I bought a tomato today that was, in my opinion, expensive. I mean over $2 for ONE tomato is kinda insane! However, it created a slew of emotions, memories and the like. I remember my parents growing tomatoes, along with squash, peaches, plums, onions, peppers, okra, black-eyed peas, cantaloupe, sometimes watermelon, etc, in a backyard garden. So, when I realized just how expensive I felt that ONE tomato was, I remembered eating fresh, homegrown tomatoes. So fresh, in fact, I could pick it and eat it right then and there. To some, this is probably weird, but hey, I grew up in the country and things like that aren't...weird. I remember learning when to pick a squash and when it was too ripe...when picking okra was a pain in the ass because you always get those prickly things stuck in your hands. I remember when, to pick a juicy peach off a tree was a lovely treat....incidentally, to this very day, I refuse to buy peaches at a store, why? Because they could NEVER compare to those peaches we had as kids. Thanks to my great grandmother, Nanny Williams, we had plenty of peach trees but, really, only one that produced peaches that were...good. I remember walking what seemed like miles to pick corn in a field where good ol' Joe Bennett planted corn...fresh corn off the cob...the smell alone was intoxicating, like popcorn but not. Cucumbers in vinegar, a green onion with a meal as a side...the sound of Pappaws nose as he ate...it whistled lol...I miss that. My mom's squash, her beans, her telling me..."Just eat it!"...I miss that too. It's strange because, as a kid, I was never in to veggies, now I miss it. This even brought me back to when we grew strawberries in that barrel container on the back porch...I wanted them to turn red so bad, I'd eat them green, bitter face and all.
It's funny how what one "Hothouse tomato" can make you think of...keep that in mind. It only takes one little thing in life that opens up so many memories.
So, who is an expert at growing a garden on an apartment balcony????
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4 comments:
I remember all of that! Even momma making us hoe the garden in 110 degree weather......ugh so hot! Remember when she would cut the peaches up, add sugar, and them freeze them?
Oh, and I too remember the sound of Pappaw eating (or the sound of his nose I should say)....I wonder if mammaw still has an onion with every meal?
Everytime I have a green onion with a meal, it reminds me of him!
Hoeing, or is it hoe-ing or hoing? Anyway, I remember that too, it was an added chore to the day when we got home from school. It might be weird to say, but I kinda miss it. I miss having something, even (at the time) vegetables to show for my effort...as half-assed as it was lol...I miss it.
Frozen peaches with sugar...mmm
I always want to try that upside down tomatoe thing you see on TV. You see those on apartment balconies all the time!
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