Tomorrow is Another Day
As I write, we have cucumbers vining, cotton blooming, and a new crop of tomatoes growing in the greenhouse. I hope to experiment with more tomato trellis systems, 6-week tomato plantings for continuous crops and a few other beneficials, such as Encarsia formosa for whiteflies and green lacewings for aphids, to establish a long-term predator population and keep the pest numbers low.

Translating fantasy into reality isn't always easy, but the rewards of fresh tomatoes and ripe papayas in February and fragrant jasmine in March keep me inspired.

Charlie Nardozzi is the senior horticulturist at National Gardening.

Photography by National Gardening Association