Bring on the Tomatoes!

It is spring! As I organize and re-plant my garden, I bid adieu to the last of my winter carrots and onions. I’ve already planted my bell pepper plants, the strawberries are in full bloom, and the peas are growing so fast I can almost watch those delicate tendrils grab on and vine up. However, it is the optimistic and fragrant tomato that actually calls me by name.

It can be tricky to plant tomatoes and fragile herbs like cilantro in the early spring – In many parts of the country, frost threatens tender, young buds well into May. However, protecting the plants by dutifully covering them at night with row cover and uncovering them in the morning is well worth the effort when that first heirloom tomato hits the taste buds. I can already taste the marinara sauce in my summer menus…

This year, I’m experimenting with potted plants, upside down baskets as well as a new square foot garden. It is fun to watch the tomato and strawberry plants grow upside down, hanging on my porch, and they are beautiful to see out the windows. This is such a wonderful gardening option for city, apartment, and condo dwellers. We can now enjoy the fresh taste of produce wherever we live.

Fruits and vegetables from the garden (or hanging basket) taste better - there is no doubt about it. Especially when they are served just moments after they are plucked from the plant. The produce is allowed to ripen perfectly on the vine or bush, rather than being picked green and allowed to ripen in warehouses or on trucks en route to the grocery store.

I learned this lesson when I joined a CSA. When I was younger I never particularly liked greens, but I ate them because I knew they were such a good source of iron, antioxidants, vitamins A, K, and D, and calcium. Then I tasted the local, and later, the homegrown versions and discovered flavors I never knew existed. My palate was alive with spinach, kale, Swiss chard, mustard greens, and those potent, tender little Brussels sprouts. And the best news: many of the vitamins in leafy greens are fat-soluble, so a little oil or butter (or the occasional bit of tasty bacon grease, oh my!) is necessary for proper absorption of the vitamins.

Want to be healthier and eat more vegetables because you actually enjoy the taste? Want to teach your children how good, nutritional food is grown? Want to eat locally? It doesn’t get any more local than your backyard garden!