You see, it all began innocently enough. I was so excited that Steven had a porch with lots of sun that I planted 2 tomato plants. Two small plants in their own little pots all alone on his deck. I think I put some flowers out there as well. And it was great. They were cherry tomatoes and growing those tomatoes was the most rewarding thing that I did that summer (besides becoming engaged and living on my own for the first time. But the tomatoes were a part of all these things). The problem was, I don't like to eat tomatoes. I like to cook with them, making sauce and such, but I will not eat them raw. And... Well... My sauce skillz are sadly lacking. But I was hooked on this magic of growing tomatoes. I put this little 4 inch seedling in the ground and watered and watered and watered and before I knew it, these tomatoes were falling off the plant. It was fantastic!
Fast forward to the following year. We had a fairly large back yard and, encouraged by my success of the previous year, I set about duplicating the process. Only this time, I got over-zealous. I planted lettuce. Ohhh boy, was that a mistake! My yard, unknowingly to me, had become earwig heaven when I put in those little lettuce plants. And the one thing that makes me scream like a little girl is the sight of earwigs. I can not stand these little bugs, mostly because my mom had this theory about teaching her kids fear and chose earwigs as one of her big selling points. I used to litterally wake up screaming from nightmares that involved earwigs, thanks to her influence. So, the lettuce crop was a complete bust. But my two little tomato plants florished and did even better than the year previous. And this year I got smart. I only roasted the tomatoes and the pureed them and froze the puree. This way, I could add that homemade tomato paste to any recipe calling for tomato paste in a can, and voila! Sauce that didn't suck!
Now, our story jumps forward one more year. I had learned from my last two years not to plant leafy things that grow close to the ground, but that I was the tomato queen. I also had become a guinea pig mom and those little guys were complete suckers for raw tomatoes. So, I thought, "Great! A Willing audience! I can UPGRADE my plot!" And so I went about building a small raised bed, filled with the best wal-mart soil I could afford. I staked out the plots and in went 3 tomato plants - by this time I'd upgraded to romas - and I got brave and tried out cucumbers and acorn squash. And that wal-mart soil worked it's wonders, along with lots of water and the hot, E WA sun. I had tomato plants so large that they pulled their cages out of the ground. And The cucumbers and acorn squash stretched halfway across our lawn. I found joy in refridgerator pickles and the squash went in a cool, dark place to await stuffing and roasting. And once more, I made roasted tomato puree. But I had many more tomatoes than I could puree. And guinea pigs are fairly small animals. They could only eat one or two a day. So I started giving away tomatoes. I brought them to work, I gave them to friends, I had tomatoes coming out my ears! And this is the girl, remember, who HATES raw tomatoes...
And so we arrive at this year. We are in a real house this year, on a huge lot that had a great flat area that we tilled for a vegetable patch. And you'd think I would have learned my lesson over last year, right? 2 tomato plants, great, 3 are too many, more than that is insanity. And since we no longer have the piggies, but have a dog, I needed to cut back even more, right?
Now what makes you think I had that kind of sense? Oh no, Not me! I put in 5 (that's right, FIVE) different varieties of tomatoes. As well as my very successful cucumbers (twice as many plants, of course) and acorn squash (ditto) and added corn and bell peppers. Now really, I had to give away half my produce from last year so it wouldn't rot, so what came over me? All I can say is that it was a sunny day, the plot was sitting there empty, and I started placing stakes to mark out plots. And it all went downhill from there. By the time I got to the store, I had so many grand plans that the checker didn't know what hit her when I came buy in my bulging cart. I also added a couple of herb pots this year to our front porch.
I really really am crazy. I am the crazy plant lady who works in a yarn shop all day and is so eager for sun that I go a little crazy when let loose in a garden center. And this year I have to weed. Boo. But it sure is going to be fun!
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