a new tomato plant

The white tomato seedling. Bug-challenged Barbarella looking on

A neighbor in Jefferson Park gave me a white tomato seedling which I planted this morning. I mixed potting soil with a little fertilizer into the unamended soil and buried it this morning, finishing it with my dirty mulch and some eggshells around the plant to try and protect it from the bugs. It creates some aesthetic incongruity in Maia's patch, but I can fix that if I just buy some more cypress mulch.

I have no idea what kind of white tomato this is. We shall see.

Maia's patch, aesthetic incongruity and all

"Dirty mulch" is the name I have given to the compost from the vacant lot. My neighbor and I have been composting lawn and yard clippings back there for some time, and I have been composting vegetable and fruit waste there as well. Because of the pine trees that proliferate, the compost is replete with pine straw which does not break down quickly enough. So I've been using it as a "mulch," with the hope that the pine straw will actually help both water filtration and prevent weed growth. I'm sure every amateur gardener has his geek moment, when a small success after months of toil brings joy and anticipation. Utterly incomprehensible to everyone else, such moments are stowed away greedily as treasures. I'm having that kind of geek moment with this compost. I've long wanted to  add truly organic matter to my garden. Now, after months of trudging out with buckets of carrot shavings, onion bits, and lemon rinds to the vacant lot, I am adding organic matter to my garden.