Cannonball rain and my desperate need for a good tomato

The rain is coming down. This is a good thing, unlike in Missouri. The thunder has been amazingly loud. My favorite kind of spring storm. The cold air rushes in, sky darkens, and the clouds light up. My dog has never been terribly fond of thunder and whines while looking to me for some sort of parental comfort. Meanwhile the thunder booms. The house shakes. His pleas are not heard and the storm continues.

Through the same window that I watch the storm I can see my tomato plants. Most have flowers at this point and I've seen at least one marble sized tomato just beginning to grow. It will still be a while before I can pluck a ripe red tomato and slice it up for a sandwich. The insipid store bought variety do the tomato absolutely no justice. They are tomatoes in name only. Picked green, shipped thousands of miles, and ethylene gas ripened.

I have several varieties planted: brandywine, brandyboy, supersteak, and chadwick cherry. All are in 5-gallon black plastic nursery pots. When you don't have time for a real garden, pot tomatoes make a good substitute. In fact for a small number of plants it may be the best way to grow them. The soil warms faster in a black pot and weeds are pretty much nonexistent. I've even run dripline to them so I can water unattended. Stick a roll of concrete reinforcing wire around them and you'll have a nice setup. After that it's just water, fertilize, and wait.