Finally Harvesting Tomatoes

Finally!!  The tomatoes are ripening.  Remember I posted on August 27 that the tomatoes were not ripening.  I had these enormous beefsteak tomatoes that would not turn red.

I reported in that post that I had discovered from doing some online research that I needed to stop watering for awhile and that by doing so, the tomatoes would turn red.

Well, I stopped watering and here is what I got.

Beautiful, gorgeous red tomatoes.

And let me tell you - they are delicious.  The vines are very heavy now.  I counted 7 more tomatoes this morning that should be ripe in the next few days.  The tomato vine has actually gotten so large that it has taken the tomato cage over onto its side.  I attempted to separate the tomato vine from the cage but it is a task of futility.  There is no way that it can be done without losing precious fruit.  So, for the time being, the tomato patch will not be pretty, but it will bear plenty of delicious tomatoes.  It is so rewarding to literally see the fruit of your labor.  This would be a good project for children as well so that they can actually get their hands in the earth and plant and care for and watch the tomato plant grow and produce food.  I know when I was young, we had a garden each summer.  And it had a good many more things planted in it than just tomatoes.  There was corn and green beans and tomatoes and potatoes and cucumbers and patty-pan squash and other things which I'm sure I have forgotten.  My father would use a roto-tiller to loosen the soil and make it ready for planting.  And once the crops were ripe, I was sent to the garden with a wooden basket to pick.  Then I helped snap green beans because my mother and grandmother would can the green beans and the tomatoes.  My grandmother made tomato juice which was the most delicious tomato juice you have ever tasted.  I miss that.  They would also slice the cucumbers and pickle them.  So much delicious food.  Fresh and wholesome food that I had the advantage of eating when I was growing up.  And while my mother and grandmother were canning and making juice and pickling I was outside in the summer sun playing and exploring on our property and neighboring properties.  Those were good days and I miss them.  Especially when I see all of the hatred and violence that we live in today.  But, we will not get mired down in the news of the day.

The heat and humidity continue to stagnate here in the Mid-Atlantic.  However, a cool front will move through on Saturday bringing temperatures and the humidity down and by next week they are forecasting highs in the upper 70's.  Fall is just around the corner and I am SOOOOOO ready.