By Reggie Solomon

• Our Tomato Casual writing team is growing! This week, we welcome Kira Hamman who is helping our readers start tomato plants from seed.

• The Bag Lady asks the question if planting eight varieties of tomatoes is too much. We think not

• Ray White (a.k.a, “Dad”), America’s Oldest blogger at Dad’s Tomato Garden Journal, shares photos from his tomato photo album.

• Our Friend Ben at Poor Richard’s Almanac feasts on bacon and tomato sandwiches and notes his Top 10 Southern Comfort Food picks.

By Michael Nolan

Howdy all you Tomato Casualfolk, it is Michael again with a special request.

I am on a search for anyone who grows tomatoes to share their story with me.

What exactly is the point of this invasion of your tomato privacy? Glad you asked!

Well first of all, I’m nosy. I want to know everything I can about everyone I can. More importantly, I would like to start interviewing some of you via email for regular features here on Tomato Casual.

Some of you people are crazier than I am, and I want to share some of your tomato insanity with our lovely readers!

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By Reggie Solomon

• Debbie at Aunt Debbie’s Garden already has sprouting tomato seedlings.

• Jennifer at Like To Cook proves you do more with green tomatoes than fry them with a recipe for sautéed green tomatoes.

• Amy at High and Dry starts her basil seedlings before her tomato seedlings.

• Tomato Casual welcomes our new writer, Michael Nolan, who shares how his granny left him a ziploc bag of heirloom tomato seeds as her legacy.

• Ether at Sweet Vitriol: The Garden Chronicles shares her three years of experiences growing tomatoes and her switch from growing regular tomatoes to heirloom varieties.

• Teresa at Teresa Cooks skips the Costco version of Martha Stewart’s Tomato Soup and makes her own using Martha’s original recipe.

• Esther Montgomery at Esther in the Garden ponders which tomatoes to grow this year.

By Michael Nolan

When I was young, my grandparents grew the best tomatoes on the planet.

I didn’t know anything about anything at the time, except that these things were ugly, they were big and man, were they good! It wasn’t until years later when my grandmother passed away that I would learn that not all of the family heirlooms were given to her ungrateful children.

Granny left me a small box full of tiny zip lock baggies.

Each was carefully labeled with a variety of names, many of which sounded foreign. It didn’t take me long to realize that she had given me her collection of heirloom tomato seeds. No one could understand why I was so ecstatic when I didn’t receive one penny from the estate, but they couldn’t possibly comprehend the value of that little cigar box on my lap.

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By Michelle Fabio

Tomato Casual is honored to introduce you to one of its loyal readers:

Ray “Dad” White, who at 94 years old is America’s oldest blogger and one of the most avid and “ripe” tomato gardeners around.

Although White’s East Tennessee garden is diverse, tomatoes are his favorite crop, and he always has 50 to 75 plants going every year.

So what does the man called Dad by all do with his “pretty red tomatoes?”
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