Day 25: Planting Tomatoes

The vegetable vendor was rather amused when I asked for just one naati tomato with the rest of my week’s veggies, and was even more amused when I asked how much I should pay him for it!

Naati is the local word for ‘country’, as in a country tomato, as opposed to a ‘farm’ (hybrid) variety.

In case you are wondering, like my veggie vendor was, no, I have not gone completely nuts. The reason I bought just one tomato was because I only needed some of its seeds, to plant in my kitchen garden.

Naati tomatoes are known to be sourer than hybrid varieties, but I don’t mind that, because I find that they are also more flavorful, overall.

Typically, while saving seeds you have to rinse the seeds and then either dry them in the sun or ferment them so that the gelatinous sac of tomato pulp that encases the seeds is removed so they can be safely stored. But I had no intention of saving the seeds for a later day. I wanted to plant them right away, so I didn’t bother trying to remove the jelly. 

Because tomato seeds are so small they first have to be planted in a “nursery”, which basically means growing it in a small pot and keeping it safely indoors, away from direct sunlight and excess wind, until the seedling grows a little strong.

So the seeds have planted, straight out of the tomato, and in nursery conditions.

I can’t wait to see the tiny green leaves sprout from my makeshift planter! But I must. I must wait, because I, sadly, do not posses magic plant-growing powers like Totoro.