eat & that's for sure
But it's nothin' a homegrown tomato won't cure
Put `em in a salad, put `em in a stew
You can make your very own tomato juice
Eat `em with eggs, eat `em with gravy
Eat `em with beans, pinto or navy
Put `em on the side put `em in the middle
Put a homegrown tomato on a hotcake griddle
If I's to change this life I lead
I'd be Johnny Tomato Seed
`Cause I know what this country needs
Homegrown tomatoes in every yard you see
When I die don't bury me
In a box in a cemetery
Out in the garden would be much better
I could be pushin' up homegrown tomatoes
OK, I'm convinced. I will go and out finish cleaning the garden space tomorrow. It always kind of feels like when I was prepping the nursery for my daughters to arrive. The nesting instinct kicks in and the anticipation grows.
ReplyDeleteYou will get tomatoes, but probably not enough to make you sick of them--but don't plant too many tomatoes. And you don't need to plant zucchini--we typically get plenty!
ReplyDeletesara of Fair Shares
p.s. I'm going to let our membership know about the blogs FS members are writing, so thanks!
Thanks for the insight, Sara!
ReplyDeleteAnd thanks for dropping by.