Here’s the thing: I really love tomatoes.
Spain has amazing fruit. Melocotones and ciruelas, frambuesas and cerezas – the cerezas (cherries) were particularly spectacular, especially when picked straight off the tree on a hot afternoon.
Cherry picking, somewhere past Leon
But the tomatoes, like many other vegetables in Spain, are terrible. And in the end, that’s what brought me back home.
The problem was the e-mails I kept receiving. “Kale’s in,” one would say. “Radishes just starting to sprout.” “You should see the carrots. You should really see the carrots.” And most importantly, “Tomatoes are coming along just fine.”
Meanwhile, my life underwent a radical change when I decided to move to Texas in the fall. The more I thought about Texas, and tomatoes, the more I came to understand that I couldn’t bear a summer more fresh vegetables than you can possibly eat. So, despite the temptations of European travel, I changed my plane ticket and returned home early. I visited family and friends in New York and Pennsylvania. And then finally, on Sunday, I arrived in Worcester and went straight to Nuestro Huerto, my favorite urban farm. I arrived just in time for their block party. And I went straight for the heirloom tomatoes.
I go to Texas on Monday, where it will be about 10000 degrees outside and in the middle of a drought. But this week I’m soaking up the rain, and eating all the tomatoes I can get my hands on.
Ripening verduras*
Weather:
Rainy and 71 degrees.
Mood:
Hannah: 8 out 10 on the “can’t get out of bed” to “jumping for joy” scale. yum.
Anna: 7 out of 10. Just ate a tomato.
*Photo credit to Nuestro Huerto. Photo is from last year’s crop.
Ditch the Umbrella 
I’ve got tomatoes in my garden falling off the vine because I can’t eat them fast enough. You’re more than welcome to them if you make it to Boston before you leave.
glad to hear you’re having a great harvest! jar some and i’ll come visit for christmas!
Yes! Tomatoes are in and they are fabulous! Sun Golds are my personal favorite, which is why 50% of our tomato plants are just that. I love when they split, which means we can’t sell or donate them, and the only thing I can do is eat them off the vine. The neat thing about Texas is that you are much closer to Mexico, and as a result won’t feel so bad about buying Mexican mangos and fresas, and when the going gets tough, you can hop on a bus and head South. As far as emotional calendars go, my guess is you’re mood will elevate once you acclimate to the heat, as there seems to be continuous sun there.
I ate the best tomato of the summer the other day from John’s garden in ME. Sadly, I’ve been eating store-bought tomatoes all summer (and a few from farmer’s markets), mainly because I’ve been traveling so much and was trying to keep my perishable food supply low. Now I realize that was a big mistake. Nothing has topped that single, magnificent tomato.
Maybe missing out on tomato season makes that one tomato all the more sweet.
[…] naturally fresh (though I’ll still eat winter tomatoes, even if they’re nothing like the tomatoes Hannah rushed back to the States for) — and synching myself with the cycles of New England in that […]