Tomatos fresh from the garden

As the 'Aught-Six' Zucchini Invasion wound down we find ourselves caught up in a Tomato infestation of massive proportions. Going out into the garden we find it overgrown with those luscious red globules.

I admit that early on in the season I was slack about pulling the suckers off the tomato plants. I pretty much just planted them, freshened the compost and then watered them on occasion. Our dear neighbor one day asked if I'd like to borrow some of her 'tomato food' to sprinkle on the plants. I told her no, I was trying to just let them grow , no need to egg them on.

This weekend I went out to the garden and found it overgrown with Tomato vines everywhere. It looked like a jungle out there. The poor basil plants I have put in the same bed were being crowded out, luckily they were planted towards the edge of the bed and get some late afternoon sun.

The names of the bigger tomatoes escape me now, but the grape-tomatoes I planted never bushed and instead went straight to vine and spread all through the interior of the patch. I went out there and could just reach in and pull handfuls of sweet little tomatoes, bright red and bursting with goodness. I stood out there and ate them by the handful, enjoying the warm liquid as I popped each one in my mouth.

Looking out to the garden you can see patches of red everywhere. I picked a large metal bowl full of tomatoes yesterday afternoon. Some were on top, some on the outer edges of the wilderness and some, I had to get down on my knees and carefully stretch out to just barely reach some underneath and towards the center of the garden.

Cub and I sat on the steps going into the house , in the shade and pulled off the stems and tossed them into the grass. I pulled one of the baseball sized fruits out of the bowl and bit into it. The sun-warmed innards of the tomato dripping down my chin, I offered Cub a bite. He shook his head and proclaimed 'no way!' in a way only 5 year olds can. He was willing to plant and to weed, and to pick, but the only way he was going to eat one, was cooked down in a sauce over some linguini or penne pasta.

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