June 30, 2008First!
I like the way Dennis notes the month, day and year almost with the precision of a new father reporting the birth of his first child. I'm surprised that Dennis didn't include a weight in there somewhere. Ha! I have to tease him, but I'm quite familiar with that sense of pride. It was with much excitement this weekend that I discovered tiny green fruits on all four of my tomato plants, which are the first ones I've ever grown on my own. Until I saw those tiny gems hidden in the foliage, I wasn't quite sure that I could make it work. I guess I'd better not count my tomatoes before they're ripe, though. All of this reminds me of my grandfather's rivalry with my dad over who would produce the first ripe tomato of the season. One time, Paw-paw bought a fire-engine red plastic tomato and wired it onto one of his plants just to tease my Dad. Until Dad realized it was fake, he was practically crippled with jealousy. Ahhh, good times in the country. |
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Comments
[June 30, 2008 10:44 AM]
Amy Hanek : →http://www.eatingaroundvirginia.blogspot.comGreat job! I am in envy of your gardening skills. (we are not worthy, we are not worthy).
[June 30, 2008 1:20 PM]
MichelleIt's beautiful!!! I am getting some zucchini - they are round Eight Ball Zucchini and the flowers are still stuck on top of the vegetable part so right now they look like little trolls!
[June 30, 2008 2:04 PM]
KimYay for Dennis! I am expecting my first ripe tomato by the end of this week although it is only a cherry tomato. Somehow that seems like cheating since it is small but I will savor that tiny little bite!
[June 30, 2008 2:41 PM]
Nona : →http://blogs.roanoke.com/thehappywag/My mother was most proud of her green thumb, particularly when it came to tomatoes. She did everything but alert the media when she had tomatoes on the vine before June 1 and, Indiana weather permitting, had ripe tomatoes before the Fourth of July more years than not.
And they were some very tasty tomatoes, as I recall.
[June 30, 2008 3:08 PM]
LoriCongratulations to Dennis! We have several green tomatoes on our grape tomato plants. I was inspecting them yesterday and noticed that 2 tomatoes have an orange-ish tinge on the tops!! These are our first attempts at growing any vegetable, and so far so good. But as Lindsey said, better not count just yet. I will try to remember to send a photo. BTW, we got our plants from Woods Farms on the market. As mentioned, they are grape tomatoes. I have to say, these are the biggest grape tomatoes I've ever seen!
[June 30, 2008 5:37 PM]
DebbieMy dad is in the end stages of Alzheimer's and will not be around much longer. When I saw this post, I had to send in this story my daughter sent me today. She just started taking a creative writing class and is writng this about her grandpa. She's not kidding either. He grew enough tomatoes to feed the neighborhood, and would pick them and the ones he didn't give away, were kept in small cardboard boxes on the dining room table. We could eat them, but they were to be treated with the utmost respect. :-)
I have an essay in mind about my grandpa. Something along the lines of "minding your tomatoes" as a life lesson/metaphor to put your all into your passion. My grandpa was a tomato man :). Those tomatoes lived on every surface of the dining room-we were not allowed to touch them and they weren't even allowed to touch each other. That man was a touch away from swaddling them in blankets :). But he prided himself on growing a good mater and boy, he put his energy into making sure he did it right. And he derived such enormous joy from a vegetable well-done. We should all take what gives us joy and put that kind of love, hard work and energy into it. That, among many things, is what I learned from him.