Life is a...Chocolate Cherry Tomato Plant

Summer is finally on our doorstep here in Colorado and since it is such a short season in Evergreen for gardeners, I get particularly anxious when we have agreeable weather so early in the season.  At the first nod of sun and warmth, I get overwhelmed with a desire to plant red geraniums, herbs, and even a few veggies.  This year I found myself in one of those gardening dilemmas - I was ready to plant but knew it was much too early. 

It was the end of April and we were having an unusually warm and dry spring week.  Mother's Day was coming and we desperately needed some flowers (and some color!) in the front of our shop.  Knowing that our selection of flowers was going to be limited because of the earliness of the foothill season, I set out to look for something that could handle cold evenings and perhaps deter the hungry wildlife while still producing a nice 'pop' of color.  And, of course there is really no place to land with all of that criteria other than Pansies.  {Always fascinating to me that such a hardy flower has a name that doesn't even come close to describing it's true character!}  As I was perusing the lovely selection of pansies at our local garden center, I came across a small little tray of plants that looked like cherry tomatoes.  I have no idea why this tray of plants caught my eye since cherry tomato plants are a dime a dozen, but today they captured my attention in an unexpected way.  I went over to look at them, pulled the tag, and was surprised when I read the description....Chocolate Cherry Tomato.  Now, all of you gardeners out there may think this was not a unique find.  But to me this was hugely fascinating!  I had never seen or even heard of one of these plants and was therefore instantly intrigued.  I began to ask the very helpful garden center ladies if they knew much about them.  They told me that they were cherry tomatoes but with a "chocolate" colored skin.  I was still considering whether or not to buy this little plant, when one of the ladies told me that what she had in that tray was all that she was going to be able to get this year.  I snapped one up as quickly as I would consume a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup if it had been in my hand! 

I took my little Chocolate Cherry Tomato plant home and have been nursing it in my kitchen since then.  It actually did very well over the last few weeks and has grown quite a bit with little 'blooms' beginning to sprout.  This week was the first week though that I finally felt confident enough to leave it outside, but it was still in the little plastic pot that I had purchased it in which had become much too small for it's size and it's sprawling roots.  My schedule wasn't allowing me the time to transplant it into a bigger pot, and I was becoming frantic with worry by the second (just ask my husband!) that I was slowly killing it.  So, finally this morning I had the opportunity and the time to finally put this intriguing little plant into a proper home.  As I was planting it, I was so quickly reminded of the joy that gardening brings to me.  I walked away from my one planting this morning and was overwhelmed with not just the feeling of joy but also with the most strong feeling of LIFE.  There is truly so much life to live and planting a Chocolate Cherry Tomato plant is just one little tiny aspect of that for me.  I think Summer is an interesting season of living in so many ways.  People are outdoors more, there are baby elk & deer springing up everywhere, and we see what we planted in the Spring come fully to life, to grow, and then to produce ingredients for a delicious meal or just to grace us with it's sheer beauty.  Ahhh....perhaps life after all is not just a bowl of cherries, but a Chocolate Cherry Tomato Plant too!  Happy Gardening & Happy Living this Summer!

P.S.  I will definitely keep you posted on the progress of my plant, but in the meantime, according to the Park Seed Co., this is what the Chocolate Cherry Tomatoes will look like....