I got an e-mail yesterday from my next door neighbor. It said:
Would you or Pete, or both of you, either separately, or together, at the same time or at different times , like to come over and pick, yank or pull the remaining green, or partially reddish tomatoes from the remnants of the garden ?
With the colder weather setting in, I don't believe they are going to ripen and further, and I know you both enjoy frying them. It would be a waste if they just hung there. I have no intention of harvesting any more this season.
Dan is a good guy. A few years ago we went in half each to roto-till his back yard. We put up a fence with chickenwire for the cukes and planted tomatos, squash, scallions, peppers and beans. There was probably other things too that I forgot. He covered the hole area with this black paper/cloth and we cut criss-cross holes to stick the seeds through. That was the easiest year for gardening I have ever seen. No weeds!!! The only problem we had were slugs. Dan cured that real quick by inserting several coffee cans with a few inches of beer around and among the plants. FYI: Slugs will take a Budwieser over tomatos any day of the week. Unfortunately for them, they drown. What a way to go though. Drunk and happy.
I am getting away from the story here. Anyway, I shared the garden and the costs with him that year and when the next year came, I told him I really didn't want to commit to it. He put it in himself and has every year since, (about 2, I think) Since I paid for the original roto-tilling, boards and wiring with him, he still starts about mid-season calling and asking me to go pull some veggies. This is all well and good except that one of the reasons I gave up on it was because I couldn't eat all of those veggies. I was constantly trying to pawn them off on friends and family. That was the biggest commitment of all. I refuse to throw out good food. It is one of my pet peeves. I will find someone to eat them if I have to stick it in a box on the side of the road. So yesterday, I go to pull what's left of his tomato plants. I figured since it is so late, I would find maybe three or four that were still good. OMG! I have about 50 of the little suckers! I also have a sister (Carol) that grew tomatos this year too. This is going to be fun getting rid of these! I am tomatoed out! And before anyone gets the bright idea of telling me to pickle or can them, I have already made pickles that are still coming out of my ears from all the cucumbers he gave me. I wish he would take up lobstering. Now THAT is something I could sink my teeth into (yes, pun intended).
Daughter and grandbabies are supposed to come for dinner today. They were supposed to last week, but Lori got sick. I worry about her. She is raising 3 girls from 3 - 11, working 30 hours a week at the casino from 9pm till 5 am, and is a bailbondsman whenever they call her in. I can't keep up with her. Many a time that she would be on her way here and get a call and turn around to head back. I shouldn't complain. Her bills are being paid, the girls are fed and they are doing ok. I just wish she would slow down. This is the daughter that was in the car accident when she was pregnant with the 3 year old and still receives shots for pain management. I don't know how she does it.
I still haven't sent my invention off yet. I have read all the stuff at the US patent office and decided that there are way too many mistakes that can be made when filing, so I am going to get myself a patent attorney. I'll keep ya posted. Now off to clean the house..
