Celebrating the Average

   Last weekend I gave away tomato seedlings. I had about fifty extra plants, and over the course of two days I found new homes for them all.  The first delivery was to to some of the regulars at the local diner where I eat breakfast. I brought a cardboard box full of plants to work and gave them to co-workers and customers, and I even delivered several to my pharmacist. Then things got a bit out of hand when more people asked for plants, and I ended up giving away many of the tomatoes I'd been saving for my own garden. Finally, I came home Sunday night to find that the remaining plants had been sun-scalded, and were barely alive.  I felt like a character in the O'Henry story 'The Gift of the Magi', and lay awake that night wondering if, after growing so many tomatoes, I'd end up at Home Depot buying ones someone else had grown.

  The next day I looked over my remaining seedlings and judged them ugly but alive. I've been nursing them back to health for the last week, carefully regulating the air flow, light and water they receive, waiting for the day I could plant them. 

  Finally, today was it, the magical 'Last Average Frost Date' for my area, according to the charts produced at U Mass Amherst.  Last year I was cocky and planted early, only to have tomatoes blasted black by frost in the first week of May.  

 This year I've waited, but not patiently!  I had a little party in the garden today-- sharing a pile of freshly pulled radishes with Sol in celebration of the  last frost date.  Sol ate his carefully, holding each radish by the leaves with a paw while he gnawed on the root. I tore the leaves off with a twist and popped each spicy red globe into my mouth. We both grimaced with pleasure at the burst of heat as we bit into a radish. 

  Then I planted.  The 'Mortgage Lifter'  tomatoes had survived the scalding best, and were still tall and dark green, while 'Celebrity', 'Gold Nugget' and 'Yellow Pear' were each a bit bleached but had healthy clusters of leaves at the top.  I planted them deeply in beds enriched with horse manure, put cages over them, and hoped for the best.  Just in case I started a few left-over seeds last week after  the big giveaway, figuring I 'd at least get new plants to put out in July.  They've all sprouted, so I've got a back up plan if today's planting doesn't take, or if it does, more seedlings to give away.  I hope all the little tomatoes out there in new gardens are thriving and growing, safe from frost and ready to make lots of fruit.