I garden badly. Yet armed as always with springtime hope, I have planted 2021’s tomato, hot pepper and basil plants.
In years past, my basil grew well enough to keep us in pesto. My peppers thrived perhaps every third year.
And the tomatoes? The plants surged tall and bushy every year. Teased with loads of blossoms and little green fruits every year. And came to squat … every year.
I’ve tried cherry toms and big toms of multiple varieties. I’ve splurged on fertilizers and disease and bug killers.
And have tasted little more than the many varieties of disappointment and failure. The fruits languished. Or rotted early on the branch. Or sprouted fuzzy fungus.
This year, I graduated from patio containers to a raised bed. Rooted there now are two tomato plants, seven pepper plants, a single basil – and all the hope a backyard farmer can muster.
Did I just write hope? What a crock. As my record shows, hope is only stubbornness with better PR.
Still, as you’ve read this far, a question: Do garden stores sell better PR?
Good luck on your tomatoes, Jeff. Try Sun Gold cherries. They’re fabulous and vigorous.