Life feels pretty frantic right now. Spring came to California overnight, it seems. The tree in my front yard has gone from bare to bright green in just a few days. The neighbor’s plum tree is flowering white. The Roger’s Red Grape is budding with tiny silver leaves.
Spring (of course) means gardens, and garden goals include summer tomatoes in my house. That is non-negotiable. Home grown tomatoes are the one produce item that are nothing at all like the store bought version. California summers get CRAZY hot, though, and in Redlands it is even worse than I am used to. The advice for tomato planters in a hot climate? Plant early and you will have a crop before the hot comes. They recommend February.
When did it get to be almost March, you guys?
I put the tomatoes in the front planter last year to thwart the gophers, but now it has ornamental stuff in it. Brian and I regrouped, and we’ve decided that if we put our veggies in raised beds in the back, we can line them with chicken wire and hopefully keep the gophers out. Which means that we need raised beds STAT, or we won’t have a crop. We bought the redwood boards, fought with the battery on the drill, and still didn’t quite get the planter built. Next weekend for sure. I have the compost, we have the dirt, and those tomatoes will be.
I am determined.
It’s the tomato plants that are indeterminate (you see what I did there? It’s a tomato joke. It was funny. No, really).
Now I just have to decide what tomato varieties to plant… and frantically plant them so they can grow in time.
Casey E. Hamilton 
Casey Note that it appears Tomatomania will not be at the Garden this year. I’ll double check tomorrow. The closest place appears to be at Descanso Gardens. They have one scheduled at the Arboretum but I think it is on a Wednesday. Bob
I know!! I perused the website and got super sad about it. We’ll have to travel for our tomatoes this year. 😦