It's like people who meal prep for the photo but eat takeout by Wednesday. The setup has to match the mess of real life. Mine's just a lined page split with a marker line, usually done before coffee even finishes.

Oh man, I feel this in my soul! I once set off my smoke alarm three times in one week trying to get crispy salmon skin on my stove, and my neighbor actually knocked to ask if everything was okay. Turns out my pan was never hot enough and I was basically steaming the poor fish the whole time. When I finally tried it on the grill, the skin got that perfect crackle in minutes and I just stood there wondering why I waited so long. My smoke detector is honestly relieved to be off duty now. Sometimes the fix is not a new recipe at all, it is just changing where the heat comes from.

Honestly this is not that big a deal. Twelve feet of roots sounds like a lot but tomato roots can get long if you leave them, so maybe you just got carried away with the digging. Buying the neighbor a coffee was a nice move but you did not have to feel that bad about it. People pull up plants they did not plant all the time, it happens. Next time just smell the leaves before you start yanking, tomato plants have that strong green smell.