Many years ago when my parents bought their first home... I was allowed to plant a "vegetable" garden. Now, I was by no means your run-of-the-mill gardener. I had my very own "special system." You see, I was eleven years old at the time.
My Mother... Marian... my Mom... wanted to give me a special treat that day. I must have been extra good. Perhaps I did my homework. Mebbe I cleaned up my room. Perhaps I was actually nice to my brother that day. (I used to yell at him like crazy when I caught him trying on my clothes... but that is totally another story for another day.) <very silly grin>
I am not sure what it was... but Mom decided I was due a "treat." So... she and I went to the garden store, and I was allowed to pick out all the vegetable plants I wanted... and was actually given permission to plant my own garden.
Now... I totally loved tomatoes. When we had salad for dinner along with our "midwestern meat and potatoes" dinners... I would not only eat the salad first... I would eat the tomatoes first. Mmmmm... tomatoes.
So, back to the garden store. I told Mom I really wanted to plant... a tomato garden. Nothing else... just tomatoes. Boy... did she give me a "look ?" Yes... but... it was my reward... so I got to pick out my choice of vegetables to plant.
I chose tomatoes. Thirty tomato plants... thirty. Since all I wanted to do was grow tomatoes, I came up with a great idea. I would buy (Mom paid for it) six tomato plants each week. Having prepared the garden ground previously, I took my six tomato plants home... and planted them... all in a row. I got the stakes ready, already had the skinny ribbons or strips of rags ready to tie around them... to tie them to the stakes later when they got too big, and would start to droop.
The next week, I got six more, then six more the next week... until after week five... I had planted five rows of six tomato plants... side-by-side... with enough room between the rows to cultivate and fertilize... and of course, enough room to walk.
I waited, I watered, I fertilized, I gently and carefully weeded, until the little flowered buds turned into green tomatoes... then slowly turned red... and finally ripened to the point where I could pick them, and have them for dinner. That night, all I wanted for my dinner... was my personal, hand-picked, ripened-and-cultivated-by-Karen-Anne... tomatoes. While I was sitting at the dinner table... my Mother watching me... she said it. She said... Karen, you and your tomatoes ! You like them so much... the next thing you know... you'll be lying on the ground beneath the plants... munching on them while they are still on the vine.
Wow... what a concept ! In an instant I could see that my Mother knew... she immediately realized... she had said the wrong thing ! She instinctively knew... that she had given me an idea that I would not let go of.
So... the next day... later in the afternoon... after I had finished my chores... where was I ?? Where else could I be ? I was out in the back yard... with my blanket spread out in the middle of my garden... lying on my back with my head underneath the plants... munching on my tomatoes... while they were still on the vine. They were sooo verrrry goood ! Yum !
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If you love tomatoes, or even other vegetables anywhere near as much as Realtor Karen Anne Stone... she can easily find you a Wonderful New Home... with more than enough space in the back yard to plant and care for your very own garden. You can view Karen Anne's new homes on her website at www.NewHomeHuntersOfTarrantCounty.com . You can also call her at (817) 929-3400. Or email her at KarenAnneStone@gmail.com
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