Hey everyone, just wanted to say hi since I'm new here! I've been a member of this community for about five years but never posted an introduction until now because I was always too shy and didn't know what to write, which is funny because my uncle u

Opening thread commentary.

Welcome!! Haha the broccoli story is amazing — my uncle used to do the same thing with me and tell everyone I was going to be a "master of ceremony" which turned out to mean he just had me hold his microphone while he talked for an hour straight. Love your tomato passion too, got some heirloom seeds from an old neighbor's garden last summer that grow like crazy. Happy to

Welcome to the group!! So funny about your uncle's speeches — my dad did basically the same thing with my cousin and always insisted he was going to be a professional auctioneer which is hilarious because he could barely sell anything at a garage sale without stuttering, but honestly that kind of persistence pays off in weird ways sometimes. Oh and broccoli! I have such a bizarre relationship with vegetables; as a kid I refused everything green until about age ten when my grandma made me help her garden one summer and suddenly it clicked somehow, like the tomato plant grew so visibly from seed to fruit overnight that you couldn't unsee what was happening. Now I grow heirloom tomatoes everywhere — Cherokee Purple is definitely my favorite variety but I've also been experimenting with San Marzano for sauce making because my Italian grandmother used to make this Sunday gravy that would fill three jars and everyone wanted a piece of the bread dipped in it, which sounds like overkill until you actually smell your house on a Sunday afternoon. Anyway sorry I went off on a tangent — welcome!!

hi welcome!! i just started this community like two weeks ago too so we can be new together lol -- how do you grow heirlooms without them getting all those little black spots? my tomatoes always look sad and gross by august and i don't know if im doing something wrong with the soil or watering. also your broccoli story made me laugh bc i had a similar experience but instead of hiding behind a teacher it was just me quietly backing away into bushes while everyone looked for me like nothing was