If sunshine had a taste, it would be that of a perfectly ripe tomato, just picked, and still warm when you bite into it.
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Excellent! Thank you.
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There is nothing like walking out your door and ambling up to something you have grown and plucking the fruits of your labor for immediate consumption. Throughout my life my version of cherry tomatoes have been apples. I inherited orchards from previous owners twice. At my current home, I had to put an orchard in. Now twenty years later it is at peak production with staggered varieties coming in from July through October. On Transparents, then Gravensteins, to Liberties and Jonagolds but my favorite is the last, the Northern Spy. No sprays, no handling, no shipping, just from the tree to my hand then my mouth.
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I feel compelled to admit that I was disinterested at first to read this charming article about a fruit (yes, a tomato is a fruit not a vegetable) after reading the previous article by Maureen Dowd with another fruit in its title "Impeaching the Peach One." I found myself wondering why that was so and found my answer to be depressing. I have shamefully been sucked into reading about every new episode of the sordid Trump drama that I have often forgotten that there is still the quiet beauty of a simple tomato growing in nature amidst the maddening everyday political chaos documented ad nauseam in the press. Thank you for reminding me to curtail my addiction to the never-ending news articles about Trump and to appreciate that there are still gardens to behold.
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Do some research. You can't grow corn well in a pot--they need space and multiple ears. Eggplant is fussy. Zucchini are not as prolific as garden lore says--I've lost mine to disease.
You can grow salad greens, cherry tomatoes and herbs easily in small spaces, a lot of the rest of it, not. We have great success with hot peppers--we grow a tiny kind that make a great dried pepper for my heat loving spouse--and they look like little Christmas ornaments, so they're decorative too.
I used to have a community garden, but now I have a yard, and since I don't trust the soil, I have lots of "earthboxes."
It's not as prolific as I'd like, but as the lady at the farm where I buy most of my plants noted, "It's still cheaper than therapy."
15
Pots to grow crops in are a waste of time when compared with self irrigating planters (SIP). Small pots are water and time hogs.
Build a wooden SIP and enjoy the fruits even more.
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Good job! You can now enjoy that harvest until frost, after having done so much right.
One quibble: Best not to buy seedlings from the big box stores, which do very little to ensure the health of the plants they sell. It’s thanks to them that the late blight epidemic spread throughout the Eastern US about 15 years ago. Spores from neighbors’ plants infected my beds, and my own tomato and potato beds still suffer from the after-effects.
On a more positive note, here are three varieties of cherry toms to try next year, in ascending order of deliciousness:
—Sungold (widely available as seedlings)
Among the heirlooms—a little more challenging to find seedlings, but you cd grow from seed):
—Coyote (sweet little balls of sunshine)
—Black Cherry (the epitome of full-bodied tomato flavor in a golfball-size fruit)
Happy growing!
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I was disappointed in this column because the headline — The Primal Thrill of a Cherry Tomato — led me to believe you would describe the wonderful flavor of a homegrown tomato, the sweet deliciousness and mouthfeel. Instead, I got a rambling reflection on growing older which, while not a bad thing, is entirely NOT what I expected. Oh well. Enjoy your gardening.
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Lemon Boy, Better Boy, Cherokee.
Try those, in 5 gallon buckets with handles, easy to move around, with good soil, fish emulsion fertilizer, don't overwater.
You might need caning jars, too.
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The cherry tomato was invented in 1973 in Israel.
Just so you know.
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Cherry tomatoes are frightening. You don't know how loud or catastrophic that explosion is going to be when you chomp down on them. Play it safe: broccoli.
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@Fred LOL Fred! I always cut them in half.
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@Fred
Plus they shoot juice on your clothes if your mouth is a little open!
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Don't start from seeds: you will lose the 6 weeks of growth that comes with starts. The only reason to start from seed is to get that rare crop in your full sized garden. The confetti sweet bell peppers I started from seed grew as pencil shaped bright red fiery little chilis.
Focus on soil mix. My best garden was grown in coarse sand and goat manure. From three tomato plants, I could supply the whole lab.
Have FUN.
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For breakfast this morning, cheese omelet with sliced cherry tomatoes on top. Heaven!
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I'm more of a builder than a grower. Let me put it this way: The first plant I ever owned was a cactus. Even then, I eventually needed an intervention. "Sorry son but we're taking this cactus away from you. It's for your own good and the good of the cactus." That's usually how my relationships with plants go.
That said, I don't mind eating the bounty of other people's harvest. We've reached that time of year where bags of overgrown zucchini start magically appearing on the doorstep. We literally have crates of peaches and pears in the office. The grapes go fast. We'll start seeing the squash coming in soon now too. I'm waiting for the call from a friend or co-worker about an overgrown pumpkin patch. Happens every year.
As for an over abundance of tomatoes, I recommend caprese salad. It pairs with just about anything. Hopefully you remembered to plant some basil along with your summer vegetables. Whatever tomatoes you don't use, you can sauce and store for the winter. Good luck.
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Helping people discover the fun of vegetable gardening has been my life's work, but I'm still thrilled to learn of a new convert. Grow on, Jennifer!
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I love trying to grow vegetables emphasis on try. As a Coloradoan, I am so glad I am not a farmer. Oh the many things that go wrong: hail! Too much water, too little water, rabbits, deer. The list goes on. But the sweet satisfaction going to pick and eat what I grew keeps me going.
3
You need like 18 corn plants minimum. They self pollinate. Try three rows of six plants per row. Tomatoes are awesome to grow, peppers too. Cucumbers are awesome and easy if you have the space. Loofahs are super fun to grow if you have kids
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There's nothing as wonderfully sweet and tart as a cherry tomato. We got ornge ones this year, mislabelled at the store. They're very, very good.
2
Got my 1st fig...you can imagine the excitement!
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We plant lots of cherry tomatoes every year. Grandkids as young as two years of age love to eat them right off the vine! Enjoyed this article.
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There's nothing like the joy of continuing to find cherry tomatoes hanging on the vine, appearing fragile and tasting delicious. We need that freshness in the midst of the unfreshness of our country's life right now. They may be small but they certainly generate alot of love! Keep up the gardening quest!
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Forget the corn; it requires a lot of plants to produce good ears as the plants cross-pollinate.
Herb gardens are wonderful, but don't plant oregano with any other herb as it is a rampant grower and will crowd out anything you plant with it. And yes, there is nothing quite like eating a self-grown tomato, still warm from the sun on a lovely summer morning. Enjoy!
5
In addition to growing 5 types of tomatoes, including Sweet 100s and Midnight Snacks, a larger, firmer form of cherry tomato with marvelous bi-coloring, I grow at least 3 types of lettuce. Grow your own and pick it fresh everyday during the summer - skip the market. Just be sure you protect the lettuces from the sun by creating a shade using garden cloth and stakes -this helps avoid early bolting, when the lettuce will turn bitter. Lots of space is not needed to grow lettuce - keep sowing and germinating seeds and the supply will be steady.
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In my mom's home town of Paquino, Sicily; their cherry tomatoes are world famous. In Italy the best chefs do not make a 'sauce', but rather per plate create it from sliced Paquino cherry tomatoes. Even my old school mom now is only making sauce for herself that way.
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"Surprises" indeed. Who would've guessed that amidst the thicket of another daily installment of upsetting news on just about everything I would stumble upon a handful of beautiful little cherry tomatoes and this most delightful faith-restoring little story by Ms. Weiner. Thank you, Jennifer. And thank you NYT for printing it.
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Oh yes! A homegrown, cherry tomato (try sungold or super sweet 100) eaten off the vine while gardening is like a burst of summer sweetness in your mouth. I started with one plant too and now...for an amusing cautionary tale, read The $64 Tomato.
Still, I’ve never looked back. Currently guarding my fall arugula and baby kale from marauding birds and chipmunks!
7
Some suggestions from a veteran gardener. Plant in early May. Use bigger pots. Miracle Grow works very well. Stake the plants so they don’t break. I have 5 cherry tomato plants and have eaten hundreds of fresh tomatoes off the vine since early July. Forget corn and cantalope; they need a lot of soil. Good luck next year!
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@Tom N If you use Miracle Grow, you might as well just buy your tomatoes at the supermarket. Same chemicals.
There are lots of good organic fertilizers on the market that will do the same thing, and won't harm our groundwater.
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We have two gardens. A pollinator garden in our backyard hosts bees, butterflies, and feisty hummingbirds. This year we added a plot in a suburban communal garden, where we, too, grew cherry tomatoes the size of peas. (But they tasted like the Midwestern tomatoes we miss so much.)
Welcome to the club, Jennifer! With this column, you’ve also now joined the ranks of writers writing about gardening, including Katherine White and Jamaica Kincaid.
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I love your books. I love your columns. This one, like so many, could’ve been written by me (if only!). We are amateur “gardeners” at best but our little pots of golden goodness yield some big thrills for us and, now, for our small grandkids (I’m 60, and I know exactly what you describe about growing both plants and people). Growing older truly ain’t for sissies, but the time to play in the garden makes at least some of it worthwhile. Thank you for sharing your own ray of sunshine with many of us in need of a sanity check.
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thanks for a great article in stressful times.
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How beautiful! I'm trying to grow container vegetables, peppers, etc... I notice I treat them like my own children but they aren't growing well. I think I need to contact a master gardener and see what I'm doing wrong.
1
"Who knew how much emotion could be invested in a tiny urban garden?"
Literally just about anyone who ever gardens.
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@JBC yes! I take pics of my produce as well.
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Way to go, Jenni! You got it — it IS the tomatoes!
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Thanks for sharing.
Maybe America will return to a civil society led by a president who encourages gardening and small farming...
But I digress. Next year, try growing yellow "sun gold" tomatoes. They are tiny and astoundingly sweet. And for what I call the "universal tomato", plant "Juliet". It is prolific. Excellent for salads, sauces and sandwiches.
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This piece reminded me of my favorite sandwich, home-grown tomatoes and longhorn cheese on grainy bread. But what really struck me was the author’s bow to her privilege, which I took for gratitude. Every Thursday evening, as I make my weekly trek down the driveway, garbage bag and recycling bin in tow, gazing up and down our little block in Brookside I cannot help but reflect on my extreme good fortune. Life is, after all, good.
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Thanks for this lovely piece. I've learned too in recent years that it's never too late to learn or try new things, whether gardening or ballet or whatever. Fear of failing or being ridiculous can keep us in our safe zones, but the joy of growing from a seedling into a plant is worth it! And yes, what a blessing to be able to.
6
We live in suburbs of MD and we grow Tomatoes and other vegetables in our driveway in cloth bags. We got around 50 pounds of tomatoes among other vegetables this season. Half of them the cherry type. Cloth bags which are roughly $2 a bag has been fantastic for growing vegetables. Keeps the plants cool and well drained. Very light even with the dirt inside.
6
I too find no greater joy then visiting my garden harvesting the bounty of the vegetables I planted. I also have flower gardens and plant a few new perennials every year. I delight at the symphony of blossoms throughout these warm months.
I hesitate to use the word 'grow'. I am just the caregiver for Mother Nature does all the growing.
I will forever remain in awe that I place a few tiny seeds in the earth that resemble nothing , water and keep the weeds at a distant and viola , it's a vine of cherry tomatoes, a giant sunflower or a flowering bush attracting butterflies.
After spending much of my day attending to my gardens I step back, loving that I am covered with mud from head to toe.I take a deep breath, look up to the sky and whisper how flipping awesome is this. Thank you Mother Nature
16
Beautifully written. The thrill of the unexpected.
11
Since I have had a garden for many years since college, I would like to recommend that you add in some perennial crops. Some plants will come back every year, even in containers, and can make it through a New York winter.
I have fig trees (in the ground) that may seem to have disappeared but grow right back from the ground in the spring. Also, blueberries, blackberries and raspberries. Strawberries winter over successfully outdoors in containers, including the small alpine type.
For decoration and to attract pollinators like bees and butterflies, dahlias are great. But you'll need to dig up the bulbs in the fall and replant them in the spring or bring the whole container back indoors for the winter. Rosemary plants can be brought in in containers for the winter and will keep flavoring your salads, etc., and will live for many years.
Other perennial crops include rhubarb, perennial spinach, currants; they may make it through the winter outside in containers. Some plants actually need a winter chill to grow their best.
6
Cherry tomatoes are almost foolproof given proper sunlight, water, and maybe a little fertilizer. Fertilize too much and you get a large plant with little fruit. Next year consider trying yellow cherry tomatoes. Sweeter and milder than the red guys and definitely something easier to find in a garden center than a supermarket they're like tomato flavored candies.
As for cantaloupe and maybe pumpkins... They do need room to wander and 30' vines are not out of the question. Zucchini can also grow much larger than convenient for pots on a rooftop. Don't be afraid to experiment, but make sure you have a patio tomato variety and some sweet yellow banana (or Anaheim) peppers as your core vegetables. Given half a chance they'll return your kindness all summer.
Nothing is better than a fully ripened and fresh picked pepper or tomato regardless of variety. Strawberries in particular do not store or ship well. The quality of a fresh picked strawberry is profoundly superior to any supermarket offering but exercise patience when picking... They do not continue to ripen once picked and berries with white noses should be given another day or two for peak flavor.
Your winter reading should include a visit to your 'state' University web site / extension service for more tips like this (but more appropriate to your area):
http://pods.dasnr.okstate.edu/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-1392/HLA-6012web.pdf
13
I have quite a few varieties that grew this year, planned and volunteers. Sitting on the counter are the winners of the taste contest and it took quite a bit of self-control to not eat them. They will be the seed stash for next year´s crop. The winners were golden yellow-orange cherry tomatoes- sweet flavor and a thin skin.
5
It is good to read praise of cherry tomatoes.
These are the only type of tomatoes that I like. They are easy to crush by the pressure of the tongue against the palate, without worrying about the seeds in the viscous mucous juice.
Another nice feature, a cherry tomato can be made to float in a Bloody Mary and swallowed in the end.
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@Tuvw Xyz
Great idea - cherry tomatoes in a Bloody Mary! Thanks.
2
I live in a tiny country in the North where all vege culture has been moved indoors. You may not know that Holland is the second largest exporter of fruit and veg in the world.
In the process, we have learned to produce veg that looks perfect, but is, alas, tasteless. The tomatoes, cukes, and zucchini all taste the same, insipid. I can no longer shop in the grocery store.
I try to make a trip every year to Naples in Italy. I go for the tomatoes. The only thing better than a perfect Italian summer tomato, is one you grew yourself. Good for you.
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Nature does what good mothers do; it provides for us and teaches us to provide for ourselves. Like children, we get caught up in the softness of the dirt and the smell of the day, or that certain slant of light on a yellow August afternoon when that great teacher the garden comes into our lives.
10
I started my first vegetable garden this summer too, and I'm 50. It's delightful, and I love going out to the back yard to say good morning to all of my plants. Yes, I talk to them. And I got a tip from a gardener friend: plant marigolds near the vegetables to draw bugs to them and not to the vegetables. I have tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, basil, and cilantro. I can't wait for next summer when I'll expand and plant more! (And that definitely deserved an exclamation point.)
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I have loved gardening for years. I had cherry, pear and peach and apple trees, also grapes at a country place which has been passed on to others. Most of the time the possums, raccoons, rabbits and birds helped themselves to most of it. In the city now I have given up on tomatoes after 12 years. They provide very expensive food for the squirrels. Still I can't help myself. I grow many flowers, pretty green hedges and tend to the grass and ground covers. I do not begrudge the bunnies their share and feed the butterflies and hummingbirds on purpose. I keep the birdbaths filled in the hot summer. The only edibles I can count on for myself are herbs and nasturtiums and the occasional rose petal or crabapple. Pansies I might as well cut up and put on a plate for the rabbits the minute I get them out of the car. Gardening is a wonderful hobby for all ages. My little grandson is currently being quite successful with a pineapple top.
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@Consuelo
planting marigolds near and around tomato plants, wards off squirrels--they don't like the scent.
1
I have long advocated that everyone should have pant a few containers of vegetables. There is no reason not to. It is much more environmentally friendly than shipping vegetables half way across the country and the flavor is unbeatable.
Vegetables. Not veggies. Most of us are not four years old.
18
If you want instant gardening gratification plant some cucumbers and watch them double in size overnight. We finally pulled up the plant it produced much more than my family and friends could eat.
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@AWientjes Not many things can beat the taste of homemade pickles and they're easy. Or make gazpacho with the abundance and gift it to friends and family.
1
@AWientjes - Three words: Chocolate zucchini bread.
1
I just had to chime in on what a great headline this article has! In these difficult times a little levity can go a long way. Thank you!
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We have cherry tomatoes, chives, parsley and basil on our juliet balconies. Southern exposure. Delicious.
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Hi. started a garden when we first move in to our first house in 8 3. It has been 30 years since that time and it never stops me with the AWE feeling of another year of starting a new year of gardening.
If you have a chance start a herb garden. Basil, oregano. garlic chives, rosemary and so many others.
Then start making them into a wonderful meal.
Do basil first and then make pesto. Pesto on chicken, pizza, spagetti. You will fall in love again with the senses you thought you never had.
Good luck in the years to follow. K
21
@Kev Pick your basil leaves at the end of the season (now). Wash them and lay them on a towel to dry. Then spread the leaves on a cookie sheet and freeze them overnight. Pack basil in a container, then back to the freezer. You'll have 'fresh' basil for cooking all winter. :)
8
Welcome to the joy of growing a seed to an eatable organic joy. This weekend, my wife and I will, with the able and gleeful assistance of our eight and four year old grand-daughters, pick apples from our tree, wash them (they have never been sprayed, thank you), skin them, cook them and make from them apple sauce and apple pies. My grand-daughters get to experience the wonder of picking a fruit from a tree to eating a piece of pie with Hagen-Das Vanilla on top. How great is that? Beats a mall anytime. You go girl!
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Hi, Paul —
Even better for your family, leave the apple skins on. They have the most nutrition in the fruit! And they’re quite edible, especially in pies. Even the applesauce is fine with them — people will adjust their expectations if they’re presented with it with the chopped and cooked-down skins in the sauce.
2
@Paul Spletzer - We've made home grown non-sprayed apples into sauce for years, made so much easier with the use of a Victoria Strainer: cooked apples with skins and a few seeds in one end, and applesauce out the other end - the seeds and remnants of skin come out another slot!
1
As Guy Clarke sang: only two things money can't buy: that's true love and homegrown tomatoes.
And as any seasoned gardener knows, it is the garden that makes the gardener.
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Gardening is taking care of the Planet, and yourself. I have three acres, I mostly grow grass and weeds. But every couple of years, I get a wild notion to grow veggies. The critters really enjoy them, it adds variety to their diet.
Cheers.
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I understand there are two very sweet varieties of cherry tomatoes. I also had my first experience this summer of harvesting these mouth bursting sweet pleasures twice a week for 2 months. To see them grow, mature and needing to be picked was a metaphor for connecting to my food and nature for a happy life.
16
Great reflection! Try string beans, Kirby cucumbers - easier than you'd think with a lattice, sugar snap peas, and sungold cherry tomatoes...and carrots will keep growing until the cooler season, so a fun extension. Enjoy!
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