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A short while back I commented that I would finally be pulling out my volunteer tomato plant from last summer. Well, not so fast. It must have heard my mental mutterings since I know it didn’t read my post.

Between raindrops the other day, had to get something out of the garage and as I passed the ridiculously determined plant, I caught a glimpse of green tomatoes! Seriously thought it had finished producing. Obviously, that was the wrong assumption.

So today, looked out to see what the story was. Lo and behold, over two dozen new green tomatoes had appeared and that didn’t include any that may be hiding under the tomato and gardenia foliage. Pickled green tomatoes could become a reality after all!

This plant must have been standing behind the door last Spring, when the universe was handing out life directions to all the baby plants about to poke through the soil. I don’t know how else to explain it!

In fact, it’s such a perplexing little plant that I googled it and this is what I found:

* http://www.reimerseeds.com/champion-tomato.aspx

* http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1985-08-29/entertainment/8502260699_1_cherry-tomatoes-vine-ripened-peppers

* http://gardening.wsu.edu/library/vege008/vege008.htm

* http://www.ehow.com/info_8247618_champion-tomatoes-determinate-plants.html

* http://www.parkswholesaleplants.com/spring-plants/vegetables/tomato-champion/

* http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/107544/#b

* http://www.backyardgardener.com/plantname/pda_5da4.html

* http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/vh028

*http://tomatoheadquarters.com/news/spring-planning-tips-for-growing-the-best-tomatoes-in-an-urban-garden/

* http://www.indepthinfo.com/tomatoes/varieties.htm

* http://www.theeagle.com/gardening/Tomato-plants-can-be-started-now-to-mature-fruit-

* http://www.cropinfo.net/CommonTomatoVarietiesApril2010.pdf

* http://www.gardenguides.com/126170-heat-tolerant-tomato-varieties.html

* http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20080406/news_1hs06tomato.html

After checking all of these sources on Champion I’ve concluded that opinions on it are all over the board! Some people think it’s tasty, others, not so much. Some feel it’s determinate, others, not. It goes on like that through all the links. So, I’m leaving it in for the moment since I really want to test pickling green tomatoes.

The container garden will still be overhauled and I’ll put one dwarf type tomato and one cherry type in containers. Once the volunteer and canning are done, I’ll pull it out and seed cilantro, dill and a few other non-woody herbs. I may even add seeds for some green beans to wander up the chain-link fence that backs my little plot of dirt.

P.S.- F.Y.I. There’s a lot of gardening info in those links above, not just tomato-related.

P.P.S. Just about dark when taking the garbage out and took a moment to count the green tomatoes. Total of easily visible ones is 27! The plant is insanely determined!