The Glorious Tomato Collection is Here for You Now!

Check out this Collection today! [GreenPrints]( June 23, 2024   [GET The Glorious Tomato Collection Right Now—Yours FREE to access, read, and print!]( [Sunflower Kit](  The Glorious Tomato Collection is ready for you to access and read right now. When you read this printable volume, you get joy, laughter, and inspiration—start reading right now! Dear Gardener, Great news! Your FREE printable copy of [The Glorious Tomato Collection]( is ready for you to access, print, and read right now. But first let me tell you how I initially became interested in tomatoes … and, thus, the inspiration for this Collection. I grew up on the North side of Sacramento, which—to the best of my knowledge—was then, and still is, the tomato capital of the United States. Back then, my suburban neighborhood was still surrounded by family farms ranging from 10-50 acres, and it was in this close-knit community that I had my paper route. Every morning at around 6 a.m., I would deliver the Sacramento Union to about 80 people, one of whom was Mr. Joe Kelly. Mr. Kelly was known for being a generous tipper, and I always looked forward to collecting my monthly fee from him. One sunny Spring afternoon, I knocked on Mr. Kelly’s door as I usually did. He greeted me warmly, paid me promptly, and then paused, looking thoughtful. He asked if I would be interested in doing some work on the weekend, helping him with his Spring tomato patch. I was taken aback by the offer, as I had never done any commercial gardening work before, let alone with tomatoes. I had helped my father out with our small home garden and had done a lot of landscaping work, mostly mowing yards, including mine, and some of the neighbors. I voiced my inexperience to Mr. Kelly, but he assured me that he had plenty of knowledge and experience to share. With that promise and a bit of curiosity, I agreed to give it a try. The following Saturday morning, after completing my paper route, I arrived at Mr. Kelly’s doorstep bright and early at 8 a.m., ready to tackle the tomato patch. To my surprise, Mr. Kelly had already prepared the ground. He had created 12 neat rows about 5 feet apart, each row stretching for about 60 feet. Mr. Kelly explained our task for the day: we would plant the tomato seedlings about 5 feet apart, inserting each small plant between wooden stakes with heavy duty metal stakes at the end of each row. Eventually, twine would stretch between the stakes to support the plants as they grew. It was hard, physical labor, and it took us about four hours to hammer in all of the metal and wooden stakes. By midday, I was thankful when Mrs. Kelly arrived with bologna sandwiches and cool lemonade for our lunch break. In the afternoon, we began planting. Mr. Kelly handed me the young indeterminate tomato plants, each about 6 inches tall, and instructed me on how to place them in the soil properly. We surrounded each tiny seedling with mulch, which Mr. Kelly explained would keep the weeds at bay and help the ground retain moisture. As the day came to a close, I couldn’t help but marvel at the peculiar sight of massive metal and wooden stakes surrounding the fragile, green seedlings. It was a stark contrast, but Mr. Kelly assured me that in a few months, those seedlings would grow into a lush tomato patch. Over the following weeks, I dropped by the tomato patch now and then to watch the plants grow and to see how Mr. Kelly used twine to support the rapidly growing tomato vines. By mid-summer, the plants were nearly as tall as me and laden with tomatoes of all shapes and sizes. On a few Saturday mornings, I lent a hand in harvesting the tomatoes, working alongside Mr. Kelly and his wife. After the harvest, Mr. Kelly would always give me a small bag of ripe tomatoes to take home. It was a gesture that never failed to make my parents ecstatic, as they immediately incorporated the fresh tomatoes into our dinner plans. Even with our own backyard garden, my parents were always happy to have more tomatoes. Years later, I can still flip back and forth between the image of that field filled with tiny seedlings and the end result: a vibrant jungle of green tomato plants bursting with bright red fruit. The tomatoes were undeniably fantastic, and it was during those days that my father introduced me to the simple yet delicious pleasure of a beefsteak tomato sandwich, made with two slices of San Francisco sourdough bread, a thick tomato slice sprinkled with salt and pepper, and a generous helping of mayonnaise. Mr. Kelly’s tomato patch not only served as a source of inspiration for my gardening journey and a memorable part of my Sacramento Valley upbringing, but also symbolizes the enduring love affair many of us have with these vibrant, versatile fruits. As we cultivate our own tomato gardens and savor the delicious creations they yield, let us remember the roots of this passion and the shared joy of growing and enjoying tomatoes. So, dive into [The Glorious Tomato Collection]( and may your tomato gardening and eating adventures be filled with boundless happiness and flavor. Here is a sample of just one of the 9 stories in [The Glorious Tomato Collection](  [The Last Two]( A pair of leftover seedlings find a very special home. By Barbara Josephine Adams  [IMAGE](  My favorite Spring garden ritual is starting my tomato seeds. In late March, I fill ten little pots with a mixture of peat and earth-scented compost. Then I press down the spongy stuff and poke a hole in the middle of each pot, loving the feel of the dark fluff, even the bits that stay under my fingernails. Knowing I need exactly ten tomato plants, I always drop two or three little seeds into each hole, adding extra seeds in case some don’t sprout. Any extras that come up will need to be thinned out and tossed. Oh, but how I dread snipping out the extra starts. Please , I think, no extras . I don’t want to thin them. All the sprouts are newborns, just coming to life and reaching for the sun. I’m their caretaker. I don’t want to choose which ones can live and which ones have to die. Yes, I know. I rip chickweed and shepherd’s purse out of my garden beds without feeling a bit guilty. Indeed—I admit it—I feel a goodly portion of delight. But that’s their fault! I hadn’t planted them there. They could have grown anywhere but dared to squat in my garden. The tomato seedlings, on the other hand, sprouted just to please me. How could I now grab their little stems—and snip? This year, something inside me snapped. I just couldn’t do it. So I gently repotted every single sprout. None of them died. Soon I had close to 27 healthy tomato plant starts, 10 to keep and a surplus of 17. It wouldn’t be easy, but I had to find good homes for them all. I felt sure I could do it. I’d found loving homes for orphaned kittens and for gigantic zucchini. Once I even found a good home for a revoltingly ugly old easy chair by putting it outside with a “FREE” sign on it. Admittedly, after three days, no one had taken it. In fact, some sneak put an equally ugly throw pillow on it and drove off before I could catch him to give him his pillow—and my easy chair. But by the fourth day, even it had been taken to a new home. [Read More...]( Illustration By Heather Graham  What a delightful and heartwarming story that brings me back to my childhood days of growing tomatoes! You must read the rest of it. And the [The Glorious Tomato Collection]( has other stories for you—more content to touch your soul, lift your spirits, and make you laugh! Including this featured story—“The Last Two"—you get all 9 stories in this [The Glorious Tomato Collection]( with these gems: - “The Last Two: A pair of leftover seedlings find a very special home.”—A very touching tomato story! - “My Row of 2,000: Far, far better than manicured nails.”—What could be better for your nails than getting them done in a professional salon? Try the garden! - “Salmon and Tomatoes: One feeds the garden. Both feed me.”—How fish can nourish the plants. - “The Great Tomato Fight of 1957: The day Grandma and I had it out.”—A battle in the garden turns out sweetly. - “A Bag of Unwashed Heirloom Tomatoes: Now that says love.”—Tomatoes are special, but there’s really nothing quite like the heirloom varieties. - “My Sprawling Cherry Tomato Plants: Take one. Please!”—The age-old dilemma of what to do with an overabundance of tomatoes. - “The Tomato Cage Caper: The day my prized tomato plant—and more—got stolen!”—A very funny account of a deer gone awry among the caged tomato plants. - “Chicken Tomatoes: Two things you don’t want to put together!”—how a flock of chickens enjoyed a harvest of tomatoes! - “The Last Tomato Story: I can’t remember the year … but the tomato? Unforgettable!”—Hilarious account of one man’s tomato-growing experiences. The only way to get full access to the digital and printable [The Glorious Tomato Collection]( is to get a [GreenPrints Garden Club All-Access Membership]( with a whole year’s worth of stories in a full subscription to GreenPrints Magazine, hundreds and hundreds of captivating stories in all the Collections, and benefits galore for only $10 for an entire year! [$10 SPECIAL! 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