Tomatoes....

The first round of tomatoes are planted. I say first round because I love tomatoes. Because of this, I'm sure I will plant more. This row has close to thirty plants though, so that is a lot of tomatoes. I do plan to to sun dry some the Romas, so I think I can keep up with how ever many they produce. Tomatoes are a big part of my meals, pretty much on a year round basis. Not sure why because I'm not Italian, even though some people think I am. I put them in salads, in pasta, and my favorite, chili con carne. Because of their high lycopene content, this means I will live well past a hundred. Great for me, sucks for those that wish I was dead already. Anyway, time to move on.

Tomatoes have a very personal place for me. Many people I have been close to have shared this passion for tomatoes and that has stuck with me. Some of these folks are not around any longer, but their passion stays with me. I am very lucky in that I had two father figures in my life. My father, Paul will always be my dad, no questions asked. I also had a step-father, Gary. Both helped me better understand the world way better than I could have hoped for on my own. I truly am blessed to have had this in my life. My aunt Liz was another that appreciated a good, vine ripe tomato.

Gary loved tomatoes. That is the best way to describe it. What ever source we had available to us, it didn't matter, fresh vine ripened tomatoes were the goal. He would get such enjoyment from discussing what varieties we were considering planting. His bottom line was to have access to them so he could determine which ones were the best tasting. He would plan meals around tomatoes. We spent countless hours talking about the "perfect tomato". What we came up with was it had to have a nice acidic bite, but balanced with enough sweetness to make you smile after biting into it. A tall order, but I think this project can deliver.

One variety I planted today was Pearson. It's an old variety and I planted it for my dad, he is gone now, but I'm sure he would approve. He remembered it to be very good tasting when he was younger. We talked about it in the context of of varieties that would sell well in our direct market operations. He used to handle that aspect of the farming operation for me and would tell me what customers were inquiring about. People would ask which varieties tasted "old fashioned", and Pearson is what he remembered from back when he was younger. It's great that we can still plant these older varieties.

Another variety planted today was driven by old memories. Lynda's dad, Jim planted many vegetables, tomatoes included. As I looked over the selections at Capital Nursery, one stood out from discussions we had many years ago. To honor that, I planted "Big Boy". Jim planted this when it first came out and it produced great tomatoes. I still remember all of the beautiful tomatoes those plants had that summer. It was a sight to see.

My aunt Liz, this rounds out the story on tomatoes. She would plan her vacation around coming to Sacramento at the right time to get plenty of tomatoes to take back to Arizona. This was very important to her because she liked them so much. She really just liked to visit and the tomatoes were the best reason of all to come out to our farm to pay such a visit. I guess it's not hard to figure out that tomatoes are something I will always grow, wherever I find myself.