Growing Mayters

Just to introduce you to the lingo, in the part of the world where I live, there exist another language. Potatoes are ‘taters.’ And tomatoes are ‘may-ters.’ Onions are ‘un-gins.’ Well you get the idea.

I try every years to grow tomatoes - ‘mayters.’ In years gone, I’ve been successful with different varieties but now I focus on one - Early Girl. They are just the right size for slicing or cutting for salads. And, the flavor is the best. The problem is that all the elements must be aligned to grow them around here. It’s either too wet or too dry. There are insects that line up to eat the plants and fruit. Then there are the birds. Mockingbirds love tomatoes. They will wait for weeks for one to turn a little pink and then pounce on it like there is never going to be another one.

This year, either the plants drowned, a horde of insects came from another country, weeds that even God has never seen jumped out of the ground, or the birds held a family picnic. All of these make me mindful of why I never became a farmer.

Perhaps I should find another hobby, but I won’t. Oh, I may have to try another variety, but I just can’t stand the thought of not having, off the vine tomatoes. In the meantime, I will have to be happy with a trip to the farmers market and pay their prices, which is about 10% of what it cost me to grow my own.

Hey, it’s the sport of growing my own that counts.

PMO
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