Some of you might remember the momotaro tomatoes I started in my bathroom this year.

At one point I thought I had lost the whole crop but they bounced back and now I can present to you a fully ripe momotaro (above).

They are beautiful tomatoes: round, medium sized and a great blend of firmness and juiciness.

Behold a sliced specimen below:

I'm not yet sure if they'll make my "must grow again" list. I am very fickle about what goes on that (so far: Brandywine, striped roman and sungold.) My only quibble with the momos is that they are slow to ripen.

These interestingly shaped tomatoes are called striped romans. I've been stripping them from a plant I have in my tomato patch.

I bought them earlier this year from L'Arche farm. Read Soren Andersen's story on L'Arche in today's TNT.

I always associate roma type tomatoes as being granular and not as tasty as other varieties. That's not the case with these. They are deep red, very flavorful and juicy while still being much more firm than a typical fresh eating variety.

And they are delightfully striped and torpedo shaped. Can't beat that.

This variety will definitely be on my grow-again list.

It pains me to hear my relatives in California talking about their great tomato harvests weeks before mine even have a blush of color.

And it especially hurts to hear locals talk about their harvests long before I'm pulling my fruit off the vine.

One of our designers, Pat McCoid, was rubbing my face in his metaphorical tomato the other day. "I've been harvesting brandywines for weeks," he said while casting me a look of pity and disgust as I whined about my green tomatoes.

It was then that he took charity on me. Pat gave me some advice: cut off all the leaves, needless branches and hopelessly small tomatoes you can. That does three crucial things: The plant's energy is not being diverted to new growth, sun can shine in and you can actually see your tomatoes.

I tried it and viola: my tomatoes have been ripening left and right.

I picked this group this morning. There are sun golds, sweet 100s (both cherries), big brandywines and one striped roman (more on that tomorrow.)

Tomato lovers: get out your pruners.

I made this salad entirely with ingredients from my garden. Besides lettuce, tomatoes, onionn and basil I added a Freak of Nature Garden newbie, a white carrot.

I bought the seeds from Territorial Seed Co. but didn't have much luck with them thanks to Miss Kitty and her feline friends.

White satin is the name of this variety. It certainly is striking: completely white with a green top. However, it was less sweet than a typical orange carrot. I prefer the purple carrots I grew last year.

This is an Italian Red Torpedo onion I grew from Ed Hume seeds. It's another newbie in the Freak of Nature Garden.

The onion is very strong and white inside. I really like it. It slices very thin, great for a salad. Despite its red exterior I'd liken it more to a strong white onion than a red/purple salad onion.

Over the winter I used one of my raised beds as an organic dump. I wasn't intending to make a compost heap - a skill I've never been able to master. It was just a handy place to dump unused squash, old corn cobs, rotten tomatoes and withered potatoes.

I figured it was an earth-friendly way to enrich the soil and keep material out of the landfill.

Come late spring I tilled the soil and carefully planted rows of onions, carrots and beets.

They never had a chance.

As soon as the warm weather started all those corn, tomatoes, squash and potatoes came to life.

I resisted the invasion at first, pulling the seedlings up left and right. But then I noticed a curious thing. The seeds I planted weren't going anywhere.

And so, I gave up. Last night, I harvested my first batch of red potatoes. They were actually causing the ground to rise by several inches. I kept digging and they kept coming.

Now, I'm waiting to see what my mystery tomatoes and squash will turn out to be.

I've learned a few things from this event: seeds can survive a wet Northwest winter and those exact seed sowing depths we're given don't mean much.

But mostly, I've learned sometimes it's better to just let nature take its course.

Here's a picture of the my potatoes with a hose for scale:

It's been awhile since I checked with the happenings at the Freak of Nature vegetable garden.

In short, one raised bed was rendered nearly useless by cats, cold weather and deer and the other, which I loaded up with garden debris from last year, went nuts with beets, lettuce, beans and anything else that wasn't overwhelmed by rogue potatoes.

A good gardener would have removed the potatoes but for awhile it looked liked they were the only thing going to make it. Now, there is a several inch high hump in the middle of the bed as if something huge is trying to escape. That's going to be quite a potato crop.

Here's a section of my lettuce crop:

As for my tomatoes, they all seem to be doing well, not just many ripe ones so far. One plant that has been prolific is called glacier. Here's a photo:

They are about two inches long, sweet and grow in clusters. I'm still waiting for my brandywine, momotaro, and sweet 100's to ripen. I've had a couple of sungolds and a striped roman ripen. One start I got from L'Arche was labled white current but it isn't. Still waiting to see what that becomes.

In the pumpkin category I have several little cinderellas growing. I've never grown an orange pumpkin before so I'm not sure if this what they are supposed to look like at this stage.

I'll be back this week with more updates.

I finally have all my tomatoes in the ground: some planned and some by accident.

The photo shows a variety called glacier that seems well on its way to being my first crop. To the right of it is one of my momotaros that I grew from seed in my bathtub. It's a little stunted. OK, a lot stunted.

In addition to those, I'm growing striped roman, brandywine, sun sugar, sweet 100's and white current. I bought those, along with the glacier, as starts. All are new to me except the brandywine (big, red, flavor-packed) and sun sugars (orange cherries).

And then there are the mystery tomatoes. Half a dozen volunteers have sprung up, the descendants of last year's crop. I considered pulling them...but couldn't. I'm just too curious to see what they turn out to be. The demoralizing part: they are all bigger than the momotaros that I grew from seed.

From now on I'll leave growing tomatoes from seed to the professionals - and Mother Nature.

When I left for work this morning I took my tomato and pumpkin seedlings on their first outdoor field trip.

And then like a bad parent I left them there. I hope they don't go play in the street. At least they won't raid the fridge anymore.

It's all part of my hardening off plan. When I get home tonight I'll bring them in before the night kills them off. This weekend I'll probably plant them. Foolish, you say? We'll see...

The photo shows my bathroom greenhouse which has been quite successful. In addition to Momotaro tomatoes I'm growing three types of pumpkins: small sugar (Territorial Seed Co.), French cinderella (Ed Hume) and Wyatt's Wonder (Territorial).

Wyatt's is reported to reach 200 lbs. Not exactly Puyallup Fair material but definitely worthy of the Freak of Nature garden.

Reaching into the reader question grab bag, here's what I came up with:

I want to try to grow tomatoes this year. In the past years, I had no success. Usually my tomatoes developed "blight." Can you advise me as to how to avoid this? Second, I was going to either plant a "raised garden" or plant the tomatoes in a pot. How deep does the dirt need to be for the tomato plants to grow?

If you have any advice for the reader, comment away.

I've never had trouble with blight. It could be because I only grow tomatoes from starts I buy at the annual WSU master gardeners sale (this year, May 10 and 11 at the WSU Research Center, 7612 Pioneer Way E., Puyallup).

When I grow my tomatoes, I use a compost rich soil in a raised garden bed. I bury the plants deep and strip off the bottom layer of leaves before planting. I make sure they get plenty of sun. And that's pretty much it beyond watering regularly. I don't like growing tomatoes in a pot because I think they are difficult to manage when the weather is really warm.

I dug into our story archive and I found a great article we ran last May by our freelance writer Jean Parietti. Here is a quick list of tips she recommended for getting your tomatoes off to a good start:

Growing tips

Cindy Knight, owner of Cindy's Plant Stand in Elma, and Joyce Harms, a King County Master Gardener, offer these eight tips for growing tomatoes from starts:

1. Select plants with sturdy, thick stems; avoid the tall, spindly ones.

2. If the plants are fresh from the greenhouse, harden them off before planting. For a week, place the plants outside during the day, then bring them inside or into a protected area at night.

3. Boost the plant's root system by removing all the leaves except the top few. Then sink the plant into the ground up to those leaves; for a gangly plant, dig a trench and lay the tomato in sideways, leaving just the top stem and leaves exposed. Roots will develop all along the bare stem, producing a stronger plant.

4. Mix some 5-10-10 vegetable fertilizer into the planting hole; check the package for the proper amount. Water well after planting. Additional fertilizing usually isn't needed; if desired, side-dress the plant with fertilizer in mid-June or July.

5. For indeterminate plants (those that keeping growing and fruiting all season), use stakes, trellises or tomato cages to keep them off the ground and support the weight of developing fruit. Secure the vines to the support structure with cloth, plastic tape or plastic tomato clips; wire and string will cut the plant.

6. Never water a tomato from above - it encourages fungus. Water deeply at the base of the plant, in the morning, as often as the soil dictates. After watering, the soil should be moist 4-5 inches down.

7. Tomato blossoms are self-pollinating, but if desired, tap the blossoms or shake the plant to help things along.

8. If planting in a container, make sure the pot is at least the equivalent of a 5-gallon bucket (larger tomato varieties need larger pots). A light-colored, plastic pot retains water best, but the plant still may need to be watered daily. Include a trellis to support indeterminate varieties.

I took much ribbing in the newsroom today over my bathing habits after posting the entry about my bathroom turned greenhouse. We're reverse publishing from our blogs in to the newspaper so that item ran in print as well.

I'm sure some of our readers our concerned about my cleanliness.

For the record: I have three bathrooms in my house and this one has a separate shower and bathtub.

Not that I use any of them.

Ha. I kid. Really.

Here's the latest photo of the little tomatoes shot this morning...just before my shower. Really.