Little blasts of color and flavor

Grow it

When Debbie told me she wants to grow patio tomatoes but can't figure out what keeps going wrong, I understood completely. The list of problems I've heard about -- and had myself -- over the years would fill a giant coffee-table book.

So, rather than looking at problems, I'll give you the recipe for the unprecedented success that I'm finally enjoying.

All tomato plants can be grown in containers. Some are just more compact and look quite nice in a pretty pot. This category is usually referred to as patio tomatoes. It includes the smaller grape, cherry, Roma and plum varieties.

Look for Ozark Cherry, Red Robin, Sophie's Choice, Sweet Million F1, or Veeroma if you favor red tomatoes. Golden Dwarf Champion is compact, with medium-size bright yellow cherry with excellent flavor.

In the green-when-ripe types, Green Grape has amber skin and green flesh; Lime Green Salad is a compact plant with a large yield. A small pink cherry called Rose Quartz has a high yield. Black Cherry has delicious purple fruit.

While red patio tomatoes are good, the little gems called Sun Gold set the gold standard for flavor. A sunny orange color when ripe, they're the sweetest cherry tomatoes I've ever tasted.

Last summer, even with that annoying little dry spell, my single Sun Gold plant produced more than two quarts of bite-size tomatoes daily.

The plant reached about 6 feet high, growing in an 8-gallon pot, and had to be double-staked to keep it from flopping over. But I managed to cope.

Fresh soil is the key ingredient for success. Don't reuse last year's potting soil.

Before filling used containers, sterilize them with a solution of one part bleach to nine parts water to remove any soil-borne diseases. Then add a fresh mixture of three parts fluffy potting soil (not topsoil) and one part composted cow manure.

Choose containers based on the expected mature size of each plant, from 1-gallon pots for the most compact plants up to about 8 gallons for plants that grow 4 feet tall or taller.

Place the pots where they will receive at least eight hours of sun daily. Keep the soil consistently moist, but not waterlogged.

And don't over fertilize. Add slow-release granular tomato food about two weeks after planting, and then every two to three weeks, using the manufacturer's recommended amount.

As for pests, if you use this planting method, there's little chance that your healthy patio plants will attract any bugs other than the beneficial pollinators necessary for growing your best crop ever.

Cook it

My father called cherry tomatoes "tommy-toes," and they came up wild in his backyard garden. We had everything from bean-size, bright red ones to larger, pear-shaped pink ones.

My favorite way to eat cherry tomatoes is the way I ate them then: fresh and right off the vine, like colorful, vitamin C-filled popcorn.

But their adorable size and sweet flavor make them ideal for other uses that take advantage of their attributes.

Or feel free to use cherry tomatoes as you would conventional tomatoes.

As a bonus, their size makes them cute, kid-friendly food.

One kind of cherry tomato is the phenomenally popular grape tomato that you see in supermarkets.

But even the best store-bought grape tomato won't beat the freshness and flavor of cherry tomatoes that you grow on your own patio or deck.

Yellow varieties have a slightly less acidic flavor. At the opposite end of the scale, the green-when-ripe tomatoes that Carol mentioned will be decidedly tart. The red-pink range of colors has flavors from sugar-sweet to a complex blend.

Interesting things certainly come in small packages. Plant several different kinds for a mix of colors and flavors that will spark your creativity.

As with full-size tomatoes, wash cherry tomatoes right before you want to use them, and never store them in the refrigerator -- that diminishes their flavor and texture.

Color is important in this salad recipe.

If you use red cherry tomatoes, select roasted yellow bell peppers. If you use Carol's favorite Sun Golds, combine them with roasted red bell peppers. To create a real feast for the eyes, toss both colors of tomatoes and peppers together.

If you can't find fresh mozzarella ciliegini, which comes in small balls, cut regular-size balls of fresh mozzarella into pieces about the size of your cherry tomato halves.

Recipes

Cherry Tomato and Fresh Herb Salad