A Pedigreed Tomato?

 

Last Years Ordinary Plum Tomatoes

 

For those of us who grew up thinking the supermarket was the  only source of food, the  very thought of taking a hand in growing ones own bordered on  ludicrous!  Me? Grow tomatoes and get my hands dirty?  I’d have to nuts!

It’s safe to say that I came to gardening through the back door. It took a handful of pumpkin seeds tossed carelessly on a compost pile to astonish me with the ease at which they flourished with no attention at all from me.  Still, I resisted. The ease of the supermarket is a powerful lure, indeed. However, there is a caveat connected to this word ease ---namely, it leads to total dependency on others to provide food for my table, others who do not necessarily have my best interests at heart. So, is it ludicrous or necessary to grow ones own tomatoes?

While browsing through isles of tomato seedlings in my favorite greenhouse earlier this spring, the word “heirloom” caught my eye. The accompanying picture tucked in the pot showed a golden yellow tomato with the name “Brandywine.” That’s cool, I thought, so I bought it, wondering  if this heirloom tomato would taste like its name.  (A quick search on the internet revealed that yes indeed, tomatoes have a very long history, and if their genes have not been monkeyed with, they are considered heirlooms by tomato experts.)

A serendipitous side effect of the current economic mess may very well be a renewed (or new) interest in vegetable gardening, of all things. Terms like “recession garden” and “urban farm” are the latest buzz words that nod toward a deepening awareness of the precarious food  system corporate America has created for us.  I love the idea that vegetable gardens and tree farms are sprouting on vacant urban lots. Kudos to the folks that have the guts to change the the face of the urban landscape!

Only when we get over the idea that manual labor is somehow beneath us, we will be free to exalt in the pleasure of physical work, and the rewards it brings to health of mind and body. And besides  isn’t it just a little bit empowering to know you don’t have to depend entirely on some corporate conglomerate for your dinner?

OK, what does this have to do with landscape painting, anyway?