Pleasure of the Season: The First Tomato

“Pleasures of the Season” is a series of posts which appear from time to time.  They focus on something special that occurs only seasonally, often fleeting, and something we anticipate.  They highlight moments of what I’ve learned about living with the seasons since moving to Southern France.

It started in early April with a handful of seeds that we saved from the year before.  I planted each one individually, packed them all in a crate, and chased the sunlight around the house with them until they had finally broken through the soil.  We watched and watered them, occasionally bringing them outside when the weather was warm enough.  Slowly, they inched their way upwards and small foliage appeared.  Most of the seeds produced a plant, and we were happy with our overall success rate, for we knew we would lose more along the way before the plants had reached full maturity.

June arrived, along with the construction of a small green house.  The six inch plants were transferred outside and were deeply planted in the rich composted dirt so stronger roots would form.  They suddenly looked dwarfed, but we knew it for the better.  Each morning, we would descend to the garden to open the green house, and inspect the night’s progress.  Weeds would be removed, the plants would be watered, and then left to soak in the sun and grow.  The process would be repeated before the sun had set to close the green house so the small plants wouldn’t be exposed to the cool, mountain night air.  Most continue to thrive, but we also dealt with a few causalities along the way.

Late June brought some summer days.  It was time to transfer the plants to the garden.  One by one the seedlings were removed from their protective enclosure and planted into the ground in rows.  By week’s end, all had survived.  A few weeks passed, stakes are added, and the growing plants are gently pruned and tied up.  Daily watering became a must, even though the summer has not been as blistering hot as previous ones.  Eventually, flowers appeared which formed into small, green fruit.  We watched again, and mark their growth with daily conversations on their progress.  Then, one started to ripen.  Slow at first, but its color changed with each passing day until finally, the day arrived: the first tomato from the garden.