The First Tomatoes of the Season

Celebrating... the first garden tomatoes of the year! (cue-fireworks)

My cherry tomato that has been growing in a container by the kitchen porch is starting to ripen its fruit. This is the first year I have tried container gardening seriously. Tomatoes are popular as a container plant. The choice of cherry tomato was because they seem to be more of an impulsive snacking plant... meaning the fruit is eaten in situ. Just like my peas this year (which I have hardly made any posts about, because they've all been eaten on the spot) have rarely made it out of the garden and even more rarely to the house.

One year at a community garden I grew a few cherry tomato plants. They were bountiful to be sure, but since I hardly visited the plot everyday, many of the cherries went neglected and uneaten (falling to rot on the ground even). When the fantastic and frantic rush of the tomato harvest is upon you, what will you spend your energy harvesting: 'regular' large tomatoes or tiny little cherries? In the end the bigger ones which served the most food value in canning were given the most harvesting attention and the cherries were left behind. Having a cherry tomato plant that is nearby the house, however, makes it easily accessible. One inconvenience is that with container plants you need to water them more regularly as they can dry out faster and with this hot summer it has been a challenge to keep all the plants content. It seems that the container cherry tomato has been a success thus far and considering the rate at which we have been snacking on the fruits, more plants are definitely in the plans for next years container garden.