Meet Chuke. He is my 4 year old son's tomato plant. Each year, he gets a tomato plant of his own to care for and love. My son, Leo, grew him from a seed, and planted him in a container. It's his responsibility each day to water him, and when he starts producing tomatoes, he can eat them, or share them.
When we replanted Chuke, we used a very old, faded green plastic planter. It wasn't pretty, but it was functional. Chuke has grown, he is ready for a to be caged, to support him as he gets bigger. My son and I went to our local Home Depot to buy a new cage, and ..... oh my gosh! They have colored tomato cages! Blue, green, red, yellow.... I was giddy! I began piling the assorted colors in our shopping cart, as I asked my son which one he wanted for Chuke. I never would have been able to choose, but he quickly said "orange", his favorite color. But my excitement waned quickly as I thought about the ugly, faded pot in which poor Chuke resides. It wasn't possible that this amazing tomato cage, which shines like the Texas sunset, could be paired up with such an unsightly container! Replanting wasn't an option, Chuke was too large now to happily adjust without some stunting his growth or production. I was deep in thought, aimlessly walking through out the store, when I pushed our cart past the paint department. COULD WE? SHOULD WE? I asked my son as we quickly turned down the spray paint section. I found the brands marked for plastic, and searched for the closest color to the tomato cage. As I lifted it to show to Leo, he shook his head, "I don't want that color, I want purple!" Well, it is his tomato. Once home, he happily showed the cage to Chuke, even modeling it on himself! It was his first time to use spray paint, and the grass and a few of Chuke's leaves were sprayed, but aside from a few drips, he did great. He's now so proud of the plant he grew himself, and the house he made for him.
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