P. 6
My Dad never met a tomato he didn’t like. For him it was a case of… if one tomato plant was good, 200 would be better. Seriously, 200. It’s late January and by now he would have started at least 50 seedlings and begun to baby them along. I believe they always got leggy but he had great fun planting, watering (read – over watering), fertilizing, watching, keeping them warm, etc. I really don’t ever remember eventually planting them in the garden.
Don’t get me wrong. I think tomatoes are a wonderful fruit/vegetable (depending on your outlook) but enough is enough! Poor Mom, at harvest, not only would the plants have outdone themselves in producing a bumper crop but Dad would go to the Farmer’s Market and BUY, yes I said BUY, bushels of them.
What would happen to the tomatoes? Why they would be processed into tomato sauce, tomato juice, and assorted tomato products. Nary a one was wasted. The amazing thing to me was that by the time it was harvest time again, all of the various tomato thingees would have been totally depleted. Not sure exactly how Mom accomplished this.
For Dad, all other vegetables took a back seat to the tomato. However, cucumbers came in a close second. Cukes also seemed to always be a bumper crop and yes, he purchased bushels of these from the Farmer’s Market too. Mom was a mean pickle maker. She had a couple of recipes that were closely guarded.
Growing up in my family at harvest time meant processing vegetables. And I haven’t even discussed the corn, peas ……..
