TOMATOMANIA!

This afternoon, my mom and I ventured over to Roger's Gardens, a breathtaking garden and outdoor living store in Carona del Mar. Walking into the roofless open-air Gardens, we looked upon what felt like miles of greenery, budding flowers, artisan pots and planters, and innumerable nooks filled with unique treasures. I couldn't help but smile after a deep breath of post-rain soil and new life. The morning rain kindly paused long enough for us to enjoy a few sunny yet brisk hours savoring the sights and smells. This weekend is the Gardens' annual weekend dedicated entirely to home-grown tomatoes, epically dubbed "Tomatomania!" Described as "the world's largest (and most fun) tomato seedling sale," Tomatomania! involves instructional seminars and over 150 varieties of heirloom and hybrid tomatos. I felt like I was at Disneyland, it was that magical. 

New to the gardening game, we first listened to a talk that highlighted the basics of growing tomatoes at home. In true nerd fashion, I scribbled notes fervently, hanging on to the speaker's every word. I was also the only audience member under 45. No big deal. (Full post on the ins and outs of planting and growing tomatoes is coming! Pinky swear.)

Following the seminar, we finally got to peruse the rows and rows and rows and rows of tomato varieties. Before we started looking, we limited ourselves to choosing two cherry tomato varieties and two heirloom varieties - for now. Choosing was by far the hardest part. I wanted them all. In the end, we went with the recommendations of a kind (and kinda cute) worker and a friendly Newpsy grandma. (Tangent: I officially decided I am going to marry a man who appreciates gardening. Nothing is hotter than a man who grows things). We chose the following:

1. Sweet 100 Cherry: earning its name because it bears one hundred or more cherry tomatoes each harvest, the Sweet 100 yields sweet bite-sized nuggets that I will undoubtedly eat by the handful.
2. Snow White Cherry: fruity and sweet, this cherry variety matures to a soothing yellow-orange color that adds a lovely pop of color to salads. (Told you! Disneyland.)
3. Neves Azorean Red Heirloom: enormous tomatoes at 1-3 pounds each (EACH!), this beefsteak heirloom is deep red in color and complexly bold in flavor. Often called, "The Ultimate Sandwich Tomato." 
4. Paul Robeson Heirloom: with a distinctive, sweet and smokey flavor, this 7-10 oz. tomato is black-brick in color. I hear great things.

Though we showed considerable self control among the tomato seedlings, we lost it all when we turned to our left and saw the vegetable and herb sections... We left with garlic chives, shallots, and two more cilantro plants to add to our kitchen window herb garden. I will be back for more. Oh yes, I will be back. 

After a long afternoon drooling over the vivid descriptions of tomato varieties, we were too hungry to do any potting today. Tomorrow, though, our Victory Garden begins. Until then...

xx

Feeding Happiness

For most of us in the western world, our conception of nutrition is limited to the physical body. We watch carefully what we feed our bodies, abstaining from greasy fast food and excessive carbs, in an effort to live long, healthy, happy lives. Unhealthy foods - we accept without question - lead to increased risk for illness, disease, cancer, and other maladies. We know this. Because the effects of food are physically felt, conceptualizing nutrition in relation to the body is simple, concrete. Food enters your body through your mouth. You chew it. You feel it in your stomach. You see and feel the effects of what you ingest. You physically feel your food.

In his insightful and accessible discussion of the core teachings of Buddhism, Thict Nhat Hanh presents an expanded conception of nutrition, a conception that includes our mind, or consciousness.

In this media driven world, we are on constant sensory overload. Our senses are in persistent contact with stimuli. When we listen to music, watch television, log onto social media, read magazines, we are ingesting. The conversations we have with others, the people with whom we surround ourselves, we are ingesting. This is the food for our consciousness. Thinking about the number of times I listened to a song that completely changed my mood for the worse, watched a movie that made me dissatisfied with my life and greedy for what I do not have, seen something on social media that made me feel anxious and depressed, been involved in gossip-driven conversations that left me feeling empty, I feel like a food-addict with no control over what she eats. While the physicality of food makes us think we have control over that aspect of our health, the transient and abstract quality of our minds and emotions deludes us into thinking we are not in control, that we are prey to external circumstance.

The notion that we cannot control our mental health as we do our physical health is, of course, just an illusion.

The Buddha said, "When we feel suffering, we have to acknowledge its presence and look deeply into its nature. When we look deeply, we will discover the kinds of nutrients that have helped it come to be and continue to feed it." With this practice, we will recognize when we are ingesting toxins like fear, hatred, and greed, and we learn the circumstances that give rise to such toxic states of being. Similarly, we will recognize when we are ingesting nutrients that encourage understanding, compassion, and peace, and we learn the circumstances that give rise to such positive states of well-being. Health is as contagious as disease, virtue as contagious as vice, happiness as contagious as depression. We can choose to feed our consciousness with fear, greed, hatred, ignorance, and pride. Or we can feed our consciousness with compassion, understanding, peace, love, and joy. We have the choice.

The Dhammapada, the most beloved of Buddhist texts, begins with the following words: "All we are is the result of what we have thought." Well-being - both physical and mental - is a lifestyle choice. Happiness is a lifestyle choice. Just as we feed are bodies with healthy nutrients, so must we feed our minds by choosing to avoid the circumstances that feed our suffering and instead pursue the circumstances that feed our happiness, our well-being. 

xx