My love for tomatoes began with my grandma. She absolutely adored tomatoes and spent countless hours in the garden growing them with care, patience, and pride. My grandma taught me that growing tomatoes is not only about gardening — it is about dedication, tradition, and love for the land.
When I started building my own garden, my grandma was the first person there to help me. What began with just a few plants eventually turned into a small obsession, and today I grow around 42 different types of tomatoes. Some are tiny and sweet, others large and juicy, while some have unusual colors, stripes, or shapes. Every variety feels unique, and every season teaches me something new.
The process begins in early spring when I carefully plant seeds indoors and wait for the first delicate green sprouts to appear. Those first weeks require constant attention because young tomato plants are sensitive to sudden cold temperatures. Sometimes the weather in Baranja changes overnight, and I worry so much about the plants that my tomatoes end up “sleeping” in my living room just to protect them from the cold. Gardening teaches patience like nothing else. You cannot rush nature.
As the months pass, the tiny seedlings grow into strong plants full of flowers and eventually heavy fruits. There is something deeply satisfying about walking through rows of tomato plants in the warm summer sun, picking fruits in every color and size imaginable.
But for my family, tomatoes are much more than summer food. Every year we prepare homemade tomato juice for winter, a tradition I learned from my mom. We use it in many traditional dishes throughout the colder months. In recent years, I also started experimenting on my own by making Italian-style salsa, spicy sauces, and different types of homemade ketchup.
Tomatoes are truly incredible plants — or fruits, as some people like to remind us. In our language, we sometimes call them “paradajz,” a word that sounds close to paradise. And honestly, after spending an entire summer growing them, tasting them fresh from the garden, and sharing them with family, I completely understand why.
