Pinkelman's Plants rocks

I have three beautiful beefsteak tomatoes waiting for consumption and I have them earlier than ever thanks to Pinkelman's Plants.

They pose in all their shiny glory near MJ's copy of Ideas of Heaven.

I love it when friends start a business that makes your own life better (and of course we are happy that they are happy blah blah blah, but really, it is much easier to be happy for someone when what they do makes you happy too.)

Sarah has been selling her plants at local farmer's markets--Chelsea, Ypsi, and even (after much wait for a spot) Ann Arbor. John and Ami bought some of her beautiful Morning Glories that we got to see last weekend during the latest gluttony fest--beautiful huge blue-purple blossoms. And I got to make specific requests for tomato plant varieties. Sarah humored me and grew the exact seedlings I wanted and now I have what I consider the perfect combination of tomatoes in only three plants--one big red beefsteak plant, one of the best cherry tomato plants ever--the orange Sungold (though in my house we call them sugar bombs) and my favorite heirloom, Green Zebra with medium sized tart fruits beautifully stripped in yellow on a background of vivid green. I picked a bunch of Sungold cherries yesterday too but they went straight in my mouth and didn't make it back home to pose for the camera.

Last year I didn't have much luck with my tomatoes--I overcrowded the plants, got too lazy to track down what I really wanted and ended up with one psycho plant and three other disappointments. The psycho plant was a cherry variety called Sweet 100s, but it really was more like Sweet 10,000. The plant grew and grew and grew till it was over 10 feet long and there were fruit popping out all over the place. I couldn't keep up with it--I picked colanders full on a daily basis. They were good cherry tomatoes, but not as good as Sungolds. And despite this tomato bounty I couldn't make a really good BLT because the Supersonics I planted produced 2 pathetic fruit and the big yellow tomato plant (can't remember its name) produced some fruit, but it was blah flavored. There was a grape tomato in there somewhere but it was pretty much smothered by the thicket of Sweet 100s that grew around it.

It's a good thing the tomatoes look so successful this year because it looks like my pole beans are a big bust. Last year they produced really well, this year they are still blooming when I know other people (Ami and John for one) have plenty of beans ready for eating. And the plants look really weird too--yes, I know a wired bean when I see one...My kale is doing really well though and I have some seeds hoarded away for a late lettuce crop when it cools down again.

I haven't quite decided how to consume those first three tomatoes though it did occur to me that Big 10 makes its fresh mozzarella on Saturdays, I have already indulged in some of Big 10's bottle-your-own olive oil (I bought the Organic DO Gata-Hurdes Extra Virgin Olive Oil from Spain and it is fabulous--grassy and vivid) and I have plenty of beautiful basil (thanks again to Pinkelman's Plants) all of which could combine to make a fine caprese salad.

You know the best thing about the salad is that I'll get it all to myself (unless Fiona becomes interested in tomatoes all of a sudden). Brian went off to Louisville with his best friend Brian (yes, they have the same first name, they are both automotive engineers and they both married women who bailed out of literature PhD programs...) to go to Lebowski Fest. I went last year and after about 3 White Russians I looked like this:

I just don't think there is any reason to revisit that state. And I suck at bowling.

Maybe this year Brian will win (or at least place) in the dude costume contest. Here he is last year with an incredibly freaky Jesus Quintana. The guy stayed in character all night long and even we were weirded out by him after a while.

I look forward to hearing all about the drunken revelries and freaky costumes and bowling scores, but this weekend I plan to put my feet up, bribe the kids with endless popsicles so they are nice to me, and, of course, eat really well.