How Much Is A Tomato Worth?

If we could have gotten $3.00 for four tomatoes when I was a kid back on the farm in southern Indiana, we would be millionaires today!

Tomatoes were one of the major crops which grew in our garden. They could be prepared in a variety of ways which made them interesting. We canned a great portion whole.

They were dipped into a large pot of boiling water and quickly flipped with a wooden stick. Once they spun in the water, they were lifted out with a slotted spoon. The fun part was to gently squeeze each one just enough to release the warm skin which had become detached from the meat. The goal was to have perfectly smooth surfaces.

Each glass jar was stacked neatly with tomatoes being as close to the same size as possible. We always wondered if this was the jar that would make it to the county fair.

We took the ones that looked shabby and used them for tomato sauce. This was a spicy sauce that was used as a base for chili or poured over meatloaf. It seems strange now, but I don't remember eating spaghetti or any Italian foods for that matter. We had our own "country" ways of using tomatoes which also included stewing them. We dropped dumplings into hot tomato juice with seasoning. This was delicious....especially with mashed potatoes.

We could not have survived the winter without an abundance of tomatoes coming on each August. Citrus juices were not available for breakfast in those days (at least in the country), but then we didn't need them. We had half gallon jars filled with chilled tomato juice down in the cellar anytime we wanted it. Who needed more?

(These tomatoes were at Finley Market. I bought the "blemished" ones to the left.)