The Tomato Has Me Under It's Spell

I've been getting garden catalogs.. weekly. I love looking through these.Even with my cutting down on gardening...they hold my interest. Heirlooms are still very popular. I would love to have a big garden so I could grow heirloom tomatoes.I love all the different colors and textures of these globes of exquisite flavor. If I had a big garden, I wouldn't be so upset if one or two of my plants were eaten by critters. I found the above picture of my geraniums, grown from seed just a couple of years ago. I remember how they were started in the basement under lights. They really flourished and when the time came to acclimate them to the great outdoors...I planted them in big containers on the edge of the woods, only to wake up the next morning to find them eaten down to the dirt. All of them!. Can you imagine how I felt?...Weeks and weeks of babying these plants and getting them to the point of being able to be planted and then have that  happen? I decided right then and there, that it wasn't worth my doing.  Up and down the stairs, lights that had to be left on, tedious care, changing from peat pots to larger ones with different soil.Joe said once, "Those are some expensive plants"  No, I wouldn't be doing that anytime soon. So, here we are in February of a new year and the seed catalogs have arrived. I just tossed them...so I wouldn't be tempted.Now I am starting to see posts about seed starting in blogs now. I can feel the urge to join in.I just have to remember last year. Why do we gardeners look to the past and kind forget the failures and have the hope that this year can be different?Gardeners are always looking ahead.  "A garden is never so good as it will be next year."-- Thomas Cooper 
My three tomato plants had problems.. Some hungry animal visited during the nights and ate them as they ripened. The only tomatoes they left alone were the cherry and grape tomatoes. With the drought last summer, I felt sorry for the birds and animals and figured that they must be hungry...so they could share my tomatoes.We had quite a crop of good green tomatoes and ripened them in the house. They were good, but not as good as if they ripened on the vine.
I've been trying to figure out what to plant this year.  I do have great success with herbs and different kinds of lettuces. Maybe I'll just attempt more varieties of  grape and cherry tomatoes, herb, lettuce and onions. At least we can have a salad now and then.....and then again, maybe I'll throw caution to the wind and plant some big tomatoes  and try to use some caging to keep the animals out.I just figured out how long I have been planting tomatoes....37 yrs I guess.  Why do I struggle so? The tomato has me under it's spell...the bright red color (my favorite color) the firm texture, the juice running down my hand as I take a taste right off the vine. Oh, my mouth is just puckery thinking about them. Now, where are those gardening catalogs?
Balisha