Maters!

I just had my first tomato sandwich of the year. I just wish that it had been "Rooster maters".

"Rooster" as he is called, used to bring "maters" to sell when I had my little shop in Raymond. People would come in and specifically be looking for "Rooster maters" because he grew the best. I sold several hundred pounds of tomatoes for Rooster the three years I was in business.

When I went to the Tomato Festival in Crystal Springs this morning, I fully expected Rooster to be there. I was looking around for him and called him up on my cell. I did get in touch with him, but unfortunately, his "maters" came in early and not good. He's been through a divorce and problems with custody of a child, and just isn't into farming this year. Needless to say, I didn't get my "Rooster maters" that I expected.

I can remember well the days that Rooster would call me: "Ms. D__, how many buckets of maters you need today?" When they were coming in good, I'd get 3 or 4 buckets, which weighed about 25 pounds each, and I could pretty much sell 100 pounds of tomatoes within a couple of days. The season for "real" tomatoes isn't long. Yes, folks that have garden tomatoes harvest up till frost, but when you are dealing with tomatoes coming in from a farmer that has a few hundred plants all coming in at the same time, well, enjoy it while you can.

If I didn't sell them, I would put them up in the freezer myself. I did many a bag of tomatoes. Some plain, some with fresh basil and oregano from my little gardens in front of my shop. Just writing about it makes me sad and miss my place.

So, anyway...before I get all nostalgic about the fact that I couldn't make it as a small business, let me post another pic from the Tomato Festival in Crystal Springs.

There is no tomato that you can buy in a grocery store that compares to a "real" tomato grown locally with no gassing for color, no storage time, literally straight from the field.

Enjoy them while you can!