And so it came to pass that Lex informed me fresh tomato sandwiches were ready.

Not a dish I've traditionally sought or enjoyed. I respected fruits and vegetables and tried to eat them for nutrition, but I'd never been infatuated with raw tomatoes, nor had I ever really enjoyed sandwiches, particularly featuring plants.

Where I've become a more confident cook in recent years, there are a few remarkable dishes Lexie's prepared which I'd barely dreamed of. The tomato sandwich turned out to be one of those: sometimes along with a slice of crunchy raw onion and a touch of some spread, the mild and gently toasted bread against the chilled liquid richness of the tomato conveyed and imparted a deep appreciation for a combination of flavours and textures that had been available and unavailed my whole life. It's such a simple, excellent combination. Stopping for one midday has become something of a ritual for us.

So I met today's invitation with excitement. But I wasn't expecting the apology for the under-ripeness of the tomatoes: they were the first she'd picked from the humble-looking plant she'd been tending just outside Asubol this year.

They were not under-ripe. They were redder, and richer than any in memory. So came another small revelation on top of the first.

Phone service, SMS texting, a smart TV, a car, regular outings to restaurants and movies: there's a range of things it's somehow repeatedly implied that everyone needs, and I've occasionally loved when it's dawned on me that many of us don't. I've had no practical experience growing my own food rather than buying it, and the space outside Asubol in which these tomatoes were grown is next to nothing. But the direct experience finally prodded me to realize all produce laid out in grocery stores is some a variation on this historically human tradition. There's no reason half of humanity should retain the practice of growing food while the other half forgets it entirely. It takes skill to grow a few fruits or vegetables, but not much. It probably takes more will than skill.