Fenton Friday: Tasty Tomato

Guest blog by Tori Vandergriff

At the beginning of my internship with the Washington Gardener Magazine, Editor Kathy Jentz let me choose three flowering plants to grow as well as some tomatoes. I was tasked with tracking these plants along their journey in the community garden. I had some failures, but there were also beautiful successes that taught me so much about gardening and journalism. 

For my plants, I chose Verbena bonariensis, Bergamot, and 'Queeny Lemon Peach' zinnias. We planted all of these from seed in rows in the community garden plot, watered them generously, and then waited. After about three weeks, the zinnias began showing signs of viability, but the monarda and verbena weren’t yet germinating. I gave the verbena and monarda until the beginning of July to start blooming and when they didn’t, Kathy planted Holy Basil and Celosia (that had self-sown elsewhere in the plot) in their place. I was a little bummed about two of my three plants failing, but I learned that sometimes seeds just are bad from the start. I knew it wasn’t anything I did so I let my monarda and verbena dream rest in peace.

My zinnias, however, began shooting up in the middle of the summer. It was producing beautiful leafy stalks with tiny buds where the flowers were destined to be. I was so excited for them to start flowering because I am a flower girl through and through. I wasn’t sure what color they’d be but they ended up being a beautiful pale yellow color. Every week, I looked forward to my zinnia harvest and couldn’t wait to see how they were doing.

In addition to the flowers, I grew 'Sun Dipper', 'Sun Gold', 'Cherokee Purple' heirloom, and 'Paul Robeson' tomatoes. Tomatoes are seriously my favorite thing that grows in the summer and I even love eating raw tomatoes, so I was really excited to grow my own. The tomatoes were grown from little transplant seedlings. I placed supports into the beds then inserted the plants into each corner of the square bed. Over the weeks, they grew a few inches every time I went back to check on them. We had a few issues with yellowing leaves and some critters getting into the low-hanging tomatoes, but this didn’t ruin the plant or the experience for me. The 'Sun Dipper' and 'Sun Gold' started producing tiny yellow tomatoes but I waited until they were more orange to pick them. The heirlooms took a bit longer to produce any fruit but when they did, they were gorgeous. 

Like I said before, I love tomatoes so I ended up eating the 'Sun Dipper' ones as they were with a little bit of veggie dip. They were juicy and flavorful. For the heirlooms, I used them in a mozzarella, pasta, and basil salad with lots of olive oil, salt, and pepper. This pasta salad was so satisfying and tasted like all the best parts of summertime. I truly loved growing tomatoes and it felt so rewarding to cook with them knowing that I grew them! 

Growing my own plants in the community garden plot this summer was such a rewarding and fun experience. I loved talking to Kathy about why things weren’t going the way I thought they would and hearing her advice. I would highly recommend anyone who has access to a small plot or even a container to do some gardening next summer. You won’t be disappointed!

About the Author: Victoria Vandergriff is finishing up her senior year at the University of Maryland as a journalism major with a history minor. She is an intern this summer session with Washington Gardener.

About Fenton Friday: Every Friday during the growing season, I'll be giving you an update on my community garden plot at the Fenton Street Community Garden just across the street from my house in zone 7 Mid-Atlantic MD/DC border. I'm plot #16. It is a 10 ft x 20 ft space and this is our 11th year in the garden. (It opened in May 2011.) See past posts about our edible garden by putting "Fenton" into the Search box above.