Mystery Solved

The Mystery of The First Tomato has been solved. I know--you've all been wondering and fretting ever since I mentioned that I didn't know what variety The First Tomato was. "What COULD it be?" you've all been thinking. "I MUST KNOW."

Calm down. I'm going to tell you.

I braved the tomato jungle yesterday to whack the tomato plants down to size and impose some order in that chaos. I don't stand for chaos in my garden. Because I am a garden dictator. So me and my scissors attacked the tomato plants without mercy, giving them military haircuts and tying up yet more branches to the tomato supports. During the great purge, I discovered some of the original markers I had put in that had gotten covered by the out-of-control plants. And it was then that I discovered that The First Tomato was, indeed, a Stupice.

I know--Tina and Mark both suggested that. And I had always figured the Stupice would be The First, since they are, in fact, an early variety. But I was misled by the fact that they had grown so enormously large this year, they did not in any way resemble the small, neat Stupice we grew last year. They looked more like one of the standards, like Jet Star or Celebrity. But no, The First Tomato was a Stupice. As was the second, which I graciously offered to the MiL yesterday. There will be a few more ready today, so A. might actually get one, too. And then all bets are off, as they ripen faster and faster, until I'm shoving bags of tomatoes at anyone who ventures up my driveway just to GET THEM OUT OF MY KITCHEN, I CAN'T CAN ANYMORE AIIEEEEEE!!!

But we're not there yet. All is still calm in my kitchen and I haven't reached the point of no return yet. Well, except for with the cucumbers. But that's another story.