thanks Willow!!!!
The season of tomatoes can be short or longdepending on where you are
and what Mother Nature has determined.
When I was a child the tomatoes just sort of showed up
in the salad, in the sauce and in the spicy salsa
regardless of season.
However, as I grew up I realized the warm sweet out of the garden
cherry tomatoes in our backyard were absolutely the best.
They were incomparably delicious.
I loved the tomatoey smell on my fingers-
lingering long after I had left the garden.
I would sit in the garden patch and devour that sweetness.
I was only 28 when I began to grow my own family's food.
I ripped out the stupid lawn and put in raised beds.
Mind you, the neighbors raised their eyebrows and
voiced their concerns. But oh my goodness,
how the heck could home grown veggies
devalue anyone's home?
And now, fast forward to today a mere 40 years later-
I still grow my own tomatoes not to mention all those
other vegetables and regard my tomatoes as garden candy-the best ever!
So! Grow your own-eat locally and enjoy good health!
Tomatoes are my friends! Even if I am not hungry, I can usually manage a tomato! Adore them! Relate to your thoughts!
ReplyDeleteSad piece for me to read. Living on a yacht with any waterfront I want, I do miss my garden. Your piece reminds me of fingers in the soil, the smell of tomato pruning and the taste, the taste!
ReplyDeleteA great idea and a scent-ual post!
ReplyDeleteI grew up picking tomatoes from my grandparent's fields ... eating them right there, relishing each and every morsel! Nice writing!
ReplyDeleteLovely Magpie, good for you planting your garden, there is nothing nicer than eating home-grown veg.
ReplyDeleteoh yes, the smell of tomatoes on our fingers...even brush by its leaves and your tagged!
ReplyDeletewonderful story about your lifestyle....ah to have you as a neighbor....bounty bounty bounty
I was thinking of writing about the tomato scent on your fingers . . . must be a pungent image! Thanks for a fun magpie.
ReplyDelete(my word verification is "scenti" . . . an italian word for the smell we're talking about, perhaps?)
Love your description of eating the tomatoes right out of the garden. Takes me back a few years. Our son does the garden now and we have all we can eat, but I miss having the ability to go out and work in the garden and pick one right off the vine and eat it. Truly enjoyed this piece. Thanks for visiting.
ReplyDeleteQMM
Absolutely wonderful!
ReplyDeleteI still get homegrown tomatoes just for a few weeks a year, but they taste all the better for being such a rare treat.
ReplyDeleteThank you for coming over to my blog.
garden candy indeed...we have the hundreds plants of baby tomatoes...like picking cherries...great magpie!
ReplyDeleteWonderful display of words and tomatoes, yes grow your own..enjoy..bkm
ReplyDeleteGrowing our own garden is healthy in so many ways. Love your post. It is awesome! :-)
ReplyDeleteIt's been so many years since I've been able to have a garden. I rely on the local farmer's market, though. As a child, for a time, we lived on my uncle's farm in Smith Station, AL...I used to go out and pick sun warmed tomatoes of the vine. Once, to my horror, after I consumed half of one, I noticed that the other half contained half a worm which I had consumed. I almost swore off tomatoes for awhile!
ReplyDeleteOh to all my poetry friends...aren't tomatoes grand???
ReplyDeleteI love them and I love you!
Dear Snappy: Definitely a fantastique epicurian and delightful journey of the senses. Such a fine gourmet of words! Yummy!
ReplyDeleteYour own organic garden; a wonderful role model.
ReplyDeleteTomatoes stright from the plant and warmed by the sun, what could be better.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you, a treat any day of the week!
Nice Magpie
Christine
Hurrah for you - ripping out the lawn and planting vegies. That's a big selection of different tomatoes on that table.
ReplyDeleteRight on Kathe. There is nothing more satisfying than growing your own food. I imagine your yard was quite beautiful.
ReplyDeleteMy uncle used to grow cherry tomatoes, just for my daughters, I'm sure. They would eat them warm from his garden and come home with bags full.
Nice post/magpie!
Your tomato story is a wonderful piece of Americana. The image of you with cherry tomato scent lingering on your fingers is strong. Great Magpie!
ReplyDeleteAh, to grow my own tomatoes! Helas, I live in the city...
ReplyDeleteI am definitely hungry now!! wonderful post!!
ReplyDeleteI moved to the city - so no garden for me :(
ReplyDeletebut I can always go to the local market in search of tasting red tomatoes.
Yes, that unique tomatoey smell left on my fingers triggers memories for me!
ReplyDeletedelicious one...
ReplyDeleteHappy Tuesday!
Oh, to grow my own..but I live in the big, bad city..There must be a contest this year to see who sells the best..they really are super this year!!
ReplyDeleteHooray for gardens, and home-grown tomatoes!
ReplyDeleteI would love to grow my own tomatoes. I buy organic tomatoes from the local farmer's market and they taste the way tomatoes used to taste.
ReplyDeleteThere is almost something luxurious about eating a tomato like an apple _ I love it. I can almost taste your homegrown tomatoes. Delicious!
amen to garden candy and eating locally!
ReplyDeleteBravo! I love the photo at the bottom as well. I enjoy a variety of tomatoes. Heirloom tomatoes came to mind as I was reading and the photo gave me a flash-back to a tomato garden I visited once. Thank you for sharing.
ReplyDelete