Thanks, babushka!

I promised in my last posting that this would be a more optimistic blog entry, and so it shall! Does anyone remember that I had planted a tomato in the topsy-turvy upside-down magic planter? You may have thought that story would be finished by now, considering it's the middle of winter. But then you would be wrong!!

Because we didn't get to plant the tomato until relatively late in the season, I had my concerns that the weather would become cold before the plant would produce edible tomatoes. These concerns turned out to be well-founded, but I decided not to let it get me down!! Adam helped me bring a giant hanger made of a 2 by 4 inside, and set it up in my office. The tomato has a place right beside the window, and I simply place a rubbermade tub underneath it to catch the dripping water. In fact, the tub is Howlie's old litter box--never thought I'd get a use out of that again. It's so tall, it reaches from the ceiling to the floor!


For the longest time, the tomatoes remained green. My optimism persisted--I was happy that they existed at all. Eventually, one turned red. We ate it and it was easily the most delicious tomato I have ever had!! It really shows the difference in fresh and grocery-store-fresh. But a month or so passed, and the rest of the tom-toms remained green. A couple of them fell from the tree, and as I was loathe to toss them, I kept those on the kitchen counter. Well this week, a miracle occurred! All the tomatoes are becoming ripe! The ones on the tree, as well as those in the kitchen!


We have plans to eat a Russian salad before we leave for Oregon tomorrow (Christmas day). This is what we were fed in Severobaikalsk this summer by babushka in the homestay. They had a Russian garden, and at every meal we ate a salad of sliced tomato, cucumber and scallions, tossed lightly with olive oil and salt. This is hands down the best salad I have ever had (especially since we'd been starved for days on the train). I've been craving it since we left, and have made it numerous times, though the Harris Teeter produce cannot compare to home-grown! Babushka's salad, anyone? I say yes!