Gardeners in Naperville Illinois

[mouka_f_slouka]

Howdy all?

First off, I want to wish everybody a happy and prosperous new year. May your baskets be full of fresh and tasty tomatoes.
I have not been on this site for a while. I did not get to do any gardening last year besides a few volunteer tomato plants that grew on their own on my backyard. These were the yellow variety that I am not very fond of. In fact my preferred tomatoes are the purple heirloom varieties. They were the most delicious I have tasted in a long time.
Now I am trying to go back and grow as many tomatoes as I can. I am going to rent a small plot on a local community garden. The plots are fairly small 20x16 feet. For me this is more than enough to grow a ton of tomatoes. Other gardeners grow all kinds of vegetables, but I will concentrate on just 2 or 4 vegetables. Tomatoes first, then green peppers. Maybe some zucchini and cucumbers. I don't plan on trying anything else.
I am looking for some local gardeners to exchange information and maybe seeds.

Thanks.

[Cole_Robbie]

I'm in Illinois, too, but at the opposite end of the state.

I don't grow a lot of dark tomatoes, because they are harder to sell. My favorite is Dwarf Tasmanian Chocolate. Cherokee Purple is a classic. So is Black Krim. Indian Stripe PL is very popular right now. If you want a dark cherry-sized variety, Black Cherry is probably the one to start with. One size up from a cherry is "saladette," which is about a little bigger than a golf ball. I have a dark saladette that was great last year called Bola Maciza.

For bell peppers, I have the best luck with hybrid varieties, but I do grow several sweet OP peppers that I like.

A lot of us trade seeds through the mail if you are comfortable doing that. It's cheap and easy. I give away a lot of seeds to people who mail me a self-addressed stamped envelope.

[mouka_f_slouka]

Cherokee Purple was one of the tastiest tomatoes I have had in a long time. I would love to get some seeds for this variety.
I heard a lot of good things about Black Krim and Black Prince too. If these are also heirloom, I would love to get my hand on a few seeds.
As for peppers, I did not know that they had hybrid varieties too. I just assumed that it was a heirloom vegetable. I guess I have a lot to learn about gardening.
I have grown a few things in the last few years and found out that I enjoyed it immensely. So much so I am dreaming of having enough money to buy me a house with a couple of acres of land and spend all my free time gardening or maybe raising a few chicken.
I have not saved enough money to make this dream a reality. I am hoping that in 10 years maybe I might realize this dream when my youngest kid goes to college. For now I have a shaded backyard that is not ideal for growing tomatoes or anything else. I get some vegetables but nothing to brag about. I have had a decent harvest a couple of years ago when I rented a plot in a gardening community nearby. I have learned a lot by working that small plot of 20x16 than I could ever had by watching YouTube videos or reading books. I realized that gardening is a hands-on activity and no amount of reading or theory can replace the real learning that takes place when one gets their hands dirty. I find a huge satisfaction when I reconnect with earth and with seasons and when I realized that there are rhythms in nature. I also realized how cheap vegetables are when one realizes how much work is needed to grow anything.