My Salad

Last night I decided to make a salad. I was a little depressed about the state of the lettuce I found in the fridge, I think it had been there for almost two weeks, but I figured that I would fill out the bowl with other salad items to make the whole thing a lot more appetizing. I found some snow peas, some feta cheese. I discovered a few shriveled green onions that actually turned out to be very tasty after peeling away the outside layers. The carrots had to be thrown away as a rank smell was emanating from the bag. I had a little chicken salad and some celery that I threw on top. The bowl of salad was starting to look pretty good as I started rummaging around for some salad dressing but something was missing. “It could really use some tomatoes” I thought, suddenly realizing that I have tomatoes growing out in the front yard.

The rain was just letting up as I stepped barefoot out into the gathering dusk. The warm wet concrete felt wonderful and the smell of soft wet dirt and tomato plants wafted on the humidity. I crouched carefully next to the cherry tomato plant and plucked the warm fruit reverently from the plant. Walking back to the house with my tomatoes I stopped to grab some herbs, Thai basil and parsley, to add the salad. Back in the kitchen I cut the tomatoes in half and tossed the pieces into the salad along with the herbs. I am immensely proud of my garden additions and I look forward to expanding the garden and its contents more in the coming years.