Tomatoes Already?

Well here it is the middle of February and the tomato plants are already making their way into the big box nurseries.  Today I saw the first tomato plants at a brand new nursery in Folsom.  But it is far too early to plant your tomato plants outside.  If you want to baby some tomato seeds indoors at least for the next two months then you could consider planting some tomatoes under a grow light and on top of a heating pad.  Other wise don't buy your tomato plants yet.  I believe it is unethical for companies to sell plants like these so early in the year.  They know or should know that most likely these plants will die.  The average gardener is not going to be able to provide the care these vegetable plants are going to need this early in the year.  This can lead the customer to buy new tomato plants in the coming weeks and months.  Worse than all this, it will lead some gardeners to give up on trying to grow a garden after failing once or twice, they may wrongly blame themselves for their plant's death.  I sometimes wonder how many gardeners have given up this great hobby just because big box stores stock the wrong plants at the wrong time of year.  Many large chain stores pick plant varieties based on population, we in Northern California end up shopping stores with plant varieties for Southern California.  Your best bet is to stick with a small nursery where you can get to know the owners and the employees that have a vested interest in the community.  They will carry plants for your area because they know they will see the next time they come into the store.  Managers of big box stores never come in contact with the customers so they never hear about the consequences of their bad decisions.