Hi. Hello. Hey!
I hope your weekend is going swimmingly.
I just wanted to take a moment and introduce you to my tomatoes, Lucy and Ethel.
I’d also like to answer a few questions.
Yes, I’ve named my first two tomatoes after Lucy Ricardo and Ethel Mertz from I Love Lucy.
Yes, I love that show.
Yes, I seem to have become abnormally attached to my tomatoes. No, I don’t feel bad about that.
Also, this is happening. I better start thinking of more names… and quick.
Are you gardening?
{ 50 comments… read them below or add one }
I have so many tomatoes on my plants and cucumbers and peppers. I can’t wait to cook with them! I like your names :)
I have heirloom tomato plants, pepper plants and squash planted, along with cucumbers planted to train their curly cues up my fence. I’ve planted rosemary, thyme, sweet basil and lime basil. I also have a raised bed with greens…and a heck of a lot of mint growing into my grass. I’m tickled with my garden…but have yet to get a Lucy and Ethel. My plants are still babies…not pre adolescents yet.
Yes! I am gardening. Just today I bought and planted parsley, basil, peppermint, thyme, and oregano. I just used the peppermint for the first time something which is one more time than I used last year’s peppermint plant. I also got some impatiens and coleus. Can’t wait to say hi to my plants every morning now!
Don’t worry. I peed my pants (almost) when I saw my first baby tomatoes. Sometimes your motherly instinct kicks in and if you don’t have kids or a pet, you have to mother something. For me it’s my plants!
I am totally gardening but no tomatoes since my garden lives on a 15th floor balcony in the “windy” city. But I have three pots full of herbs!
Are you going to be able to eat them once you name them? ;-P
I wish them well, that they may grow up to be scrumptious, juicy delights and that they don’t end up like Thelma and Louise!
Ha! I feel the same way about mine….I talk to them every day. They are absolutely adorable, as are my baby jalapenos. ;)
Your plant names are adorable.
Lucy and Ethel are perfect…but you are right I think you need a few more names.Do you have any other garden plants?
I just picked my first fully ripe tomato today and I’m so excited to have it for dinner. No, I don’t name mine, otherwise I would not be able to eat them. ;-) Plus, I have 8 plants and would run out of names way too soon. Enjoy yours!
Oh, this post breaks my heart. I found my first tiny tomato today… in the palm of my two-year-old.
what will you do when you have to eat them?
I’m so excited for you!! Seeing your first little ‘maters make their appearance is so fun! I can’t wait till you get to pull off the vine (plant?) and eat ‘em up or put them in something delicious!
Love your blog. Love your stories. Think you’re way cool. If I lived in LA, I would so come to your picnic and I would so make you be my bff. Just so you know.
:)
Have a fab day!
Oh, and I tried your Raspberry Lemonade recipe. People in my town talk about it now, haha!
I tried some variations with strawberries and blackberries too. Both were delicious. I’m a pulp type person too, so I strain the raspberry sauce or anything and the texture came out perfectly for me.
I feel the same way about my plants. I have been ooing and aahing over my tomatoes, squash and cucumbers. My daughters and I check daily to watch the progress. It’s such fun!
my apartment is on the 2nd and 3rd floors of a row house. i have a balcony, so i’m growing parsley and basil from seeds. i’m also trying patio tomatoes (2) in a large pot. mint too (mint = ,mojitos). i hope the tomatoes do well – my all time favorite is a tomato sandwich.
I have various herbs…and a jalapeno plant! So far it only has one teeny pepper – I should name it too.
My veggies are my babies… no need to feel odd for naming them! I do that too….I can also confess that I talk baby talk to them once in a while.
Hey, my two first tomatoes are about the same size as yours!! Yours will probably be ripe before mine, they probably prefer the sun of California to Paris’ weather…
I haven’t named them, but I sure talk to my orchids and encourage them to make new flowers :-)
I have 2 tomato plants, 2 canelopes, and a bell pepper all in the works. I only have a few blossoms on the tomatoes so we will see how it all goes.
Lol so should we expect a mile long post with names for all your tomatoes next?
Your plants look great, I’d love to be able to eat what comes off those things :)
i talk to the plants in my garden all the time! my husband will come outside and say, “who was here?” :)
i am envious of everyone that is saying they have tomatoes, and even tomato flowers already! i am in the northeast (Mass) and still have little seedlings only.
Well since my daughter’s name is Lucy, I feel compelled to offer up my son’s name (Henry) for your next tomato. We just grew our first one too – it’s currently smaller than a walnut but I’m incredibly excited nonetheless.
lucy and ethel are too cute! gardening, yes…loving summer.
You always make me giggle. Those tomatoes are too cute!
I surely don t have green fingers however its nice gardeneing and cultivating your own veggies and all. It s like having a pet and take care of . What do you think of Joe, paul, sasha, Kate, nicole etc as names for your new babies :)
i am! tomatoes and herbs…basil, parsley, thyme, and mint. all on my balcony :) you’re inspiration reach all the way over here to the east coast.
I have 6 heirloom plants that I am in love with, in addition to garlic, rhubarb, raspberries, carrots, beets, peas, beans, lots of herbs, potatoes, salad greens, broccoli, melons, squash and chard and a new hive of bees. I understand the love.
I love gardening! This year my fiance let me steal some space in the backyard and I planted peas, beets, carrots, onions and corn. I various pots I have beans, strawberries, chives, mint, cilantro and parsley. I cannot wait for the peas :)
Lucy and Ethel are soooo cute!! I am a HUGE fan of I love Lucy and of Lucille Ball, i love you blogs bty, they are a pleasant occasional digression from work, school, home, etc.
Ricky, Fred, George, Weezy, Archie, Edith, Jeannie, Tony, Samantha, Darren, Mike, Carol, Gilligan, Skipper, Mr. Howell, Mrs. Howell, Ginger, the Professor and Mary Ann.
Will you put place cards on the table in front of each tomato sandwich you make from them?
My husband and I (mostly my husband) have a garden for the first time this year, and we are loving it. We go out every morning to check the progress on the tomatoes, peppers and squash plants. We also have lots of basil, parsley, and dill. I love walking out to the patio in the morning to grab some basil or dill to go with scrambled eggs and tomatoes. There’s nothing better than cooking with something you grew yourself.
Are Lucy and Ethel going to put on an operetta? Will Lucy fill her top with eggs? Will Ethel be contractually obligated to be heavier than Lucy?
I am! I was worried that my tomatoes were going to get smushed in the hail storm we had today, but they survived. I should name them. Maybe Greek deities… but then would I be asking for a smiting if I ate them?
I am too! I have two tomato plants, two Basil, Lemon Thyme and Rosemary and some peppers. I love gardening, although I have not been doing this long and still have a lot to learn. My 10 yr old daughter actually is the one who got me started and she keeps it all going good.
I just started reading your blog, and I find it absolutely lovely. I don’t garden personally, but my dad absolutely loves it. =]
I am gardening! I have three tomato plants (one has two tomatoes on it that look just like yours), three zucchini, 1 artichoke, 1 pepper, 5 pickle bushes and about 6 yellow squash. Yep, there is going to be a TON of yellow squash. Have any good recipes?
I picked my first grape tomato the end of last week, and I was just as excited as you are! I told everyone, posted it everywhere, and then when it came time to actually eat it… I was too attached! So right now It’s currently sitting on my counter, waiting patiently for a tasty salad. :)
i think its completely normal you’ve named your tomatoes. i think of my plants as my babies. (clearly i have no children.)
Hey! Hey! That’s what’s happening to MY tomatoes!! They’re growing, too! :-D
(So exciting!)
Oh those are so cute! We put in 10 tomato plants but they haven’t developed blooms yet. I have a feeling when they do we’ll be eating nothing but tomatoes for a month…
Yes, I am gardening too! I have an Earthbox, which is a sub irrigated planter and I’m growing watermelon, butternut, summer squash, and pimiento pepper. I live in a bungalow with a very strict landlord so one box is all I could have. Flowers, she’s okay with. So I have lots of those in standard containers. Glad to see your tomatoes are growing despite the June gloom. :-)
Oh! I soooo love the first signs of Tomato! I only have flowers in my garden but have small yellow squash as well (a first for me this year) so I’m very very excited! :)
I started a little garden when you planted yours and my tomato plant is just getting some flowers on it. I’m very excited by this and I check the plants compulsively. I also have a bunch of jalapeno peppers sprouting and that’s keeping my sadness due to dying squash plants at bay. Thanks for the gardening encouragement. :)
Our three tomato plants are less advanced than yours, but still look promising. The zucchini on the other hand is absolutely out of control! Also, we have a lot of basil coming up – it’ll save us big money to be able to just run out front and snip it as needed. Now, if we could just make our own mozzarella . . . .
Hi Joy,
I’m a new reader of your blog! Thanks for your posts…they are great.
Actually, I just posted on my blog about dinner last night with homemade pasta and a sauce made with cherry tomatoes and other vegetables I grow on my balcony. Hurray for homegrown food!
First, you make me smile.
Secondly, I have the tiny red nano chromatic and her name is Lucy. My last one was Ethel.
You’re great!
Huge fan of your blog, Joy.
Anyone with a garden can relate to the pure torture of having to wait for the actual fruit.
I share in your home grown tomato love.
I have just harvested my first tomatoes. I love home grown tomatoes. The first one to ripen are the Sweet 100 and Yellow Pear. I also planted Celebrity, Mr. Stripey, and Persimmon. I can’t wit until I have enough to make sauces with.
I’m totally slacking on reading you posts lately. I am gardening this year! Patio gardening. Because I rock like that. I have FOUR little green tomatoes! I didn’t name them. I suck like that. This is the first year I have SUCCESSFULLY gotten a tomato plant to this point! I’m SOOO excited! Oh, and I’m also growing basil. The basil came with 4 plants in it. One survived. :\ But, one survived!
After 4 years of raising my son, I can FINALLY keep a plant alive! It’s good education for him and cheap food for me. :)