True Leaf

Day 200: Where there's life, there's hope, and I am hoping for sweet little Sungold cherry tomatoes to add to my lettuce salads later this summer. The seeds were a COVID-share; a friend dropped them on my porch when she heard that I had not bought tomato plants before the stay-at-home order was put in place. I put them in four pots, and was pleasantly surprised when all nine seeds sprouted, leaving me plenty of wiggle-room to thin. "One for the worm, one for the crow, one to die and one to grow" was my father's adage for planting seed corn. It seems to work for tomatoes as well. True leaves are now beginning to appear on my seedlings. At this point, they are vulnerable to "damping off," but I only need one to survive for the garden. I should have a crop somewhat later than if I had planted a commercial start, but Sungold is a prolific producer, a single plant yielding more bite-sized fruit than I can use. For now, the seedlings are sitting just inside the kitchen door where they can look over their future home and think about how they'll flourish when I let them out of confinement.