Picture of the day - October 31, 2005

Tomatoes On The Vine

When I think of a vegetable garden, the first thing that comes to mind are several rows of plump, juicy tomatoes hanging on the vines. My dad absolutely loved tomatoes, and he always made sure that we set out plenty of tomato plants in our garden every spring. Red tomatoes, yellow tomatoes, striped tomatoes, "tommy-toes"...he loved them all! But I wasn't crazy about tomatoes myself when I was growing up on our small farm in Widener Valley, Virginia. To me, growing tomatoes meant having to do a lot of work for something that you could buy from someone else who had already done the work for you. But dad insisted on growing our own tomatoes! Dad had his reasons for not wanting to buy tomatoes at the market. He used to say that "hothouse" tomatoes didn't taste as good as the homegrown variety. He also liked to point out that tomatoes were expensive if you had to buy them, and with eight kids to feed we couldn't afford them. So every spring he would sow tomato seeds in a "plant bed", then we would "set out" the young plants in the garden as soon as they were big enough. Then came the weeding, fertilizing, and hoeing every few days throughout the summer. I remember working in those tomatoes, all the while saying to myself under my breath "I got out of school for the summer to do this?". Yep, I hated tomatoes with a passion. Dad never did stop loving his homegrown tomatoes - even after his health deteriorated to the point where he could no longer grow them himself. My brothers knew how much he loved them so they would bring him fresh tomatoes from their own gardens when they had them. When they didn't, dad would "make do" by buying "hothouse" tomatoes and then grumble about the poor taste. In the grand scheme of life, dad's insistence on growing his own tomatoes is rather insignificant, but it's a symbol of who he was and what he stood for. He was trying to teach me that some things are worth going the extra mile for...that there are some things in life where it doesn't make sense to "settle" for something less. The truth is, I always loved tomatoes too. And I have to say that dad was right - homegrown tomatoes are a lot better than any you can buy in a store - and a lot cheaper too. I simply would have preferred spending all of my summer days playing and having a good time. But now, what I wouldn't give to be able to help dad pull weeds from his tomato garden again!   Picture Of The Day Homepage | Submit a photo Interesting Articles