Priceless

Homegrown tomatoes
Originally uploaded by oiseau.

The evening of our return from the two week stint in the south, we paid Frog parents a visit. You know, to catch up on news, see how everybody was and ... get a free meal.

One of the first things Mother Frog did was to show off her bowl of just picked tomatoes. This was her first batch and they were going in a salad that evening. Father Frog took Frog out to the vines at the back of the house to discuss progress towards the harvesting period, and one of the first things he did was to proudly show off his new crop. Of tomatoes.

He demonstrated how, at Mother Frog's request for the taste of homegrown tomatoes, he'd turned the soil just like a farmer and set up their planting. I believe that's what you call a labour of love.

However, to put this into context let's consider something.

I'm not sure whose idea it was, but the tomato plants are in what everyone proudly calls the Champagne terroir, next to the pinot meunier grapevines. There's only a limited amount of it in the region that's classified for vines.

Yes, it's good soil. Excellent soil. The soil is valued so highly that's it's worth (Frog puts a finger in the air based on some recent news reports ...) maybe, 850,000 euros per hectare.

Which makes it a very pricey tomato salad tonight! And yes, like most homegrown produce they're far tastier than anything you'd would pay for in the supermarket. Some things, as the advert would say, are priceless.