Tomato Obsession- It Ain't Pretty

You know that part in the movie Half Baked where Bob Saget gets up in the middle of a Marijuana Anonymous meeting and is like " I sucked dick for coke, man." Well, that's basically the type of behavior of anyone in the middle of a full blown tomato obsession- it's crackish and whorelike behavior.

I admit it- it's in my title- I'm a plant tramp. I'm a seed slut. I'm a compost whore. What do you want me to do? It's the middle of the June and I'm prowling the internet for highly coveted GREEN GIANT tomato seeds. Ordering VINTAGE WINE seeds from 2006 just because I got to have a little taste of the good stuff. IVORY PEAR- I just need a little bump, baby. Just a little something to get me through the next day or so. Someone is giving away a BRANDY BOY seedling on Craig's List? I don't grow hybrids, baby, but when mama needs it, mama needs it. Leave it my front porch....

Here are some places besides Seed Saver's Exchange to get seeds and heirloom plants from: Cynthia's Love Apple Farm in California , and another small seed company Amishland Heirloom Seeds , Gary Ibsen's Tomatofest , and Scott Daigre's Tomatomania sales, which is where I caved last year and instead of planting all the tomato seeds I had bought, ended up getting tomato plants- LUCKY CROSS, COSTOLUTO GENOVESE, CARBON, BLACK PLUM, AUSSIE TOMATO...another great one for tons of heirloom tomato varieties.

I planted an abundance of extra tomato seeds THIS year and have given most of them away. I think I grew and gave away about 60. I started them all from seed, nurtured them with Dr. Earth organic fertilizer and good Gardener's Gold potting soil and gave them all the love I had to give. The varieties for this year- all primarily heirloom, open- pollinated, no F1 hybrid love here. Most were from Seed Savers Exchange. I grew KENTUCKY BEEFSTEAK (orange), PATIO ORANGE (small orange tomato suitable for pot culture), NYAGOUS (black), GREEN GRAPE (determinate green cherry), ISIS CANDY (bicolor red orange cherry), ANANAS NOIRE (multicolored), HILLBILLY (yellow flushed red), BLACK KRIM, BLACK BRANDYWINE. I love black tomatoes- they are tops.

I then started another wave of seedlings-all cherries: RIESENTRAUBE (an extremely old one with nipples), YELLOW PEAR (a farmer's market classic) , IVORY PEAR (supposed to be like little white grapes). I'm sort of curious about white tomatoes. They seem so unappetizing and tasteless...but I'm giving it a shot. I'm commanding a friend from work to plant these seedlings mid season. Commanding!

So whilst in the middle of potting up seedlings, and when I should have been working diligently at work (it's research), I was....planning my lineup for next year! And ordering a few samplers (a little pick me up) from a couple of places. And not only was I planning the lineup, I was accepting more tomato plants from strangers! And I hadn't (and still haven't) made room for the tomatoes yet to be planted- like Green Grape, Isis Candy, a huge Black Krim I'm saving for the front which get's full day sun, Plus the Brandy Boy! What the hell am I thinking?