Tomatoes!

When I think of the French markets, I think of variety.

But I started to think, yesterday, when I had my first big tomato harvest....I don't think the French are as into tomatoes as we are in the U.S. I'm not in France this summer, but I think more of cherry, "salad" tomatoes like an Early Girl, mid-size "vine ripened," roma and some beefsteak.

I went to the market here in Laguna last weekend and they had tables full of all kinds of tomatoes, mostly heirloom. It was a whiff of the Carmel Tomato Fest, where R and I toothpick-tasted hundred of kinds of tomatoes, and duly rated most of them. Rogers in CdM has the best local tomato tasting, IMHO.

Anyway, I don't go crazy hunting down exotic tomatoes anymore, but this year I planted about 20 varieties and have a good mix, as you can see...several kinds of cherry, plum, roma, "golf-ball salad-size, black krim, Japanese, yellow, various heirlooms and beefsteak. What we don't eat or give away, I will freeze and use until next summer. It makes me happy to see them all piled up (in a big flat basket of course!).