Early Brandy

I cheated. I wasn't going to plant tomatoes this year - I missed the critical date to plant seeds and, besides, aren't green beans, zucchini, Swiss chard and lettuce enough, for heaven's sake? As my Mom used to joke, "What do you want, egg in your beer?"

Well, apparently, I do want egg in my beer because when I found these two cheater plants at the grocery store, they fairly leapt into my cart.

The brawny, strapping lass on the left is "Early Girl" and is bred to fruit early in the much-anticipated tomato season. The smaller one, an heirloom variety called "Brandywine," supposedly will fruit later in the summer, even though she has a flower open and buds already set. Don't you love plant names? I was tempted by Sun Gold and Beefsteak, also, but mostly for the names and I only have room for two.

I'm already imagining how good the fruit will taste in 50-100 days. Halfway through June with a little luck we should be snacking on our own tomatoes. I don't even feel guilty for cheating.