a day in the life of a latvian mom

As you know, I ended up with almost 100 tomatoes by accident….

A Tomato Surprise: The Ones I Almost Threw Away…

I was so ready for tomato season—so ready to get my hands into the soil, to watch those little green plants thrive. But reality had other plans. We lost about half of our tomatoes.

It started with the weather. It’s been so cold—unusually cold for this time of year. Some nights dropped to -2°C (28°F), and even during the day, it stayed chilly and windy! I simply couldn’t risk putting the tomatoes outside. They would have frozen right away. The frost lingered, and I was stuck with nowhere warm enough to plant them.

Here you can see that a month ago, they were perfect and heatlhy:

A Nice Living Room Moment

We had planned to put half of them in the greenhouse, but—honestly—that turned into a bit of a mess. Dill and salad from last year had self-seeded, and now they’ve taken over the space. I love seeing things grow on their own, but this time it came with bad timing. We also had issues finding good compost and manure, which didn’t help at all. Everything felt like it was working against us this season.

So the tomatoes stayed in their little pots too long, stretching and growing tall and thin. Now they’re overgrown. Even if I bury steam in a trench, they won’t be ok. It’s frustrating. And sad. I will take the shorter ones and plant in a trench… and hope for the best!

I know gardening teaches patience, humility, and the ability to start again, but it still stings to lose plants you’ve nurtured from seed.

Here’s to better weather, lessons learned, and the tomatoes that do make it. Hopefully, some will surprise me and still grow strong.

Ilze