It is so difficult to limit your imaginary garden when the catalogs are bursting with pictures of ready to harvest cucumbers, beans, fennel, peppers of every kind. My husband guards his hoard of harvested tomato seeds like they were gold. However, we have learned the hard way that even in February in the midst of spring day dreams we realize we always over plant.
Ah, but the memories of fresh broccoli, asparagus,squash, fresh snaps, and of course, the prize winning tomatoes my husband grows. We were instrumental in the first Annual EastMont Tomato Festival in Shawsville, VA http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/213927 You see my husband grows the best tomatoes I have ever eaten. I know because I don't like tomatoes; never have. But when he babied that heirloom tomato plant until it produced these big red tomatoes so misshapen you can only get two good thick slices out of each one, I fell in love. Those tomatoes were the most amazing thing I have ever tasted. So naturally with a marketing background I started talking and the next thing I knew people around Shawsville got an attitude. An attitude of "we are taking back the tomato." And boy, did they ever. You see at one time East Montgomery County shipped more tomatoes than any other place in the state of Virginia.
"2,000 acres of tomatoes were cultivated in 1924
The 1930 Agricultural Census shows that 689 acres of tomatoes were produced on 313 farms - value $51,046. 
declined to 271 farms that earned $29,515 from their tomato crop in 1940 and only 31 farms reported tomatoes in 1950."i
declined to 271 farms that earned $29,515 from their tomato crop in 1940 and only 31 farms reported tomatoes in 1950."i
i. “Christiansburg, Virginia, c.1925,” brochure, Montgomery Museum and Lewis Miller Regional Art Center; U.S. Agricultural Census, 1930-1950.
The secret was in the soil around the neighboring villages of Shawsville and Elliston. For decades, centuries the South Fork of the Roanoke River had been gradually running a slip of top soil from the mountains into a broad flood plain. Because of the breadth of it the water never got too high. It merely sat with wet soil in a shallow swamp for a while until the sun came out and baked that wonderful top soil right on top of the flat land until it was built up enough to stay relatively dry. That wonderful soil produced the most delicious tomatoes you ever ate. As a knowledgeable farmer and produce vendor once told me "people don't grow tomatoes, the earth does."
When the Tomatoes come in everyone is happy. All the grandchildren show up to pick and eat the tomatoes and grapes. Friends drop by for a tomato sandwich. My friend Pierrette Williams loves to come pick the lavender and fresh tomatoes that remind her of home. Pierrette grew up in Marseilles, France and now resides in Roanoke, Virginia where she is know for her paintings of the French country side, sunflowers and lavender fields. In May of 2011 at the WVTF Art Gallery featured works by Pierrette Williams titled “A Touch of Provence."
Happy Valentine's Day! Maybe now we can make it to spring!
Saying hi from the Blue Ridge Arts District.
ReplyDeleteI'm already behind on getting ready for my garden. Tomatoes are one of the best things out of a garden. They are so much better than store bought tomatoes.
Thankfully they are one of the few things that do well when planted late. We just get so anxious for that first tomato.
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