Despite this being the coldest summer in the San Francisco Bay Area that I can remember, my tomato plants produced their first little, shiny, red tomato. Now if we’d just get some sun instead of wind and fog, the green ones might get a chance to ripen too.
Ironically, last February some news reports warned that due to global warming, fog along the Californian coast had declined by a third over the past 100 years; the equivalent of three hours a day, dropping from 56 to 42 percent of the time. Meanwhile another report came to the opposite conclusion, saying, “The Bay Area just had its foggiest May in 50 years. And thanks to global warming, it’s about to get even foggier.”
All I know is that this is the first summer that my down comforter and electric blanket have remained on my bed all the way through July. I wouldn’t want to trade for the extreme heat in other parts of the U.S. and the world, but it would be nice to have a little bit of summer before fall!
P.S. In case you have sharp eyes and noticed that the stem behind the tomato seemed to have previously held four tomatoes, you’re right. It was leftover from a purchased bunch of tomatoes on the vine but I thought it was cute and would look nice in this picture.
Jana Bouc, Artist 