A Tomato A Day. . .

I know that I have already talked about the absurd amount of tomatoes I have sitting next to the window in my house. But I guess my kids can't read because until today, they haven't really seemed to notice them. Or maybe they saw them, but they just didn't care. Well today Leila had a moment to herself alone downstairs, while I was upstairs. And when I went downstairs, there she was standing in front of the table of tomatoes, noshing on one. I guess she had noticed that they were starting to ripen, and thought that they looked really good. She ate it like an apple, which I think is kinda bizarre -- especially cause she doesn't really eat apples. I guess you could say that she doesn't like them. But she sure does like tomatoes. She chowed down on that thing, and even had tomato juice dripping down her arms. Then I took it from her so that I could cut the top part off, and she says "No Mommy! Don't cut it!" That girl can really talk. She just wanted to eat her tomato like an apple. And since one tomato a day just isn't enough, I made a double batch of my "famous" tomato-basil soup, which is like a gallon of soup! But now, after giving some away, and eating some for dinner (which is always a hit because even Gabrielle detests tomatoes, she loves tomato soup because according to her "there's no tomatoes in them."), there's really only a little bit left. Robert's dad is in town to see the girls, and this was his first time ever having tomato soup! Isn't that unbelievable? But guess what? Even after all that soup making, I still have about 90 tomatoes left!

Too Much of a Good Thing

There can definately be too much of a good thing. Like say for example, tomatoes. Prior to this year, I have never been much of a gardener. Infact, Robert said I had a black thumb because everything that he gave me would die, except for this one plant that he gave me almost 6 years ago -- it's still alive. Which is amazing because I've moved like six times with it. Anyway, earlier this year Jessica inspired me to find my green thumb when she charged me with the care of her Aerogarden, which at the time had herbs growing in it. After that I decided to try my hand at some tomato plants. Which I have to admit, may have gotten a little out of control. I planted all of the plants from seeds, and I didn't want to get rid of any of the little seedlings after they sprouted. By summer, there were ten tomato plants in pots outside of my house. Two of them were even hanging upside down in pots from a tree in my yard. It's been an interesting experience with them. I'm just glad that we don't pay for water because they sure do use a lot of it. And who knew that tomatoes attract the BIGGEST caterpillars I've ever seen in my life! BTW, that picture is practically life-size! I thought they were going to be the end of my tomato plants for sure. But they survived and we managed the whole summer. I got a lot of good tomatoes off of them too -- grape, Roma, Better Bush, and the very large Beefsteak. It's been good tomato eating at our house for everyone, except Gabrielle who detests tomatoes. Well anyway, now that it's October and it gets down to the 40's at night, I decided to pick off the rest of the tomatoes that were still on the plants in hopes that they may still ripen in the house. Little did I know that the rest amounted to 112 tomoates! What the heck am I gonna do with all of these? Like I said, too much of a good thing -- like unripened tomatoes. Did I mention that I know have tomatoes growing in the aerogarden too? :-P