While I grow a few heirloom tomatoes, my specimens are puny compared to what’s available at farmers’ markets and the local supermarkets. The neighborhood varmints pay more attention to my ripening tomatoes than I do, apparently. Over the weekend, I found a very large Cherokee black beside a raised bed with several bites out of it. I was not aware I had one this big. Easy come, easy go.

Off to the farmers’ market I went, looking for a few robust heirlooms to photograph, the ones with broad shoulders and a faintly threatening air. Pricey, as usual, but I left with a bagful. On the way home, I stopped at Nob Hill, the big one on Grant Rd. for fresh corn, and found that their produce section featured a huge display of - you guessed it - heirloom tomatoes. For $2/lb. less.

There they sit, brooding in their hugeness, waiting for me to finish making seafood pasta before I can pay attention to them again.