TOMATOES, SQUASH & CORN

Songwriter Guy Clark wrote an interesting song about the wonders of homegrown tomatoes,

“Homegrown tomatoes homegrown tomatoes, what’d life be without homegrown tomatoes. Only two things that money can’t buy, that’s true love and homegrown tomatoes.”

Tomatoes are fun to grow. A few well-tended plants can yield lots of fresh, summer eating as well as long-term frozen or canned eating through the winter. For some reason, I’ve never liked the taste of a raw tomato.

Once it’s cooked, however, the whole flavor changes to a delicacy for me. I’ve been accused of not being a true country boy because of this. When I’ve sat down to eat with guests, and the food that is placed in front of me is a BLT (bacon, lettuce, and tomato sandwich), I simply grab the bacon, put mayonnaise on the bread with a slab of lettuce, and eat the sandwich sans tomato.

This time of year finds the garden in full swing. Tomatoes, corn, green beans, and peas can have you working early in the morning plowing, hoeing, picking and canning fresh vegetables to enjoy all year. It’s best to get out there first thing in the morning before the midday sun begins beating down.

Once the physical labor of the morning is complete, you have the rest of the day to do things like cut, rake and bale hay. June and July are busy months as far as growing food for your family and your livestock, but when cold weather eventually returns, you and your livestock will be glad you put in all that summer work. It’s the kind of work that makes you sweat profusely, eat heartily, and sleep soundly.

Tomato hornworms are a major pest of tomato crops. They blend in perfectly on the tomato plant because they are pale green with white and black markings and a horn-like protrusion stemming from their rear. According to the Farmer’s Almanac, these worms are the caterpillar stage of the sphinx or hummingbird moth and can get to be five inches long. The first sign to look for on your tomato plants are missing or wilted leaves. The easiest way to remove them is picking them off by hand. They will not sting. Also, powdering the plants occasionally with Sevin will help prevent re-infestation.

Squash is considered one of the original “three sisters” crops raised by American Indians. According to the USDA National Agricultural Library, “The Iroquois and the Cherokee called corn, bean, and squash the three sisters because they nurture each other like family when planted together.” The beans can run up the corn, and the squash thrives below because of the shading from the intense sun.

Squash can be eaten fresh during the summer, and it holds up well to canning and freezing for longterm storage. Boiled with butter and onions, sliced thin and fried, or put in a squash casserole, squash is a favored fruit in the South.

The towering member of the three sister plants is corn. Whether planted alone or allowing green beans to run on them, corn provides a healthy, diverse staple to the diet. If you have a large field of corn come in at one time, turn corn picking into a neighborhood event. In exchange for a mess of corn, your neighbors can help you pick the corn, shuck and silk it saving hours of time. My young preacher friend, Cody Shelton, showed up on picking day and we spent the entire day picking, shucking, and silking enough corn to last a family all winter. In exchange, he took home plenty of corn for his own family.

With all the produce you pick and prepare for the year, don’t forget the meat. If you can, process some of your own meat and freeze it long term. This can be wild game such as deer and turkey, or farm-raised meat such as chicken, beef, and pork. Obviously, if you don’t have freezer space, you might want to invest in a deep freeze. There are many choices out there, but hopefully, you can make an informed, financial decision because freezers aren’t cheap.

When deciding on chest or upright freezer, they both have pros and cons. The chest freezer of equal cubit foot can store more food. When you close the door on a chest freezer, you know it’s closed because of the weight and gravity of the horizontal door. With an upright, you might not always get the door completely closed since it stands vertical. Finally, a chest freezer takes more floor space, but in my opinion, it is well worth it. A chest freezer is just one more way you can help show your food independence and protect your family against supply chain issues and food shortages.

This summer, get up early enough to watch the sunrise with a cup of coffee before you start the hot work of the day. After the work is done, maybe you can treat yourself to a homegrown tomato – cooked of course.