So as any gardener/farmer/tomato grower who is faced with an abundance...you offer it for sale! " Hey I'm taking orders!" and for the most part everything is great, people are happy, I'm happy...until the grumblers show up.
If you work in retail or for yourself ...you know the kind...they don't like that your tomatoes are so big, or little, or not that perfect shape, (my favorite " Do you got anything cheaper?")
I try not to let comments like that get to me, after all you can't please everyone, but it sure got me thinking, the entire morning while picking the next batch of tomatoes for market.
And my question is this...as a consumer do we ever wonder how that particular item gets to us?What work was involved? What was done to it? Who grew it? Where? Do we truly appreciate what we get?
Here is my "tomato story" in response to a few grumblers!
You are at the Farmers Market!
Tables on tables of fresh baking, foods galore...so much to choose from...and as you stand infront of the farmers market table you glance at the price of fresh heirloom tomatoes...$3/lb(WHAT????)...and the cherry tomatoes are $5/lb..."Why?...what?...how expensive!" is your thought.
I get it, totally, and if I wasn't that particular gardener/ tomato grower and didn't know the story behind those tomatoes I would seriously think "that farmer/gardener is way out to lunch...I can't pay that...I need like 20lbs to make my tomato sauce!!"
I know you love the taste of fresh, just-picked ripe tomatoes, after all they are grown here and you're supporting a family farm but $3/lb you think is too much.
Let me tell you about those $3/lb tomatoes!
It's January, you are ordering seeds, tomato seeds to be exact.
What are you growing?
"Tumbler" tomatoes maybe?...hhmm 10 seeds for $3.95 from Burpee ( gosh I hope they all grow)
....psst maybe an heirloom variety or maybe a good greenhouse variety ($0.89 cents per seed...oh my I have to order 100 seeds from this supplier to get that variety)
Regardless what you picked you now need good quality seed starting soil.
Someplace to grow that seed, where it's warm! 70-80 degrees Fahrenheit(21-27 Celsius) is great.
So you have access to water, heat, oh yeah don't forget lights! Grow lights to be exact after all it's January and there's not much natural light!
A greenhouse is nice! but its January and I need to heat it( Hello Gas company! I'm here to make you happy!)
It's January right...minus 30outside...so now you have to heat to get that temperature to plus 21 minimum!
Ok got it all figured out?... now you've seeded and with good care in about 7-10 days you should have some little sprouts popping out of the ground.
So far so good.
A few more weeks of watering and they are ready for transplanting! You've got pots and more soil!
All done transplanting!
And its back to watering, and watering. Don't forget the fertilizer, tomato plants can't live on just water alone...they need nutrients to grow.
January goes, February comes and goes, then March and April...the whole time you are watering, fertilizing, transplanting if its needed. You check for diseases, and bugs...
What in the world???? EEWW Aphids! Where did they come from????
Ok What to do??
"Spray em buggers!" that's the first thought for many. What kind of Insecticide?
Well there's Imidacloprid, its a systemic insecticide which basically is an insect neurotoxin (that should kill them!!) after all it is safe...I mean they sell it at the hardware store! Its sold as Bayers Advanced Fruit, Citrus and Vegetable Insect Control
Yeah NO!
Not going down that road, I have no desire to kill off honeybees, bumblebees, butterflies or other pollinators (don't get me started on how that affects the bird population) or the fact that it has low toxicity to mammals (that includes YOU)
And the fact that there's a cat and dog plus tiny humans that roam the greenhouse/garden.
So we look for predator insects, ladybugs to be precise!
70,000 Ladybugs (approx. cost of $300 for one large greenhouse full of aphid infested plants), lets get the kids from the community to help release, that's always fun!
So as the ladybugs are doing their thing over the next few weeks you are still watering, EVERYDAY! and fertilizing.
By now its end of June and those tomato plants are planted into their last home...your grow beds! Let them grow you think, oh yeah...but they still need watering, fertilizing, and now lets add pruning to the fun, after all you want tomatoes not just a full bushy plant.
Don't forget to keep an eye on the insect problem...is it gone? do you need more ladybugs?
June turns to July...and lo and behold you have the very first tomatoes!
Oh My!!! They taste soooo good!
At first its just a little, then more, and MORE! And we keep picking, and picking...and by now you are getting ready for Farmers markets and customers!
Picking every 2-3 days as the hot sun ripens that gorgeous fruit...picking in a hot greenhouse with temperatures of 40 degrees Celsius...(HINT: do it in the morning! its way cooler)
And you keep watering, pruning and picking...
I wonder how many hours have gone into producing that 1 lb of tomatoes? How much water, labour & production costs? How many ladybugs? ...JUST to get those LOCAL Grown, pesticide free tomatoes into the customers eager hands!
Is $3 per pound enough?
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