tomatoes
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The array of possibilities is astonishing if you choose to grow tomatoes from seed. You can see a description of varieties we've grown. We've ordered seeds from Burpee, and also from Totally Tomatoes. I'm fond of having a rainbow of colors: red, pink, purple, orange, yellow, green, and white.
Germinating tomato seeds is just like growing any other plant from seed: use a soil-less starting mix and sterile flats, and keep them warm and moist until they sprout (the top of the refrigerator is a good place, covered in plastic wrap). Once most of them have poked their heads up, move them to a sunny windowsill or under a grow light, and remove the plastic wrap. The wee tomatoes are ready to be transplanted into real soil once they have a two true leaves, not just the cotyledons that come up first. Transplant them into 4- or 5-inch peat pots filled with potting soil. I like to use a fork to lift them out of the starting mix, and grab them by the cotyledons. Bury them up to the bottom of the true leaves. Once the seedlings are 4-5 inches tall, and the weather is warm enough (early to mid-April is good for the Bay Area), they're ready to be hardened off and put in the ground.
It's a good idea to get seedlings used to your garden gradually, even if they come from the nursery. Try leaving them outside in a slightly sheltered location first, perhaps for only part of the day if you can manage it. Then increase the time and exposure over a few days, before planting them.
The best thing is to dig your soil to a depth of at least 1 foot, and loosen it another foot down if you can. Mix compost, peat moss, and vegetable food into the top foot, and try to get rid of large clumps of dirt. If you don't have time for that, but have some kitchen garbage on hand (vegetable scraps and peelings, coffee grounds...), you can just dig a hole a foot and a half deep or so, and put the kitchen scraps in the bottom. Fill in some soil on top, and then plant the seedling on top of that. The scraps will decompose by the time the roots get that deep, and give the tomato some nutrients without as much work on your part as really digging the soil. If you're growing the tomato in a pot, use a really big pot, about 3 feet deep. Tomatoes like to be grown in full sun. If you grow a lot of flowers, be careful that your soil isn't too nitrogen-rich. Fertilizers that work well for flowers tend to be high in nitrogen, which makes tomatoes grow great foliage, but little fruit.
Don't plant them in the middle of the day, especially if it's hot. Early evening, around 4, can be a good time. Seedlings in peat pots can be planted with the pot, which will disintegrate over time. If it's in a plastic pot, remove it carefully from the pot. Pinch the bottom sets of leaves off, and bury the tomato up to the bottom set of remaining leaves. Tomatoes will grow roots along the stem that's buried, and will be happier for it. Water the tomatoes thoroughly after transplanting. It's also a great idea to mulch around the base of the tomato with weed-free straw or other mulches available in nurseries (I'm fond of "Gorilla Hair"). Leave the plant an inch or so of space right around the base, so that it gets light. Mulch helps conserve moisture and keep weeds away, and is good for hot areas.
You can just buy tomato cages at a nursery, though I've found them to be far too small. For the past few years, we've used 8-foot redwood stakes, with wire strung between them. It works pretty well, but they tend to lean crazily once the tomato plants get big and heavy. If you use stakes, you'll need to tie the heavy branches gently to the stakes or wire, ideally using pieces of old nylons.
Once tomatoes are established in the ground, they only need to be watered once or twice a week. Water deeply, leaving the water on a trickle for 20 minutes or so. This encourages the tomato to grow deep roots. Tomatoes in pots need to be watered more often, because they won't be getting water from the ground. In both cases, keep an eye on the tomatoes, and if they look thirsty water them. Once tomatoes start bearing fruit, don't over-water them. Over-watering results in cracked, less flavorful tomatoes.
Indeterminate tomatoes, which includes most of the seedlings you find in nurseries, will just keep getting bigger and bigger. You'll get more tomatoes if you pinch off stems that grow out of the juncture between two other stems. It can be hard to keep up with this once the tomato gets big, but it's good to try. Some people also cut off the main stem of the tomato once it grows a foot or so beyond the stake, to encourage the existing fruit to ripen. However, we have such a long growing season in the Bay Area that this may not be necessary. Last year we picked our last tomatoes in January! A few freezes will kill off tomato plants, unless they're in a sheltered location, next to the house or a fence, and protected by other plants. If you know it's going to freeze, cut off the branches with remaining green tomatoes, and let them ripen inside.
Eat them like apples, or sliced with salt and pepper. Apparently tomatoes used to be commonly eaten with cream and sugar. (Interesting, huh?) If none of these simple ideas appeal, check out some of my favorite tomato recipes.