For Donna Duvall, Sheila Conroy and Wendy Mannatt, one garden just isn’t enough.  Each woman has a garden at home, although Sheila said that this year she just planted tomatoes and peppers in pots.  However, the urge to dig in the dirt was just too great, so they built a garden at Gunbarrel’s Paladin Press where they work. 
            Along the way they decided to buy their plants from different places to see if one set of plants did better than another.  Sheila bought her tomatoes at McGuckins in Boulder, Donna purchased her plants at different stalls at Boulder County’s Farmer’s Market and Wendy acquired her plants at a farm store in Hygiene. 
            “But foolishly I planted my tomatoes on May 15,” Sheila stated.  The horticultural books said that it was a safe date.  Weather being what it is in Colorado, the next week saw hail, freezing temperatures and hurricane force winds.  “The plants survived and they are now bearing baby tomatoes.  They also look the best of all.”

Photo by Mary Wolbach Lopert

(l to r) Donna Duvall and Sheila Conroy show that neither rain, nor hail, nor hurricane force winds can stop the onslaught of a bumper crop of tomatoes.