magid: (Default)
magid ([personal profile] magid) wrote2004-05-20 10:05 am

Thwarted tomato lust

I love freshly-picked tomatoes. With only a porch for space I can only fit one or two plants per year, max. So I usually go for cherry tomatoes of some sort or another, since the harvest is spread out more, and hey, it's not like I'll grow enough tomatoes to support my habit anyway.

My absolute favorite tomato (so far, anyway) are sungold cherry tomatoes, which are orange-yellow, sweet, and a wonderful texture. And this is what I'd choose to grow, too. Except that I can never find seedlings. This year, though, I got an order form from the Re-Vision Farm and they had sungolds! *happy tomato dance*

I talked with two friends who garden, and we went in on an order. I wanted the tomatoes, and part of the six-plant flats of herbs. We worked it all out, and one of the others sent in the form.

Tuesday, I went to pick up the plants at the greenhouse. The farm is in Dorchester, but they have a relationship with Drumlin Farm in Lincoln, and I assumed it was the Lincoln greenhouse I'd need to go to. Of course, I figured out it might be the other one once it was too late in the day to make it there. No problem, I'll go tomorrow.

So, yesterday I found my way to the farm in Dorchester, and picked up the seedlings. And found that the one who'd filled out the form didn't put my tomatoes on. And there didn't seem to be any sungolds left.

GRRRR.

I brought the rest of the stuff to her house, and found out that she's got a plot in a community garden, so it seems I'm not splitting the flats of herbs, either. Which I drove out to Dorchester to pick up her stuff (plus some tomatoes for the third person). Which leaves me cranky, in the extreme. Sure, she apologized for not ordering the tomatoes, but it didn't feel like enough for dealing with all the rush-hour traffic well beyond my normal driving area.

So after two days of driving around, I have no new plants for my porch yet. I definitely need to change this, once I stop being annoyed.

[identity profile] aliza250.livejournal.com 2004-05-20 11:09 pm (UTC)(link)
That sucks.

We found some orange-yellow cherry tomato seedlings last year languishing at a grocery store (!!!) past the end of planting season, and bought them out of sympathy. They ended up as our best and yummiest producers.

This year, though, even our favorite nursery didn't have them, and we're left with a pretty boring tomato crop.

I need to post gardening comments in my LJ...

[identity profile] magid.livejournal.com 2004-05-21 03:49 am (UTC)(link)
I got an email back from the farm, and though they have other kinds of cherry tomatoes, the sungolds are all gone. Curses, foiled again. Next year... (At least there's a farm that does pick-your-own sungolds. Almost as nice.)

I surprised you found such nice tomato seedlings at the grocery store! Definitely a higher-quality store than the ones around here.

What kinds of tomatoes do you have this year? I've seen a number of places selling a variety of heirloom tomatoes, but it sounds like you've got middle-of-the-road types.