The garden this year has been doing very well. I’m sure the constant application of rabbit manure over a two year period is mostly responsible. I was lucky enough to score about 25 giant black plastic containers for free from a neighbor putting in a hedge, I think they’re about 10-15 gallons each, and so I’ve been filling them with compost and planting everything my heart desires. I have yacon, sunchokes, mammoth russian sunflowers, dill, tomatillos, baby doll watermelon, and delphiniums right now waiting to sprout. In my smaller flats I have phacelia, pickling cukes, red and green shiso, jalapenos and sweet peppers, celeriac and eggplant. I plan to put a few tomatoes of each kind in a pot full of compost as well to see how they compare to my tomatoes in the ground.

Last year I planted too many tomatoes and ended up not getting any, really. I got a lot of tasteless yellow cherry tomatoes that had self seeded, and most of my heirlooms went to rot before I could gather them. It was a sad time.

This year I am more disciplined. I have restricted myself to three types of tomato and started all the seeds in early March, outdoors in a cold-sowing operation. By that I mean they were started in plastic milk jugs. They did well and sprouted, now I have a good dozen seedlings of each kind: Aunt Ruby’s German Green, Japanese Black Trifele, and Brandywine. When it comes to tomatoes, I don’t care how they look. I want ones that taste good.