tomatoes

not my plant

1)  My out-of-control tomato plant has escaped from its cage and I have now lashed it to the pole of the basketball hoop.  I notice that the basket on the hoop bears some resemblance to the cage from which the tomato has escaped and that at least one tomato seems destine to be as big as a basketball.  I hope it turns that orange-red color!  I also notice that the words in that first sentence seem rather violent, not at all suited to a romantic notion of gardening.

2)  I've also heard Terry Gross interview the author of Tomatoland on Fresh Air and I know that much related to producing "grocery store" tomatoes is very far from our romantic notions of gardening and agriculture.  Barry Estabrook wanted to know why there are no tomatoes worth eating in the winter. Distaste for mealy, tasteless, pale tomatoes lead to a more disgusting set of  revelations.  What he uncovered about commercial tomato growing in Florida may keep readers from even attempting to eat a winter tomato ever again.  Pesticides are a beginning.  The labor practices are horrific, words like cage, lashing, and escape are accurate.  The story is not for the faint of heart.  Gourmet Magazine article on the topic.