Victory Garden 2008 Update

Finally transferred my three tomato plants (a.k.a. "Victory Garden 2008") outdoors Saturday. I'd repotted them and placed them outside the first time on the first 80-degree day of the spring, only to see them buffeted the next day by 60-mile-per-hour winds that pushed the wind chill to freezing. A handful of leaves froze, some stems snapped, so I transferred the plants back to the kitchen window.

I waited until I was sure the winds and the cold was over, and then sneaked them outside under cover of a moonless night. I have a couple small tomatoes on the Gold Currant bush, and a few blooms popping out on the others. Now comes fertilizer, water, TLC, and the ever-loving sun. But not hail. Let's hope there's no hail.

I ran into Karen McManus of Wolf Creek Farms at today's farmers' market in Cheyenne. She's the one who sold me the tomato plants a month ago. She had more plants, cherry tomatoes, with lots of fruit popping out all over. I was tempted to buy them all, but I have my hands full with the three I already have. I did buy some of her spinach, which she picks off her plants daily and hauls to various markets. She also sold me some garlic tops (can't remember the formal name), the part that she used to clip off the garlic plant and toss away until they became the hot new thing in the modern chef's kitchen. She advised me to chop them up and use them instead of chopped garlic cloves. "Great flavor," she said. I'm in favor of that.

She will soon have peas and beans on her Wellington, Colo., farm. She advised that I keep popping in on Tuesday to see what's next on the menu. I bought some baguettes and cheddar-onion rolls from Sara's Breads, the best subversive bakery in these parts. She's hosting Massachusetts folk-rock duo Sweet Wednesday during their Rocky Mountain tour, and they were on hand playing for the hungry multitudes. They played this morning on Wyoming Public Radio. Music to fit a farmers' market.