Snoqualmie

Up for adoption.

Is there anyone in the Bay Area on whom I can foist some lovely young tomato plants, and maybe some pepper plants as well?

What happened to me here was a classic case of, "I hear you, but I don't believe you." I read the directions on the backs of the seed packets that said COVERAGE WITH THIS PACKET 50 FEET, looked at my yard with maybe 30 feet of plantable area total, and went ahead and planted every seed in each of 5 packets anyway. The onions and basil have died off in large numbers, and by the time I got to the greens and beans I realized my mistake and only planted a few seeds. But this leaves me with 16 tomato plants still growing in my living room after I've moved all the ones I had room for into the yard. I've got 14 assorted bell peppers and something like 30 assorted hot peppers, and I haven't even started planting those outside.

The peppers aren't a tremendously big problem. They're slow growers and are still young enough that I can stand to pluck them out in the interest of reduced pepper population, although the sweet peppers are starting to show enough personality that it will be difficult soon. But it's the tomatoes that are really breaking my heart, because they're pushing 6 inches tall and have those beautiful fuzzy stems and that distinctive tomato-plant smell. I can't kill them now; it's crossed the line from abortion to infanticide. I can't leave them in their communal pots to get their roots all tangled up and strangle each other; it's cruel. I can transplant maybe one or two more into the front and side yards, and then I'll have to stop to leave room for the rest of my plants, or it'll be the same heart-rending problem all over again.

Let me introduce you to the dramatis personae, the adorable round-faced urchins clamoring for a loving home with you. The tomatoes are mixed heirloom beefsteaks (Brandywine, Amana Orange, and Evergreen) and are old enough to be planted outside or kept in big pots or milk jugs by themselves. They like sun, and they'll eventually need poles or stakes to stay upright. They will, if I know anything about heirloom tomatoes, be some fucking big tomatoes when they start to fruit. The sweet peppers are mixed bells (green, red, gold, purple and white), and they're young enough to be kept in cups for a little while longer. If you'd like to plant them outside they should be old enough for that pretty much any time now, and they shouldn't need poles to stay upright. The hot peppers are a mix of Hungarian Wax, Red Cayenne, Cherry, Anaheim, and Jalapeno. They're just seedlings right now, so they're not causing too much of a space problem, but if you know my taste for spices you'll understand how few of them I really need to keep.

If you'd like to take any of these plants, just let me know which ones and how many. I'll transplant them into appropriate containers, label them, and even send you home with instruction sheets if you'd like. If you're someone who has any reason to be in Berkeley you can come get them off of my front porch if you so desire, or if you're someone I see elsewhere I can bring them along the next time I see you. I'm not only eager to deliver them to anyone who wants them, I'm unemployed and have all the time in the world to traipse around the Bay Area with handfuls of plants.

Tell all your friends! Be the first on your block to grow your very own salsa! Come on, please?