Every year I play the role of Tomato Fairy in my small town.

For 2024 I started seventeen different varieties of heirloom indeterminates, dwarfs, and micros. After setting aside the plants I kept for myself, I had just over 144 to give away (with the caveat that I would accept small donations to put towards next year’s supplies). As of a few moments ago, the last of the 2024 crop have been sent to their new homes. It’s a lot of work, especially when it’s time to distribute them, but it’s a ton of fun. There’s some folks who have been growing my tomatoes for years, but every year I meet people who are giving gardening a try for the first time. The best part is when the first-timers come back the next year.

by MissouriOzarker

1 Comment

  1. NPKzone8a

    Santa Claus of the Ozarks! It sounds like a grand mission! Congratulations on doing that. I’ll bet a lot of the people to whom you give these will cherish the memory and appreciate the gift over and over, each time they bite into a ripe tomato a month or two from now.

    I gave two healthy strong seedlings to my next door neighbor a month ago. He and his wife seemed eager to get them. The seedlings were in small pots but were ready to transplant and I explained the importance of burying them deep and so on. Something must have come up, because the two plants sat on their driveway outside the garage for the next two weeks, progressively shriveling up in their original pots. I could see them every time I backed my car out the driveway. I guess they finally threw them out.

    But I did give away quite a few others that had a better fate. I felt like I was “re-homing” puppies. Wanted them to be cared for and thrive. After all, I had raised them from seeds, sowed indoors when it was still winter.

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