Tomato Plants from Seedshow to grow tomato plants from seeds

It all went terribly wrong when I had the brilliant idea that I could garden! As a young woman in her first home, I thought that gardening would come to me. My mother had a knack for growing vegetables, as well as my grandparents and they had beautifully manicured gardens and yards, and stemming only a few generations away from an Amish like heritage, I was to be a wonderful gardener!

How terribly wrong I was! Who knew that gardening takes knowledge, patience, and time. The three things that I lacked most as a new wife, new mother, and a new home owner.

I was fortunate enough to have a home that already had established gardens and a tomato garden. Yummy, I love tomatoes! I bought the home in the winter, so I waited for spring. Well, I didn’t know to buy more tomato plants, there went that garden to the weeds. I wasn’t the best weeder, especially of spider grass, there went my other gardens. I tried to get out and garden once a month (I wasn’t the most committed gardener) so hence, all of my gardens went to the weeds! And that is how I terribly destroyed the long hard hours the owners before me put into their landscaping and gardens.

I had since got a Farmer’s Almanac, some gardening magazines, and researched gardening on-line. I had come to the realization that gardening is to be wonderful, peaceful, and enjoyable to work on and to look at. So for the time being, I decided to support the knowledgeable experts who make a living creating wonderful, peaceful and enjoyable gardens for me to look at. I wanted to say thank you, to everyone who takes the time and energy to garden, you are my hero, and one day I will have the knowledge and skill to join the ranks of the great gardeners of the world.

My grandparents had the greenest thumbs in California. I can still picture their lush garden filled with rose bushes, various trees of avocado, persimmon, plum and citrus. The one thing they didn’t grow were vegetables. There was one exception: the tomato. Being a young child, I didn’t care for veggies of any kind. My older sister had a deep hatred of tomatoes and because she hated them, so did I. I refused to eat the big red fruit in any form unless it was a sauce surrounding a great meatball.

In the late summer, my grandparents gave me a task of pulling weeds that surrounded the hot house tomatoes. My grandfather picked one from the vine and bit into it as if it were an apple. I was horrified that he would boldly eat the flesh of what I thought was a vegetable. He sat down next to me and said, “Just try it. A homegrown tomato is nothing like a store bought one. You’ll never know unless you try. Just try it once for me and I won’t tell anyone. I promise.” He picked a cherry tomato and handed it to me, “This is a good size for your first one.” He smiled knowingly and placed the little red devil into my hand. With great trepidation I popped the whole thing in my mouth. I tried to get it over with as quickly as possible. I didn’t want him to see my face, I had been defeated. Looking up at him, I simply asked if I may please have another. He smiled and said, “You can have as many as you like.”

I now have a small garden of my own and grow tomatoes with great pride. I take the same care as my grandparent’s did. At the end of the season, I pickle the green tomatoes before they turn and remember my grandmother canning everything that grew in their garden. I didn’t realize as a four year old, how that day would give me a love of growing things. My sister still doesn’t eat tomatoes and all I can say is she doesn’t know what she’s missing.