I would consider myself a “glass-half-full” kind of guy, so apart from the fact that the only alternative to staying the course is to sell some stocks or mutual funds at a loss, there aren’t many options available other than thinking about and enjoying one of the great treasures of Summer here in Ontario. Tomatoes!

As we head north for the cottage this weekend, the only “yield” that can be guaranteed is the bounty of fruit and vegetables paid out by the rich soil of the Holland Marsh, and that is going to be my first and primary stop. Topping the list of things to buy is Ontario field tomatoes. I don’t know about you, but I wait as anxiously for the first field tomatoes as I do the departure of snow  in March and the warm spring temps of April. I can report that they are now in plenty, and man are they good  despite the wet and prolonged cool temps of the spring. My favorite spot is the farmer’s market in the Holland Marsh just off Highway 400, just north of Highway 9.

All of the ingredients for a spectacular tomato salad are brimming over the bins.  Sweet, white, bulbous onions. Fresh, aromatic and full of flavour basil plants. Moist, pungent garlic cloves, and celery stalks as long as your arm.  Mix the bits of each in a large salad bowl, drench or drizzle some extra virgin olive oil over top, and then dab a table spoon of white wine vinegar into the mix. Toss it around, add some salt and black pepper and you have a summer treat to die for — that’s if the market hasn’t already killed you!