Houston, we have a tomato...

In my attempt to be "hippie-ish" I am growing my own veggies and herbs in a container garden. It has been quite interesting. I tried last year to grow tomatoes and failed. This past March, a church member told me a type of tomato that is "nearly impossible" to kill- Sweet 100s. These are a type of grape tomatoes that grow in little clusters. I also learned from a ProDoc student that you need to have 2 tomato plants if you want tomatoes. Apparently, if you have 1 it never gets pollinated and so if you have 2 they will pollinate each other. I asked some people if they had heard of this phenomenon and was told that it was indeed true. That was probably part of my problem last year- I only had 1 tomato plant. After searching for Sweet 100s, I picked up 2 plants, matching pots, and two different herbs. Since I have really gotten into cooking (and have been having quite a blast doing it) I really wanted to try my hand at growing herbs again. I tried in TN but managed to get ONE chive to grow. It looked quite silly. I picked the 2 herbs that I use the dry version of the most, basil and oregano, and added that to my cart as well. I also picked up some dirt. Not just any dirt though (I have NOT been blessed with a green thumb and thus need all the help I can get,) I got moisture control miracle-gro dirt! It prevents me from overwatering or underwatering. I am always scared that my plants are going to scorch in the New Orleans heat so I water them daily. Travis thinks I overwater and thus drown my plants. This dirt helps me not do that! I also picked up a mister bottle to mist the leaves. Now I have 2 pots outside of our apartment, a tomato and basil pot and a tomato and oregano pot. I have enough basil to start using it. I am hoping to chop some tonight. I don't think I have enough oregano yet.

I checked my plant at lunch and discovered my first baby tomato! I had to take a picture because I am very excited about the lil' guy. You can't really tell from the picture, since it is a close-up, but my little tomato is about the size of green pea. I am hoping for a tomato explosion soon so I can stop buying grape tomatoes and start picking my own for my roasted tomato pasta! YAY!