The Early Girl tomato and the Late Girl tomato

The Garden/Home Section Editor

The San Francisco Chronicle

San Francisco, CA

home@sfchronicle.com

To the Editor:

Perhaps some of your gardening readers may be interested in hearing about the vigor of the Early Girl tomato. Over a year ago, on January 16, 2003, I purchased a few Early Girl tomato plants at a local nursery and planted in my garden in Rockridge, Oakland. These plants began flowering in early May. In the summer and fall the most vigorous plant produced several six-foot long branches and yielded dozens of tasty medium-sized tomatoes. In mid-January of this year, I harvested one remaining small green tomato that had survived several early January night time freezes. This tomato has slowly ripened in the kitchen window in time for a Super Bowl Sunday salad on February 1st. So the Early Girl tomato is also the Late Girl tomato.

Yours truly,

James K. Sayre

31 January 2004