I admit it: I was one of those who had a $50 tomato or two last season. You can think of them as Mr. Stripey and his wife, Lemon Girl.
The near failure of last year’s crop notwithstanding, I still can’t give up the idea of heirlooms in the vegetable garden.
I was feeling a little silly about trying again this year, maybe with Mortgage Lifters as a nod to what’s going on in the real world, until my friend Greg gave me a nearly breathless recitation of what was going on in the solar-warmed loft of his home office.
Pleated Zapotec and Green Zebra tomatoes were making leaves! At least three types of eggplant — miniature! white! — and enough corn to actually harvest and share, up and growing. French cukes, round and creamy-colored, ooh la la!
There are watering issues in the loft. And the memory of last year’s corn ripped up and consumed by thuggish raccoons is still fresh. But Greg’s Sunday- morning report was a sweet reminder that hope does, indeed, spring eternal in the garden. Dana Coffield
