Is growing your own tomatoes really worth it? Well, check this out and tell me what you think:
YES! It is! Who cares about the damned rat? I'll do battle with ten of them to be able to serve a dish as luscious as this beautiful Caprese Salad to my friends.
The tomatoes I used were my heirloom Beefsteaks - they are the winners of my summer tomatofest '08. I couldn't believe how absolutely delicious they were, all decked out with Genovese basil from the garden, festooned with thick slices of buffalo mozzarella, generously baptized with extra virgin olive oil, and then sprinkled with a chiffonade Purple Ruffles basil to bring it home. Mwa! I'm kissing my fingers in that Italian gesture that means outrageously yummy!
Right now, my tomato plants are getting ready for the fall. I'm fertilizing them with a balanced formula from Dr. Earth, and giving extra potassium. And of course, compost - can't forget the backbone of my soil! If there were any doubts, any fears about this vegetable garden experiment being a folly, where all I get would be a few incredibly expensive nibbles of freshly harvested produce, they were dispelled this past weekend as my dear friends cooed and licked their lips and fluttered their eyelids, deeply enjoying the fruits of my labors.
How lovely is that?
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