I Learned to Can Because I Don't Believe in Divorce

While our backyard has been going through a slow transformation, one thing we did not attempt this year was to put in a vegetable garden. I would have loved to have my own supply of lettuce and be up to my ears in zucchini, but it was not meant to be. Instead, we were given two tomato plants from our friend in Grand Rapids, and we put them in a container on the back deck. One plant was a regular tomato plant, the other a cherry tomato plant. They both started out well, although the regular one started to fade, and we only really got two off of it because the dry summer weather wrecked a lot of them, and also we noticed that one looked like a bite had been taken out of it. Overall, that plant just didn't offer tomatoes we wanted to eat. The cherry tomato plant is still going gang-busters. I just plucked four more off today.

Our little plants of tomatoes are just the right amount for us. Our back neighbor, on the other hand, is literally shoulder deep in tomatoes. He canned 24 quart sized jars a couple of weeks ago. Yes, you heard that right, 24 QUART SIZE JARS. I was chatting with him the other day and when he sees us he hands us some tomatoes. I commented on his canning extravaganza, and he replied, "well, I had to learn how to can because I don't believe in divorce." I imagined his wife saying, "It's me or the tomatoes!!" Then just two days ago Kevin and I were admiring the grass and hanging out in the backyard, and he said, "Are those tomatoes sitting on our side of the fence?" Sure enough, four little tomatoes lined up in a row were sitting just on our side of the fence. It appears our neighbor is now just placing them there for us because he can't get rid of them fast enough.