Small Tomatillo and Tomato Crop This Year

This was my first year to grow tomatillos. I had three plants develop out of the 60 I was hoping for.  Prolonged rains this Spring and then a heat wave didn't help and as I've mentioned before, the dirt at my new home needed amending (so I learned.)  Truth is though, I thought I knew what I was doing and could wing it through so so (no cost) seed starting conditions but nope.  I didn't do a good job at all of  starting my seeds and a lot of things went wrong.

I harvested just before the impending freeze last week and ended up with 5 cups of chopped fruit, some of the darn things no bigger than a quarter.  I had a friend in CA that grew a row of Tomatillo plants up to her neck and 15 yards long one year; my vines grew a couple of feet along the ground.  The fruit turned out to be tastey nevertheless.  Last night I made these jars of salsa and a pot of fresh tomato soup from my tiny (but delicious) tomato crop (same issues.)

All in all I figure my harvest dinner and 5 little jars of salsa only took me 6 months to prepare. Go ahead and laugh; I'm laughing too.  Next year, I'll (try again) to grow a real crop of tomatoes and tomatillos and, cilantro, dill and onions to go with them.

Deep down I know I'm not a farmer; I'm not even much of a kitchen gardener this year.  But I just can't stop trying; I don't know why. I've always thought it was some kind of ancestral thing; my grandpa always grew a good garden and my mom and her twin sister were both driven flower gardener.  I spent a lot of time in the garden with mom; she used to let me dig the holes for the bedding plants and I used to love to water.  Where I grew up in Marion County Oregon, I spent a lot of time on farms picking strawberries and beans when I was a kid and one of my first memories was of my mom taking me to her friend's farm where I got to collect eggs from the chicken coup.  I still so love that.  Prior to my grandpa though, I don't know much about my ancestors or if they were farmers from way back.  Could have been royalty for all I know.  For whatever reason the sights and sounds and smells of farming and farming lifestyle have inspired me and gardening (if not farming) is in my blood. 

And this brings me to something I'm thinking deeply about.  I've joined a social networking group called Farmers for the Future.  What a great thing it is.  In one of my conversations there some of my new friends said they were angry about farmer stereotypes; I bet you know what I am talking about.  Uneducated dirt farmers, driving 50 year old cars because they have to, one dollar in their pocket. That's the movies.  That's TV and novels.  It certainly doesn't describe Farmers for the Future. 

And to all of you out there who read my blog, be aware that stereotyping is hurtful, just like all stereotyping is and those of us who know better well, we ought to help others know better too.  I'm smart and I have a killer education but there is no way I'm smart enough or even tempered enough or strong enough to run a farm that can feed my family, let alone the world.  

I'm less romantic about farming than I was at the beginning of this ethnography and I'm far far more respectful. I wish I had  known when I was young what I know now.  If you are young and you want to farm, be really smart and learn from elders and go to an agricultural college.   We don't pull knowledge from thin air and take it from me, trial and error farming isn't going to feed your family. 


Cynthia
The Wanna Be Farmer

PS: Is there such a thing as premature celery? I had one plant with stocks that were as tiny as they could be and still be celery.