By Jeff Yoskowitz, Adamah Fellow

Today is the 17th of Tammuz. It’s a Jewish fast day commemorating many calamities that befell the Jewish people and begins a three week period of mourning leading up to Tisha B’Av. Among other events, this day commemorates when Moses descended from Mt. Sinai with the tablets and found the Israelites worshiping the golden calf, when the priests in the First Temple Period ceased to make sacrifices due to the beginning of the siege on Jerusalem and when the Romans publicly burned the Torah and laid the groundwork for their siege on Jerusalem in 70 CE.

I spent this holy fast day in the hot sun working on the tomatoes. I’ve been made “the tomato guy” here at Adamah and have enjoyed my work suckering and stringing the many different varieties of tomatoes. “Suckering” is cutting off new growth points which direct energy away from the main stem. By removing them, the main stem retains most of the plant’s energy and its fruits grow much bigger. It also feels nice to give the plant a haircut. Stringing the tomatoes helps them to grow tall and strong.

Since the harvest is just beginning, for the past few days I’ve ended my work with a little treat from one of the few ripe tomatoes — usually a yellow tomato. Today was a bit different than usual, though…

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