Today I celebrated the overnight birth of this year's tomato crop. Of course, that's not all of it. For those of you who know me, you know by now that I don't do things by half. I sowed about 120 seeds. What I'm going to do with 120 life-sized plants remains to be seen. Babies grow right..
They're unusual varieties, lots of heirlooms too, so I might put them out there to anyone who's interested, or pop them out the front with a sign and maybe make a few bucks in the process. Who knows. One day at a time.
I celebrated with an hour in the dirt, my favourite place to forget everything and just be. No thinking, just flowing from one garden patch to the next without any particular plan in mind. The garden directs its own flow. It tells you what needs water, weeding, shade, sun, staking, ripping out, etc. We humans just tend to over-think things.
Anyone scared of gardening needs to know it's not you doing the growing, it's nature. You just need to let it - and maybe ask a few questions along the way.
And if you're wondering what tomato seedlings are doing on a feel-good food blog, it's because this summer's tomato and basil salads, garden parties with tomato inspired dishes, tagliatelle with home-made sauce, basil and ricotta, and the bottles and jars of preserved tomatoes and passata I'll be making start from here.
I might be needing those 120 plants after all.
PS. Pomodoro is Italian for both tomato and the sauce they make. The word comes from pomo d'oro, which means golden apple. I reckon I'll be swimming in golden apples come summer. Maybe I can do like the Spanish do and have my very own Tomatina Festival! If I do, consider yourself invited!
When you think tomatoes, what dish comes to mind?
Foodliterary Regards,
julia Svoice
(Julia Hebaiter in Another Life)
FoodLit Writer, Feel-Good Food Lover & Storyteller
Because Food Sans Story is Bland
