Home Grown Tomatoes

I love real tomatoes, the big juicy red ones that come out of gardens or farmers' markets in the summer, not the puny, hard, tasteless faint pink hockey pucks that we are offered the rest of the year.  I can eat and have devoured real tomatoes three meals a day, at breakfast, lunch and dinner, just sliced up and lying there, so lovely on the plate.  They're also good as a snack.  I like them on a cold biscuit.  Hey!  That would make a good name for a blog...biscuit...biscuit something...I'll have to think about that some more.

It has been tomato season for a while now, and one point of reinforcement about the glorious oncoming of this wonderful fruit (or vegetable) was the first Summer Sounds Concert by Jay Ungar and Molly Mason back on Saturday, July 11.  One of the wonderful songs they sang was "Home Grown Tomatoes," composed by musician Guy Clark, celebrating my favorite fruit. Here's a link to the song as performed by Ungar and Mason: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BoDVEIUR4xs

We were fortunate to have home grown tomatoes growing up since Becky's dad Oscar and my mom were master gardeners.  The green thumb gene didn't take in my case: I can kill any living plant with little effort, although the hydrangeas I put in at the start of the summer are doing well. Becky has a rain forest of indoor plants in the room with a northern exposure.  Neither of us grow tomatoes, though.  We didn't have to when Becky's dad and my mom were living.  I remember asking her if I should try growing some tomatoes myself and she laughed and said, "Just get some from the farmers' market."  That was a good suggestion, and so every Saturday Becky goes to the market and comes home with some beautiful yellow tomatoes for herself and some big juicy red ones for me. So, if you're feeling down, sing along with the "Home Grown Tomatoes" song and have a tomato!

Home grown tomatoes, home grown tomatoes
What'd life be without home grown tomatoes
There's only two things that money can't buy
That's true love and home grown tomatoes!

Yes, indeed!