Tomatoes for the Fourth of July

I know that Rand is way ahead of me, but for the rest of you who live in the more "tomato-challenged" part of the country, I wanted to report that today I ate the very first tomato from my garden. Ironically, it was not a Fourth of July tomato, although I have some of those. This was a yellow Lemon Boy tomato, a type that had been recommended to me by someone at the garden center. It was small, but sweet and delicious. Alas, I don't have any other tomatoes that are even close to getting ripe, so this one must have been something of a free thinker. How appropriate that I ate it on Independence Day.

This year I tried three tomato types I hadn't grown before:

• Lemon Boy - a yellow/gold medium sized tomato
• Red Beefsteak - a large, red tomato that I know is very common but I hadn't ever grown it before
• Black Tomato - an heirloom tomato characterized by "wrinkles" and slight "stripes" radiating out where the stem is attached

All three of the new tomato types are very prolific producers and appear very healthy. I will report later on the flavor.

By the way, if you live in Utah where we have had lots of rain, your tomatoes might have a fungus. I read about this in the Salt Lake Tribune. The fungus will cause the lower leaves to yellow on the edges and curl up, but the newspaper reports it will go away by itself. I have it on some of my plants, but the upper leaves look healthy and green, which is what the newspaper said would let you know that the fungus was going away. I am glad I had read about it, because I would have been tempted to increase the water if I hadn't known what it was, which would have not been good.

This is only the second time in 15 years that I haven't been at the NEA convention on the Fourth of July, and I have to admit I miss the hoopla a little. They always have a big celebration on that day with balloons, noisemakers, and everyone wears their quirkiest red, white and blue clothes. It's fun, but I am happy to be home.

Kalyn