My kitchen windowsill is home at the moment to a planter stuffed with too many arugula seedlings, which I blame on my own hunger for spring (and salad) three weeks ago. But notice the invader - a lone tomato that was lurking in the soil we dug for the pot from the near the fence.

It is one of hundreds that will rise come warm weather and it may not be every gardener's dilemma, but it is mine: How to maintain resolve for clean and orderly gardens in the face of so many volunteers? Not only did they weather the winter, I know that these tomatoes will bear fruit - copious amounts - but the flavor and texture in past years - has been undistinguished.