Severe Tomato Watch

They're predicting torrential rains tonight. They're saying we should be concerned with urban flooding. But I'm not too worried about that. I'm thinking about the tomatoes.

My tomatoes are on a drip, creating a cone of moisture which widens as it travels deeper into the soil. This system keeps the fruit taut and sweet and relieves me from water duty. It is great.

But when summer storms roll through with heavy rains as the tomatoes approach maturity, cracks form in rapidly expanding fruit.

In the tomato below, a couple of days left the ants to find this wonderful source of sugar. I blew in the hole until every last ant left the tomato and consider it perfectly good to eat. Ants are clean insects, they are kashrut to me (although not by law -too honest and smart, apparently, and I agree).