Waterwise Gardening in Utah

TOMATOES!

Tis the season to be looking at all of those lovely pictures in the catalogs. Blacks, greens, yellows, pinks, whites... The promise of " an abundance of rich and delicious, full-bodied, sweet & smokey flavors with a whollop of acidity". WOW. I want one of those too... let's see... that makes 12 varieties... How much room do I have in the garden? I'm down from 36 varieties from last year, so I must be getting better... right?

I'm trying to behave this year, and tell myself that there's always NEXT year in which I should try and achieve some of these promises outlined in those glossy catalogs. It's just that they keep adding more varieties than I can keep up with! So many tomatoes... so little time....

Last growing season started off with a cool spring, followed by hot windy days (I live at the mouth of a canyon). Life in Utah is harsh on any tender plants, and many things in my vegi garden didn't perform as well as I would have liked. The "vigorous plants" were indeed vigorous, but failed to deliver "abundant crops" as promised.

With new hope in my heart, this spring I'm envisioning fertile, loamy soil of which springs forth a bounty of healthy, robust plants that produce perfect (and abundant) fruit. That's what I love about humans... there's always next year. Hope springs eternal!

I guess that while I realize that it's "only tomatoes" after all, I'm wondering if the seed catalogs aren't written with me in mind... I know... that's the whole idea. Marketing is nothing more than trying to get into my head (I have great sympathy to those who actually get there!)

But what I'm actually pondering at 3 in the morning, is if it's about something more... well.... personal. Should I be more "sweet & smokey" or "rich and delicious"? Are they talking TO me, or ABOUT me? Hmmmm... OK, so I DO have a fair amount of acidity, but hey... I'm working on it!

Let me know what you're planting this year!