Here’s a little story. As you may know, our farm is pretty big, so instead of walking 10 acres to get an herb or a tomato for dinner, I have a very small garden beside my kitchen, which has tarragon, mint, basil, lemon verbena, sage, parsley, more mint, even more mint (I think it is taking over) and some savoury in it. Oh yes, it has quite a few weeds as well. Anyway,  this year I planted 3 heritage tomato plants as well, that I bought from City Farm at our Covent Garden Farmers’ Market. The plants have been quite spectacular, big strong, vibrant plants. I think it is because I gave them a good dose of organic composted fertilizer that I bought from Annelid Cycle, who also was at our market this spring. As you can imagine, I have been waiting quite impatiently for those tomatoes to ripen, and then the other day – lo and behold I saw some red peaking through the dense green foliage. I dashed over to check on my precious tomatoes – planning a ‘celebration of the tomato dinner’ in my mind – the chickens came dashing our from under the plants (they love cooling off in the shade of the plants), and I saw that all that remained of the tomatoes was the stem end that was still connected to the plant – the remainder had been pecked away for somebody’s afternoon snack.

Perhaps you are wondering why we didn’t have barbecued chicken for supper that night? Ahh, the eggs make all these little ’situations’  worth it. I’ll just have to walk a bit further for my tomatoes (again) this summer.

Here’s a yummy way to use some of your own heritage tomatoes. Grilled chicken strips would be a nice addition! (sshhh, don’t tell the chickens I said that!)

Grilled Bruschetta

1 baguette, sliced

1/2 cup (125 ml) olive oil

2 cloves garlic, halved

2 large vine ripened tomatoes, seeded and finely diced

1/4 cup (60 ml) extra virgin olive oil

1 bunch fresh basil leaves sliced into thin strips

Pinch sea salt

Freshly ground pepper

Freshly grated Parmesan cheese (optional garnish)

• Heat the barbecue to medium.
• Combine the diced tomatoes with the 1/4 cup (60 ml) extra virgin olive oil, basil, and salt. Set aside.
• Brush the slices of baguette on each side with the 1/2 cup (125 ml) of olive oil. Grill them on each side, turning down the heat if necessary. When the bread is grilled, rub each slice with the cut garlic, and then top with the tomatoes mixture while bread is still warm. Grind some pepper over top, and Parmesan cheese if desired. Serve immediately.